On the heels of the company’s February announcement that they intend to acquire alcohol delivery app Drizly, Uber’s CEO Dara Khosrowshahi says cannabis delivery could be on the roadmap in the near future.
“When the road is clear for cannabis, when federal laws come into play, we’re absolutely going to take a look at it,” Dara Khosrowshahi told CNBC.
No, not Drizzy — Drizly
With new federal legislation in the works, there appears to be an opportunity to dominate delivery by simply extending Uber’s existing infrastructure. This is especially true with the help of Drizly’s proprietary ID-scanning technology, which drivers use at the door.
But… cannabis isn’t booze
Companies like Dutchie are already working with retailers on both sides of the border to deliver cannabis, and they’d likely say that there are specific challenges to cannabis that Uber isn’t familiar with. Retailers aren’t always equipped to maintain fast-moving inventories, for example.
It’s also tough to predict whether federal legislation would regulate delivery or if distribution would fall to state jurisdictions and what that would look like. A patchwork of regulations could make it difficult to pivot and scale.
What’s next
For now, Uber’s CEO says there are a lot of existing, legal delivery opportunities to mine, such as groceries and booze.
“We see so much opportunity out there,” he said, “and we’re going to focus on the opportunity at hand.”
