A recently published study looking into illicit medical cannabis consumption in Utah revealed inconsistent supply as one of the barriers to legal compliance. Some of the respondents in the study reported using illicit cannabis because pharmacy supplies were inconsistent. Could delivery be part of the solution?
To be clear, the supply problem has two elements: medical cannabis pharmacies not having products and patients being unable to access pharmacies with consistency. Delivery doesn’t help the first problem. It does directly answer the second.
Utah Is Largely Rural
Though I am not a scientist or researcher, I would be willing to bet that Utah patients are not the only ones experiencing supply issues. But Utah is especially interesting because the state is largely rural. BeehiveMed.com, an organization that assists patients with their medical cannabis cards, explains that all but one of the state’s fifteen medical cannabis pharmacies is located in or near a major urban center.
Patients living in rural areas need to drive great distances to get to a state-licensed medical cannabis pharmacy. Of course, they are going to experience supply issues. It is not like they can hop in the car, drive ten minutes to a pharmacy, and be home before dinner time. For so many of them, accessing legal medical cannabis at a pharmacy is a half- or full-day event.
Delivery Improves Medical Cannabis Access
Common sense tells us that delivery improves medical cannabis access. Data in Utah bears that out. Two charts in the state’s most recent program statistics report (dated August 2025) tell the entire story.
Since 2021, the total value of medical cannabis deliveries has steadily climbed. It had eclipsed the $3 million mark at the time of the report. Pickup order value is also up significantly since 2021. But the report’s chart shows that it’s up and down from quarter to quarter. Pickup orders were actually down nearly $1 million during the first half of this year.
The data suggests that increased deliveries or having a direct impact on order pickup. Orders picked up at the pharmacy by patients either remain stable or decline as order deliveries increase.
We Get Nearly Everything Else Delivered
The appeal of medical cannabis delivery should surprise no one. After all, we get nearly everything else delivered directly to our doors. Online shopping and home delivery give us convenient access to everything from food to clothing to medical supplies, tools, household goods, and more.
Convenience is the big thing. It is easier to rely on home delivery than to have to go to half a dozen different stores to buy what you need. And when you consider some of the reasons people use medical cannabis, convenience becomes even more important.
Imagine a chronic pain patient who has trouble walking and getting in and out of a car. Driving to the medical cannabis pharmacy to pick up an order is a painful chore. How much easier is it to wait at home for medicines to be delivered?
There Are Restrictions
Before closing this post, it is important to mention that there are restrictions to delivery in most states with medical cannabis programs. For instance, the states generally prohibit deliveries being left on porches or other unattended spaces. They must be hand delivered, and only to the actual purchaser with a valid medical cannabis card.
Despite the restrictions, and there are more, medical cannabis delivery makes a lot of sense. It breaks down at least one of the barriers that could motivate medical cannabis patients to purchase illicit cannabis on the black market. That makes delivery worthwhile.
