Senior residents in Arizona independent living communities could soon see a different kind of care service available in their neighborhoods: Kiosks allowing them to view and buy marijuana products from licensed dispensaries.
The retailer Life Is Chill and cannabis technology company LoveBud announced on Thursday that they were partnering for the launch of the novel initiative, which will involve deploying the kiosks in participating senior living communities that residents can use to learn about and order marijuana products for delivery.
“We are launching something Arizona has not seen yet, a kiosk experience that makes ordering simple when ordering from licensed dispensaries,” James Watkins, CEO of LoveBud, said in a press release. “This creates a clear revenue opportunity for smaller dispensaries and gives customers a guided way to place orders with confidence.”
With a focus on education, the kiosks are meant to help seniors make informed decisions about their cannabis purchases, while helping facilitate access through the delivery service that can be especially useful to residents without means of transportation to dispensaries.
Dana Lillestol, Life Is Chill’s senior education advocate, said the kiosk model “can improve access and education for older adults who want a straightforward, guided experience.”
“When people can review clear product information at the point of ordering and choose delivery, it can remove common barriers and support more informed decisions,” she said.
Not all independent senior living communities in Arizona will be involved in the rollout, and state statute does permit such facilities to restrict the use of cannabis on their properties. But for those that do permit marijuana for their senior residents and incorporate the kiosks, the new initiative could help improve access while providing information about what types of products could best suit a given senior.
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Meanwhile in Arizona, senators recently approved a pair of measures that would make the act of creating “excessive” amounts of marijuana smoke or odor a criminal nuisance punishable by jail time, even if the person is using cannabis in compliance with state law in their own homes.
Also in the state, anti-cannabis activists are working to put an initiative on the state’s November ballot that would significantly roll back its voter-approved marijuana legalization law.
A GOP congressional lawmaker said recently he’d like to see his state take that action—but he also acknowledged that President Donald Trump’s recent federal rescheduling order could complicate that prohibitionist push.
Under the proposal, possession would remain lawful if voters chose to enact the initiative—and Arizona’s medical marijuana program would remain intact—but the commercial market for recreational cannabis that’s evolved since voters approved an adult-use legalization measure in 2020 would be quashed.
A findings section on the latest initiative states that “the proliferation of marijuana establishments and recreational marijuana sales in this state have produced unintended consequences and negative effects relating to the public health, safety, and welfare of Arizonans, including increased marijuana use among children, environmental concerns, increased demands for water resources, public nuisances, market instability, and illicit market activities.”
“Arizona’s legal marijuana sales have declined for two consecutive years, resulting in less tax revenue for this state, while some patients have relied on recreational use of marijuana instead of utilizing the benefits of this state’s medical marijuana program,” it says.
The initiative would also instruct the legislature to make conforming changes by amending existing statute as it relates to the commercial industry, including tax and advertising rules.
In order to make the ballot, the campaign will need to collect 255,949 valid signatures by July 2. If the proposal goes to voters and is approved, it would take effect in January 2028.
It remains to be seen if there will be an appetite for repeal among voters, as 60 percent of the electorate approved legalization at the ballot in 2020.
What’s more a poll from last year found majority support for medical cannabis legalization (86 percent), adult-use legalization (69 percent) and banking reform (78 percent).
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