Chris Fevry is pictured at the Natick headquarters of Dris, a cannabis delivery service he runs with his wife and business partner Dharry Fevry.Will Katcher/MassLive
In a small corner of the Massachusetts cannabis market, a looming regulatory change has the potential to significantly reshape how some companies do business. Their owners say it can’t come soon enough.
Of the nine states that allow recreational marijuana delivery, Massachusetts remains the only one to require two employees to travel in each delivery car, according to the Cannabis Control Commission, the state’s pot industry regulator.
The regulation may not seem like a big deal — what’s the difference between having one driver or two? But since cannabis delivery began in 2021, companies have lamented the constraints of the “two-driver rule,” arguing it invites a slew of burdensome costs that make profitability near-impossible.
“It has completely crippled the delivery industry,” Sebastian Pollack, owner of Middleborough-based Little Dog Delivery, said.
After more than two years of advocacy by delivery companies, the Cannabis Control Commission voted in December to ditch the two-driver requirement. Commissioners are expected to release new regulations in the coming months.
“We desperately need it to go into effect,” Chris Fevry, co-owner of the Natick-based cannabis delivery company Dris, told MassLive.
Similar to the appeal of services such as DoorDash or Instacart, customers often choose cannabis delivery for its convenience. The delivery of marijuana right to one’s doorstep also harkens back to a time before legalization, before brick-and-mortar pot shops.
Initially, the delivery market represented a viable path into an industry noted for its high startup costs and other barriers to entry.
Presuming it would be less expensive to open a delivery service than a retail dispensary or cannabis production facility, state regulators reserved delivery licenses for applicants from communities most impacted by drug prohibition and businesses bringing economic stimulus to disadvantaged areas of the state.
It was a chance “to give those folks a leg up,” Meaka Brown, a member of Massachusetts’ Cannabis Social Equity Advisory Board, said.
Nearly three years after cannabis deliveries began, those companies are struggling. Fevry and other business owners said the two-driver rule is a primary reason.
Husband and wife business team Chris and Dharry Fevry are pictured at the Natick headquarters of Dris, their cannabis delivery company, holding a box of LoudPacs, their line of pre-rolled joints.Will Katcher/MassLive
Because of the rule, a company with 10 drivers can only operate five delivery cars at once, limiting its capabilities. Conversely, a company with five cars needs to hire at least 10 drivers, inflating labor costs.
Other costs follow. Fevry said having twice as many employees significantly increases the workers’ compensation and car insurance policies, too.
“It’s almost impossible to be successful with that rule in place,” Alissa Nowak, owner of Lucky Green Ladies cannabis delivery, based in Norton, said.
In Massachusetts, about 20 companies are licensed for marijuana delivery, delivering products from their own warehouses, or as marijuana couriers, in which they handle deliveries for retail dispensaries — effectively, DoorDash for weed.
In 2021, under the brand “Your Green Package,” Fevry and his wife and business partner Dharry Fevry opened one of the first marijuana couriers in Massachusetts. But the operation has since struggled to stay afloat, Chris Fevry said.
Alissa Nowak, owner of Lucky Green Ladies cannabis delivery service, in her business' product storage room.Adrianna Gaudiello
Gabe Salazar, owner of We Can Deliver Boston, opened his courier service around the same time. Losing money, Salazar stopped deliveries about a year ago, he said.
He’s focused now on more profitable ventures — including food and alcohol deliveries, neither of which require two employees in a delivery car.
The two-driver rule was one of multiple security regulations issued by the Cannabis Control Commission to prevent thefts. Drivers are also outfitted with body cameras, to go along with cameras monitoring the interior and exterior of their unmarked cars, which are tracked by GPS and followed by a dispatcher.
Newton Police Chief John F. Carmichael Jr., chair of the Massachusetts Chiefs of Police Association’s substance abuse committee, initially recommended the two-driver provision. But in a message to the commission in December, he said the association now supported dropping the rule.
At the Natick headquarters of Dris, a cannabis delivery service, co-owner Chris Fevry monitors his delivery cars as they travel across the state dropping marijuana products at customers' doorsteps.Will Katcher/MassLive
According to Cannabis Control Commission staff, the majority of other states that allow recreational cannabis delivery cars have reported minimal incidents concerning single-employee cars.
In December, after more than two years of pressure from delivery companies, the commission voted 3 to 1 to lift the two-driver requirement for recreational cannabis deliveries.
Chris Fevry said the change will give delivery services the chance to be profitable. He praised the commission’s work but lamented what he said were years of warnings: “Get rid of the two-driver rule or people will go out of business and people will suffer.”
Now, he said, “We need to repair the damage done from overregulation.”
Under another regulation change approved by the commission, delivery companies will be able to buy marijuana in bulk and package it themselves. That’s a potentially significant cost-saver.
Marijuana available for sale at New England Treatment Access, or NETA, a dispensary in Northampton, pictured on the first day of legal cannabis sales in Massachusetts, Nov. 20, 2018. (Mark Mirko/Hartford Courant/TNS)TNS
Still, other regulatory burdens stand in their way, including federal marijuana prohibition, which prevents cannabis companies from taking the same tax write-offs as other businesses. About a third of Bay State communities also prohibit cannabis deliveries inside their borders, cutting off a large body of potential customers.
The changes come at a moment of immense stress in the Massachusetts cannabis industry.
More companies are growing and selling cannabis than ever. The rush of supply and countless locations to purchase it have pushed retail prices to their lowest point since recreational dispensaries opened in 2018.
While legal cannabis has never been cheaper, staying profitable, for many cannabis sellers, has never been harder.
In addition to offering marijuana delivery and courier services, Chris and Dharry Fevry operate a transportation service for cannabis companies, delivering products between businesses themselves. They say the diversity of services has helped keep the company alive.
“It’s by the grace of God that we’ve made it to this point,” Chris Fevry said. “It’s one uphill battle after another.”
Cannabis commissioners are now tasked with redrafting the new regulatory language for delivery companies.
There’s no exact timeline. But the Fevrys are hopeful that by this summer, they can send deliveries out with a single driver, allowing the company to expand its fleet of vehicles.
“This is going to provide some relief, I think,” Brown said. “I think it’ll allow a few businesses to take a breath but I don’t know that it’ll be this big huge solution. I think it’s a day late and a dollar short.”
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A big change is coming to Massachusetts cannabis delivery. Companies can’t wait – MassLive.com
