How Cannabis Delivery Works in Portland, Oregon

Weed on demand has been a long time coming for Portland, but it’s finally here and it’s totally legal. It is also available in many other parts of Oregon, so these rules will most likely apply where you are, too.

It’s easy to take legal ganja for granted, but remember how it used to be? You would call your guy (because texting was too risky) to ask them to deliver weed in some kind of code only he would understand (“minute mixtapes” anyone?) and then you would wait around for the guy to show up. He was never on time and by the time you’d convinced yourself that he was being strip-searched and interrogated by the cops—probably giving them your name as a bargaining chip—you’d get a secretive knock on the door. Finally, right?

Then there was no consistency in the product. One month, he might have Cake Mints, but the next, it was all Garlic Breath and you never even got to choose. (At this point, we would like to pause and mention that not all drug dealers are men, and we don’t mean to exclude or disparage the many women out there who took part in the legacy market. Shout out to the kingpin girlbosses!). If you liked what you got, you had to buy a lot on the spot or you might never see that pot again.

Things are so much better now that cannabis production, delivery, and consumption has been legalized and regulated here in Oregon. Thanks to the magic of functional democracy, you can now safely and legally order exactly what you want,—you can even read reviews online in advance!—and it will show up at your door in the hands of a friendly, knowledgeable person who already has your order measured and packaged.

So, how does marijuana delivery work now? What are the legal policies and procedures that allow us to offer such a streamlined experience? Let Pot Mates be your guide through the magical, wonderful world of legal weed on demand, and you can see just how civilized a society we have become. This might be a good time to read up on our FAQ about cannabis laws in Oregon

Stocking the Store

There are only two types of legal cannabis delivery in Portland. The first type is a conventional retailer with a physical retail location open to the public and their own delivery staff. The second type is a delivery-only retailer, like Pot Mates, that has no physical storefront. There used to be a third type that involved a conventional retailer and a separate delivery service, but who wants to pay more for a middle man? Oregon quickly said, “No, thanks” to those services.

Legally, marijuana delivery is limited to the hours of 8:00am to 9:00pm so no matter how it’s purchased or delivered, all orders must be placed before 8:00pm to allow for delivery time. Recreational cannabis delivery is only permitted within the area where the retailer has a license to operate. If that’s Portland, for instance, then the retailer can’t deliver to customers who live outside the legal city limits,—unless they’re OMMP patients with valid medical cards.

At the end of the day, all cannabis-derived products containing THC are required to be secured in a safe to prevent theft or tampering. Safety first!

Making the Purchase

You can forget calling up a weed dealer and talking in code—in fact, you don’t have to talk on the phone at all! Most cannabis delivery takes place entirely online (but you are welcome to call us !). An online menu lets you, the customer, see pictures of what you want to buy, read product descriptions, and see what others have to say about it. Instead of having to wonder what the dealer will bring, you can select precise ratios of THC and CBD, combined with the terpene profile you know you prefer. Some places (like Pot Mates!) even allow you to pay online, through a bank-to-bank payment processing system. We use Hypur, and it’s free to sign up! While the default form of payment in the pot industry is still cash (by far,) more and more places are looking at contactless options that have better security for both parties.

When you input your address at checkout, the cannabis delivery service has to verify that you’re within the legal jurisdiction where they are licensed to operate. (Pro tip: a quick search in Apple or Google Maps will show the correct city for your legal address.) If you’re within bounds, your order goes to checkout and the hard part is over! Now all you have to do is kick back and wait for that sweet, sweet legal herb.

Making the Delivery

As easy as it looks on the front end, there’s a lot happening behind the scenes. OLCC guidelines mandate that anyone involved in cannabis delivery in Portland fill out a document that contains any and all delivery locations and the route between the destinations, insisting that there are no unnecessary stops. That means pulling up turn-by-turn directions to each delivery address and including them in the form, as well as the directions to any other deliveries on the way. It can take up to fifteen minutes per customer just to calculate and input these routes alone! The retailer is also required to document:

• The date and time the order was received
• The delivery manifest
• The name and worker permit number of the person making the delivery
• The name of the person who received the delivery
• The items that were delivered including their weight, volume, and cost
• The date and time the order was delivered
• A signature of the person who received the order (except during COVID. You can learn more about the Pot Mates response to Covid-19 here.)

Many businesses print out a form and add the date and time it was received when they ask you to sign it. Some companies are ahead of the game and process their paperwork digitally, allowing you to sign on the screen of a smartphone or tablet. Oregon has temporarily lifted the signature requirement while we all practice safe social distancing, but you still need to present your photo ID—it’s required to verify that you’re over 21.

If you selected “cash” as your method of payment, you can finally hand it over along with whatever you would like to tip your delivery person. Cash is pretty unsanitary though, and now that we’re all working to reduce the transmission of infectious disease, we know there are better alternatives. Now there are delivery services that can process credit and debit cards using a mobile terminal, including Pot Mates. Or you can pay entirely online, reducing the risk of exposing your credit card number and only requiring you to enter a special PIN (not your banking PIN) to complete checkout. You can still offer a tip, but you do it through text message.

Improving Cannabis Delivery

Weed exists in a totally different world now than it used to, and it keeps getting better. Legalization has made it easier to keep marijuana out of the hands of people who shouldn’t be using it, while making the purchase process easier, safer, and more secure than ever before for the people who should. Now, instead of waiting all day for some dude to show up to give him cash, you know exactly when to expect your delivery and the person who brings it is courteous, professional, and timely.

And this is just the beginning! Some companies—like Pot Mates cannabis delivery in Portland, Oregon—are really pushing the envelope on making weed delivery even better. We’re exploring new ways to do things that cut down on the time it takes to fill out all of that paperwork so we can get your order to you as fast as is safely possible. Instead of driving back and forth all day, we’re figuring out how to make multiple deliveries more fuel-efficient to cut down on emissions and traffic. Pot Mates is also working on removing the city limit restriction on weed delivery so we can bring cannabis to you even if you are in Beaverton, Tigard, Tualatin, or other outlying cities. If you want to join us and help remove the city limits contact us to find out how you can help.

One day, it will be even safer and more convenient than it is now that we’ll sit back with a joint and say hey, remember how it used to be?