As we are all well aware by now, Amazon will be setting up the locations of their new headquarters in Crystal City, VA & Staten Island, NY. The entire country has been on their toes the past few years wondering where and when Amazon will be setting up shop for HQ2. Amazon had bids from hundreds of cities who thought that they would be the ideal location for one of the biggest companies in the world.
Many were ecstatic about the decision, due to a large number of jobs and business coming to these cities. Others were upset because rent may increase and traffic could get worse in what are already extremely congested areas. Some are even under the impression that common goods at their local grocery stores and shops may increase, thus raising the standard of living.
However, what we would like to talk about today is how Amazon will affect the medical marijuana industry, whether positive or negative. What can Amazon do in these two cities that already have successful business and individuals who work high paying, respectable jobs?
First off, both locations seem to be either close to or in markets where medical marijuana is available. For example, even though Virginia does not have medical marijuana dispensaries open yet, Crystal City is right on the border of Washington DC and Maryland which have relatively strong medical marijuana programs.
The state of Virginia is currently working on a program where qualifying patients can purchase THC-A and CBD products from dispensaries. Washington DC dispensaries allow patients from a few other states that have medical marijuana programs to purchase as long as they have their cards. It wouldn’t be too far-fetched to assume DC may begin allowing Virginia residents once they can get their medical marijuana cards as well.
In New York, medical marijuana is readily available as long as patients have a valid NY medical marijuana card. Could Amazon have a potential interest in the medical marijuana industry? They would certainly crush the delivery game. Knowing how lucrative and beneficial cannabis delivery companies are on the West Coast, it wouldn’t be too far-fetched to consider Amazon delivering cannabis. New York-based dispensaries are already delivering cannabis to qualifying patients. What if they were to partner with Amazon?
To add to that, let’s go back to Virginia. If Amazon were to jump into the space and prove a consistently profitable model in New York, how would Virginia feel about that?
Amazon also has lockers that allow individuals to receive shipments the same day at certain lockers. Question imposed: Would Amazon be willing to allow local dispensaries to ship cannabis products to local lockers? Obviously, dispensaries outside of the patient’s state will not be able to do this due to Federal laws, but how about locally? Also, when cannabis is legalized at the federal level, wouldn’t they want to have a leg up?
Everyone knows Amazon for their fast shipping as well as being one of the biggest data hubs in the world. At some point, they could be interested in working with companies who value data in the cannabis space. The number of patients interested in accessing legal cannabis continues to grow and these patients have a large influence on the economy as a whole. Ultimately, interpretation of buying decision data is the name of the game for the tech giant, and we’ll see if they decide to get a piece of the pie before legal marijuana is a hundred billion dollar industry.
