Medical marijuana dispensaries in Northwest Arkansas are mitigating the spread of COVID - 19 as doors stay open during the pandemic

NORTHWEST ARKANSAS, Ark. (KNWA/KFTA) – Medical marijuana dispensary owners in Northwest Arkansas are asking their patients to spend less time inside the shops and more time online.

“We enacted protocols at the end of last week, we went to online order only,” Erik Danielson said.

Erik Danielson is one of the owners of The Source in Bentonville. He says right now, they’re only allowing one person in at a time.

“The transaction is done through a plexiglass window to create some space and distance between the people,” Danielson said.

Danielson says once an order is ready for pick up, you’ll be sent a text message. When you arrive to the shop – a worker will give you a number on your car which will tell you when it’s your turn to head in.

He says they’re also looking to add another work station inside to help reduce the backlog of orders.

“We’re trying to get ahead of it as best as we can – we don’t want our folks to get sick,” Danielson said.

Purspirit Cannabis in Fayetteville tells us it’s only letting three patients in at a time – it’s still open during regular business hours but is also encouraging online orders. Acanza nor The Releaf Center got back to us in time for this story.

“We’re seeing a significant spike in sales,” Scott Hardin said.

Scott Hardin is the spokesperson for the Medical Marijuana Commission. He says from March 12 -15, around 250 pounds of marijuana was sold – one of the greatest increases in sales he’s seen in a three day period.

Looking into the future – he projects most of the sales will come from delivery options as people stock up while staying at home. Patients may purchase up to 2.5 ounces of marijuana.

“Patients are not wanting to make it out – they don’t want to go to the dispensary with that face to face interaction,” Hardin said.

Danielson says he wants people to be patient and understanding as ways to protect staff and customers from COVID -19 are put into action.