The Portland City Council voted unanimously Wednesday to ban marijuana drive-thrus.
Current city code doesn’t address buying marijuana from a drive-thru or walk-up window. But because the code does ban vendor carts or sales from temporary structures — and because cannabis shops have restricted entry — city officials said they wanted to be consistent in policy.
“We’ re not aware of any medical dispensary in Portland that has drive-thrus or walk-up windows," said Theresa Marchetti with the Portland Office of Neighborhood Involvement. "But there has been expressed interest from some other local jurisdictions in Oregon.”
The Oregon Liquor Control Commission, which is developing laws around the state's nascent recreational market, has a rule banning drive-thrus. That rule is why Oregonians can’t drive by a store to pick up a six-pack of beer.
But the Oregon Health Authority is overseeing medical marijuana and has no such rule, which is why Portland officials felt the need to create their own restriction on drive-thrus.
Portland’s ban goes into effect immediately.