PAWTUCKET — On the way to Providence, the large billboards hugging the side of the highway might catch a driver’s eye.
In big block letters against a black backdrop, the signs read “Weed Drive Thru,” next to a neon green “Open” sign, perhaps prompting questions for the casual consumer or curious commuter.
For years, marijuana has been legal for recreational use in Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Maine, Connecticut, and Vermont, for those 21 and older. But regulations around how cannabis products can be sold and dispensed still vary state to state.
So what are the rules with drive-thru weed?
“It’s like getting a cup of coffee,” said Joe Pakuris, owner of Mother Earth Wellness in Pawtucket, who is operating one of the only drive-thru cannabis services of its kind in New England.
What Pakuris is offering is technically “curbside” pickup, and it’s been in place since around mid-December. The Rhode Island Department of Business Regulation and Office of Cannabis Regulation recently approved a revised bulletin allowing for curbside pickup with a “drive-thru” flair.
“I’m creating the feeling of a drive-thru,” Pakuris said, adding that because the building doesn’t have a window for the order to be passed through, the service isn’t technically considered a drive-thru.
Yet, as Pakuris