New Trend: Drive-Thru Cannabis Dispensary Opens in Ohio

As many as 60 medical cannabis dispensaries serve more than 160,000 qualified patients in Ohio today. The Ohio Medical Marijuana Control Program was launched in 2016 with the passage of House Bill 523, with the first legal medical cannabis sales starting in 2019.

Now medical cannabis customers will be able to score some therapeutic stash without getting out of their vehicles with the opening of Citizen Klutch, the first operational drive-thru cannabis dispensary in the state. The new store, located on the border of Lorain and Sheffield Township, is operated by Akron-based Klutch Cannabis. The dispensary has opened its doors to walk-in customers, with the drive-thru component opening sometime next week.

Drivers will have to present their state ID and registry bar code on their phones or in printed form. But purchasing buds, medibles, oils, tinctures, lotions, or patches will now be as easy as grabbing a latte on that morning commute to work. Cannabis products will need to be ordered online before being picked up at the drive-thru window.

Kutch Cannabis CEO, Adam Thomarios, says that customers of conventional cannabis dispensaries have had to endure long lines and complex menus. “Our mission was to curate a simplified menu featuring some of the best products in the state,” says Thomarios.

For medical cannabis patients with mobility issues, this new fast-serve retail weed model might be a godsend, making obtaining herbal medicine as quick and straightforward as making a drive-in bank deposit. We look forward to a day when everyone can purchase food, clothes, weed, and other items in a one-stop-shop retail experience. At the rate things are going, that does not seem impossible as reforms continue to take place and cannabis becomes destigmatized and more normalized.

I can hear it now, “I’ll take an Amerijuano with cream, two brownies, and a pack of Sinsimilla Shorts.”

We can dream.