Oct. 23: Rhode Island regulators vote 2-1 to expand cannabis home delivery to 7 a.m.-11 p.m.; start date not yet set

Rhode Island's Cannabis Control Commission voted 2-1 on Friday, Oct. 23, to change the hours licensed retailers may deliver cannabis to customers' homes, from the current 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. window to 7 a.m. to 11 p.m. That adds one hour in the morning and three hours at night, NBC 10 (WJAR) reported. The vote reverses the commission's position from just five weeks earlier, when it unanimously turned down a petition asking for the same hours.

The new hours are not in effect yet. As of Oct. 26, Rhode Island's published regulation still limits home delivery to 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., and no effective date for the change has been announced, The Marijuana Herald reported. The state's online code of regulations, checked Oct. 26, still shows the 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. language in the version effective March 17, 2026.

What the commission voted on

The Oct. 23 meeting was held at 1 p.m. at the Public Utilities Commission building in Warwick. Item G on the posted agenda called for "review, discussion and potential vote on amending 560-RICR-10-10-2.17 of the Commission's regulations to change permitted cannabis home delivery hours from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. to 7 a.m. to 11 p.m."

Section 2.17 is the part of the commission's operations regulation that governs home delivery by licensed cannabis retailers. Its transportation rules currently say: "Home delivery may only be conducted between the hours of 8:00 a.m. and 8:00 p.m. EST."

Chair Michelle Reddish and Commissioner Olayiwola "Layi" Oduyingbo supported the change, and Commissioner Robert Jacquard voted against it, according to The Marijuana Herald and WJAR.

What the commissioners said

Reddish said the commission had received more than one request on the issue. "We've had a couple petitions now requesting those delivery hours be extended, so licensees are just looking for an opportunity to expand their time earlier in the morning and a little later in the afternoon," she told WJAR.

Oduyingbo said commissioners had looked at how other states handle cannabis delivery. "Just continuing to move forward in this industry any way we can, and extending the delivery hours looks like a way we could do that," he said, according to WJAR. The station reported that some commissioners argued there are no major risks from adding a few extra hours on the road.

Jacquard objected both to the later hours and to doorstep cannabis delivery in general. "The later you go into the evening, I just think it invites the potential for violence, and I don't agree with endorsing that type of a system to be delivering at those late hours," he told WJAR.

Two earlier petitions were denied

This is the third time this year the commission has taken up longer delivery hours, according to its meeting records.

On March 13, the commission considered a petition received Feb. 13 from Raymond White of the Slater Compassion Center in Providence. It asked that deliveries be allowed during each retailer's normal business hours instead of the fixed 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. window. According to the approved March 13 minutes, staff noted that this would create different delivery windows for each store, depending on local limits on operating hours. Jacquard said tying delivery to store hours could push deliveries in some cities to 11 p.m. or later, and that cannabis delivery is not comparable to services such as food delivery. Oduyingbo agreed there were safety concerns, especially with later evening hours, and asked for more information on staffing and safety in different areas. The commission voted unanimously to deny that petition.

On Sept. 18, the commission took up a second petition, received Aug. 26 from Liam Bulger, chief administrative officer and compliance director of Mother Earth Wellness, a licensed compassion center. That petition asked for exactly the hours approved on Oct. 23: 7 a.m. to 11 p.m. According to the draft minutes of the Sept. 18 meeting, Jacquard repeated his safety concerns and opposed the change. Oduyingbo asked for more research on delivery hours and related safety risks in other states before deciding, and Reddish spoke about balancing business interests with public safety.

The commission voted unanimously on Sept. 18 to deny that petition, "with the understanding that Commission staff would conduct further research regarding expanded delivery hours and associated safety considerations" and that the commission would revisit the matter later, the draft minutes say. The Oct. 23 vote was that return to the issue. The Sept. 18 minutes posted on the commission's website are still marked as an unapproved draft; approving them was item B on the Oct. 23 agenda.

What the delivery rules already require

The hours are only one part of Rhode Island's home-delivery rules, and the rest of section 2.17 was not on the Oct. 23 agenda. Under the current regulation:

• A licensed retailer may deliver only after it applies for and receives a variance from the commission, and its home delivery plan must be approved by the commission.
• Products may be delivered only to an adult 21 or older with valid government ID, or to a registered medical patient or caregiver, at a Rhode Island address. Age or patient status must be checked before the sale, and the name on the order must match the ID shown at the door.
• Delivery vehicles must qualify as authorized transport vehicles, be driven by a commercial cardholder of the licensed business, follow transport manifest rules and stop only at addresses on the manifest.
• A delivery vehicle may not carry more than $7,500 worth of cannabis products at a time, and only for orders placed before it leaves the store.
• Cash payment at the door is not allowed; orders must be paid in advance or electronically at delivery, and all orders, payments and deliveries must be tracked in the retailer's seed-to-sale system, with the commission given real-time access.
• Delivered products must be priced the same as in the store, though retailers may charge a standard delivery fee.
• Compassion centers and hybrid retailers must make delivery available to registered patients statewide at least once every 15 days, and may not charge patients more than $10 per delivery.

Not every dispensary in the state offers delivery, WJAR noted.

Rhode Island's market

At the Sept. 18 meeting, Reddish reported that Rhode Island's licensed retail cannabis sales for August 2026 totaled about $10.6 million, including about $9.5 million in adult-use sales and $1.04 million in medical sales, according to the draft minutes. She also reported that the commission's inspectors had carried out 74 inspections of licensed cannabis, hemp and CBD businesses.

What happens next

The Marijuana Herald reported that the vote does not on its own allow retailers to start delivering until 11 p.m. Until an amended section 2.17 takes effect, the published 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. window remains the rule. Once the change is in place, the daily delivery window would grow from 12 hours to 16 hours.

The Oct. 23 agenda said the commission would combine its November and December meetings into one meeting on Dec. 4, 2026, which it listed as its next meeting date.

This report summarizes state meeting records, regulations and news coverage. It is not legal advice.