Uber Eats says customers can pick up their weed in Ontario
Uber Eats is adding marijuana to its menu in Ontario, Canada. Adults in the province can now use the app to order cannabis, although they'll have to pick up their purchases without any help from the delivery service.
As of Monday, Uber Eats' digital marketplace includes a section for cannabis retailer Tokyo Smoke, providing another way for Canadians to legally purchase the product, Uber Technologies announced on Monday. The partnership with Tokyo Smoke is Uber's first move into the growing cannabis industry.
Orders are filled within an hour of being placed and can be picked up at a Tokyo Smoke store, according to Uber Eats. Customers must confirm their age before picking up orders. Owned by Canopy Growth, a publicly held cannabis company based in Smith Falls, Ontario, Tokyo Smoke runs 56 stores across the province, including 13 in Toronto.
Roughly 14% of cannabis users admitted to having driven a vehicle within two hours of consuming cannabis, according to research cited by Uber Canada, expressing optimism that its drivers may soon be able to deliver Tokyo Smoke orders.
"When Canadian cannabis laws evolve to include delivery, options like Uber Eats are expected to help decrease impaired driving and improve safety on the road."
That could come sooner rather than later. Ontario briefly allowed delivery and pickup of marijuana products during the pandemic, and in October proposed legislation to make the change permanent, according to the Toronto Star.
Cannabis remains banned under federal law in the U.S. Three Senate Democrats —senators Chuck Schumer of New York, Ron Wyden of Oregon and Cory Booker of New Jersey — in July drafted a plan that would take marijuana off the government's list of controlled substances and let states write their own cannabis laws.
Currently, 18 states, the District of Columbia, Guam and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands have legalized recreational marijuana. Thirty-seven states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, Guam and the U.S. Virgin Islands have legalized the medical use of marijuana.