New York’s legal marijuana market has officially entered a new frontier: For the first time, consumers can now get cannabis products delivered right to their door.

The nonprofit Housing Works, which opened the state’s first licensed dispensary in December, notched another milestone several weeks ago by becoming the first to offer the service — though for now, it’s only available in select neighborhoods.

Orders can be placed on the store’s website.


What You Need To Know

  • Housing Works has launched New York’s first legal marijuana delivery service

  • The nonprofit, which opened the state’s first dispensary in December, delivers to much of Manhattan below 59th Street and will soon expand to Brooklyn

  • All deliveries require a $100 minimum purchase and include a $7 delivery fee

  • For safety reasons, delivery workers wear unidentifiable clothing and packages are unlabeled

“It’ll search your address. Tell you whether or not we do deliver there. And then you can go to ‘next day’ or ‘express’ delivery,” said Britt Buckner, assistant manager at Housing Works, demonstrating the online interface.

All of Housing Works’ in-store products are available for delivery except for cannabis drinks.

Deliveries can be made to any type of location, home or business, but require a $100 minimum purchase and include a $7 delivery charge. Identification is also required.

Housing Works quietly began deliveries a few weeks to just a few ZIP codes near its Greenwich Village storefront, but is now expanding its reach.

“We started very small in our zones. Our zones have increased since then,” Buckner said. “So we’ve gone all the way up to Central Park at this point.”

Housing Works is now looking to expand to Brooklyn, where no dispensaries have been licensed due to pending litigation.

Buckner says some delivery workers had previously worked in the illicit market.

“They were a part of that delivery for years,” Buckner said. “They know the boroughs. They know what delivery is like. And they have really helped us shape our delivery program.”

But while delivery may now be legal, that doesn’t mean it’s exactly out in the open.

Retail manager Sasha Nutgent says delivery workers go incognito so as not to make themselves a target.

“We’re handling Schedule I drugs,” she said.

Delivery packages are unlabeled. Housing Works declined to even share how its delivery workers get around.

It’s all in line with detailed regulations issued by the state’s Office of Cannabis Management, which limit what delivery workers can carry: $20,000 worth of product in an enclosed vehicle, $5,000 if on bike or on foot.

“We have a buddy system. No delivery person is ever leaving the store alone,” Nutgent said. “There’s always that extra layer of safety. We also are able to track them wherever they go.”

Housing Works, which has experience making deliveries from its thrift stores, hopes cannabis delivery will eventually make up a quarter of all sales.