April 20th is right around the corner. The OLCC is aware of the cultural and economic significance of 4/20 to the cannabis industry. But 4/20/2020 is different than 4/20 of previous years, and hopefully will be different than 4/20 in years to come.
But for now we want to remind you for the health of your staff, your customers and your community it’s important for all OLCC recreational marijuana licensees to maintain their legal and social obligations during this unprecedented time of the COVID-19 public health crisis.
We ask that you continue your efforts in practicing social distancing by maintaining six feet of distance between all people within and outside your store and refraining from having any gatherings.
If you do not follow the social distancing requirements of the Governor’s Executive Order you may be ordered to close your businesses.
We are counting on you to ensure your store is a place where people are NOT congregating. That may mean that you reconsider running the type of sales or promotions you have done to celebrate 4/20 in previous years. If you feel you must run promotions, consider offering them across the entire week or month to minimize a rush on a single day that could compromise social distancing measures.
This will assist Oregon communities by eliminating socializing behaviors that could compromise the efforts to prevent the spread of the virus and impact the health and safety of all Oregonians.
So keep these points in mind as you ready your business for 4/20/2020:
Things to AVOID that could create a crowd of customers:
Using advertising to draw large volumes of customers to shop on a specific day;
Encouraging vendors and/or events where large groups could congregate; and
Extra activities such as hiring food trucks and bands.
ALTERNATIVE Ideas for Interacting with Customers:
Tailor your advertising to accommodate for physical distancing, such as advertising occupancy limitations or staggered pick up times;
If running raffles or giveaways of non-marijuana items, consider NOT requiring that customers be present to win;
Advertising sales distributed over the remainder of month of April; and
Enacting policies that promote a safe and efficient environment to shop, such as:
utilizing on-site delivery;
limiting the number of customers or patients in the store at one time;
assigning employees to manage queues outside of your business; and
taking pre-orders via phone or app.
One last reminder. Maintain social distancing. Don’t create a situation that creates a crowd.
All gatherings, including family and private ones, regardless of the number of people involved, are not allowed at this time per Governor’s Executive Order 20-12.
For more information on please visit the Governor’s COVID website and the OLCC COVID 19 FAQ.