Brookline NETA Marijuana Dispensary Delivers Amid Coronavirus

BROOKLINE, MA — The coronavirus health crisis has affected a number of businesses in Brookline, including New England Treatment Access, which sells marijuana for medical and recreational use at a shop in Brookline Village.

NETA now offers delivery to medical marijuana patients. The State has approved the dispensary's request to do so, and it will continue after the stay-at-home advisory is lifted, and the Brookline Select Board unanimously approved a needed amendment to the business's contract on Wednesday.

"This COVID crisis has certainly been a difficult experience for us, just like it has been for anyone else, in terms of adjusting our business to this new reality," said NETA President Amanda Rositano.

To comply with Gov. Charlie Baker's March 17 social distancing order, NETA, which is both a medical marijuana dispensary and sells recreational cannabis, decided to limit transactions to medical patients only at its Brookline store.

Rositano pointed out that less than a week later, Baker amended the order instructing all non-essential businesses - including retail cannabis - and organizations close beginning March 24, which they had already done.

Amid this environment, delivery has become a key component to serve clientele who depend on cannabis for medical reasons, Rositano told the board Wednesday.

"What delivery allows is an expansion of access to those who can't come into the store right now or don't feel comfortable coming into the store right now," said Rositano. "Specifically, those patients who are immuno-compromised, we have concerns about their ability to have access. And quite frankly this opens up some business opportunities at this time when our business is dramatically restricted."

NETA will begin offering delivery on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays. Orders, cashless only, can be placed the day before or in advance. The dispensary will make deliveries in one of five unmarked vans between 9 a.m and 6 p.m. within a 5-mile radius of the store.

NETA will not deliver to federally funded housing or college campuses, which are on a list of prohibited addresses.

NETA joins a number of other medical dispensaries already delivering in places like Cambridge and Brockton.

"While the stay-at-home order may be lifted, we are not naive to the fact that social distancing is something that is going to be here for quite some time," said Rositano. "So we're really looking at our business in a whole new light."

Watch the full discussion and explanation about how deliveries will work:

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Patch reporter Jenna Fisher can be reached at Jenna.Fisher@patch.com or by calling 617-942-0474. Follow her on Twitter and Instagram (@ReporterJenna).