Nearly 74% of cannabis stores sold to customers acting drunk, despite a law prohibiting it

Sellers were willing to sell cannabis to pseudo-intoxicated buyers at 73.7% of visits (255 of 346). Only 6.9% of stores refused at both visits, while 54.3% sold at both visits. Stores with signs saying "no sales to intoxicated customers" refused more often (34.3%, p = 0.04), especially when buyers displayed more obvious intoxication signs (39.8%, p = 0.049).

Pseudo-patron study in January-June 2024. Trained actors visited 189 recreational cannabis stores twice in two large metropolitan areas, displaying alcohol intoxication behaviors while attempting to purchase cannabis. Observers recorded seller responses and store/seller characteristics. Logistic regression analyzed predictors of refusal.

Combining cannabis with alcohol increases impairment and harm risk. If laws prohibiting sales to intoxicated customers are largely unenforced, polysubstance-impaired driving and other harms may increase in legal cannabis markets.

This mirrors longstanding problems in alcohol retail, where responsible beverage service laws exist but compliance is inconsistent. Cannabis retail may benefit from the same interventions that improved alcohol service: training programs, enforcement checks, and penalty structures.

Two metropolitan areas in one state may not represent all markets. Pseudo-patrons may not perfectly simulate real intoxication. Only two visits per store. Cannot determine seller awareness of the law versus unwillingness to refuse.