BOSTON (WHDH) - A local software company focusing on front-door medical marijuana deliveries is hoping to act as a middle man to connect those dispensaries with their customers.
Medical marijuana delivery has been legal in the Bay State for quite some time, but Meredith Mahoney, president of the new marijuana delivery service — Lantern, said they are looking at ways to expand that amenity for people dependent on deliveries.
“People love convenience. They love privacy. They love having access to products that they don’t have to leave their homes to get,” she explained.
Lantern launched just before the coronavirus pandemic; though, it has been in the works for years.
“We wanted to make sure that we could handle the influx of orders and new customers that we knew we would need to service in this time. So, we were just taking it slowly,” she said.
Lantern works as a third-party service between the buyer and the dispensary, just like its sister company Drizly, an alcohol delivery service.
“All of the kind of, financial transactions and the delivery and the relationship with the customer is really between the customer and the dispensary,” Mahoney said. “We’re just kind of a bridge between the two.”
As of right now, only medicinal marijuana can be delivered.
Of the 61 dispensaries across the state, only 18 operate their own delivery service. Lantern hopes to pick up the rest.
The Cannabis Control Commission is expected to expand the law to allow recreational shops to deliver as well.
Recreational marijuana shops have been struggling to make ends meet since Gov. Charlie Baker classified them as non-essential businesses and forced them to temporarily close their doors at the start of the pandemic.
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