Entering a medical cannabis pharmacy in some states is no easy task. Customers need to present their IDs along with a valid medical cannabis card just to get in the door. I am not surprised. In fact, it reminds me of something from my childhood.
When I was a kid growing up in Western New York, liquor store patrons had to present a valid ID just to get in the store. I am not sure if it was due to state law or some sort of local ordinance in my town. Either way, it was done away with by the time it was a teenager. Do not ask how I know.
To this day I don’t understand why liquor stores were checking IDs at the door. But I do know why today’s medical cannabis pharmacies do it. They compare customer IDs against medical cannabis card information to make sure they are selling only to customers legally authorized to purchase cannabis products. By clearing customers before they enter the store, they reduce the chances of inadvertently making an illicit sale.
No Recreational Use, Please
Utah is one of dozens of states that restrict cannabis to medical use only. Salt Lake City’s Beehive Farmacy says recreational use is not even on the radar at this point. They also say that they are required to check both IDs and medical cannabis cards before making a sale. There are no exceptions to the rule.
The intent here is clear. Utah does not allow recreational marijuana. Therefore, there is the real possibility of people not wanting to purchase on the black market trying to make illicit buys from state licensed medical cannabis pharmacies. The requirement to check IDs and state-issued cards keeps things on the up and up.
Purchase Limits May Be in Play
Something else to consider is that purchase limits might be in play in some states. For example, I know that some states only allow patients to purchase enough medical cannabis to get them by for a month. Pharmacies are required to keep track of every order they sell. So, by comparing historical purchase data against a patient’s medical cannabis card, they can tell whether a person is attempting to purchase more than is reasonable for a month’s treatments.
Why would this matter? Because states with medical-only programs do not allow patients to purchase cannabis and then give it to someone else. In Utah, patients cannot even give medical cannabis to guests visiting from out of town. Limiting purchase amounts forces a person willing to give some to a visiting relative to choose between that relative’s symptom relief and his own.
States Are Protecting Themselves
It could be that yet another reason for requiring ID checks is to protect the states themselves. Think about it. Cannabis is still a Schedule I controlled substance at the federal level. That may change by the end of the year, but even a proposed rescheduling move would only bump it down to Schedule III. Rescheduling does not suddenly make cannabis legal.
State lawmakers know this. They also know that it’s unwise to give the federal government any reason to come after them for implementing state legalization. Therefore, they do everything within their power to eliminate any and all risk. Their actions include ID requirements designed to stop unauthorized consumers from getting their hands on medical cannabis.
Medical cannabis patients may not like having to show ID, and that is understandable. But that’s the way the system works. No ID equals no sale. Things are not likely to change even with a rescheduling move.