Cannabis dispensaries in the United States

Cannabis dispensaries in the United States or marijuana dispensaries are a local government regulated physical location, typically inside a retail storefront or office building, in which a person can purchase cannabis and cannabis related items for medical or recreational use. First modeled in Amsterdam in the late 1970s where they were innocently called coffee shops it would take the Americans more than a generation to successfully duplicate the idea of a retail cannabis storefront. Unlike the Dutch coffee shops, today dispensary customers are prevented from consuming cannabis on the site of a regulated dispensary in all known markets.

In a traditional Medical cannabis dispensary store a patient receives cannabis medication as allowed per the patients doctors recommendation. These dispensaries sell cannabis products that have not been approved by the FDA and are not legally registered with the federal government.

As of 2016 there are state regulated marijuana dispensaries in Washington, Oregon, California, Colorado, Nevada, Arizona, New Mexico, Illinois, Michigan, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Minnesota and Washington DC.

A cannabis dispensary differs from similar retail stores known as head shops, in that only state licensed cannabis dispensaries are authorized to sell cannabis.

The first dispensary San Francisco Cannabis Buyers Club was founded in 1992 by Proposition 215 coauthors "Brownie Mary" Rathbun, Dennis Peron and Dale Gieringer.

Washington state becomes the second state in the U.S. to develop a regulatory framework for marijuana dispensary operators improving the access to cannabis patients beyond the caregiver model.

The term "marijuana dispensary" in the United States is most often used to refer to private organizations or companies that sell cannabis, particularly in the states of California, Colorado, Washington and Oregon. "Cannabis dispensary" is starting to become a more politically correct term as conscientious people prefer the use of the word cannabis which avoids using the more common Spanish slang word "marijuana".

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