Hold the Pickle: Cannabis Dethrones the King at Drive-Through Dispensary

In stroke of repurposing genius, Richmond, VA’s Green Leaf Medical is turning off the grills and preparing choice cannabis for flame broiling at the site of a shuttered Burger King, according to Richmond BizSense. Begging the question — Who will be the first to ask: “Where’s the keef?”

The planned drive-through parked outside a Colonial Heights’ mall moves Green Leaf Medical — short-handed as gLeaf — toward the five dispensaries an operator is allotted under Virginia state law. It currently operates two dispensaries, with others in the works.

It’s not the first time a gLeaf has swapped herbs for herb, last year it opened a dispensary in a former KFC restaurant in Short Pump, VA. Green Leaf is one of the four medical marijuana providers in the state. While personal cultivation and possession of marijuana is legal in Virginia, it’s still illegal to sell recreational cannabis.

Ancient Root’s cannabis infused black elderberry creamed honey is one of the medical cannabis products stocked by gLeaf. PHOTO COURTESY GREEN LEAF MEDICAL

Under the bow of Columbia Care
Green Leaf medical cannabis dispensaries are owned by New York-based company Columbia Care, one of the original multi-state providers of medical cannabis in the U.S. In addition to serving Virginia, Columbia Care holds licenses in 18 U.S. jurisdictions and the EU. Columbia Care operates 131 facilities including 99 dispensaries and 32 cultivation and manufacturing facilities.

Chicago-based cannabis company Cresco Labs announced plans to acquire Columbia Care this in 2022.

The Colonial Heights dispensary is expected to open in either August or September. Delivery is handled out of the center of gLeaf’s Virginia operations, a marijuana growing, processing and dispensing facility. Like the Short Pump spot, the Colonial Heights location will have a drive-through. More than being an archetypically American way of grabbing something fast, Green Leaf Medical’s president Phil Goldberg said the drive-throughs aid patients.

“That’s been really popular during the pandemic and even as things wind down, a lot of customers prefer to use the drive-thru,” said Goldberg said. “We look at where patients don’t have easy access, we look at where we’re delivering the majority of our home delivery orders.”