Washington’s State Liquor and Cannabis Board (LCB) has given cannabis dispensaries the green light to give out free cannabis joints to any adult who gets a COVID-19 vaccine.
The “Joint for Jabs” initiative will start this week and run until Monday, July 12th, 2021. As part of the initiative, local cannabis dispensaries have been given permission to hand out a single, pre-rolled cannabis joint to people getting a COVID-19 vaccine.
To qualify, Americans will need to receive their vaccine in the same trip as their joint. It can be their first or second vaccine. The promotion is limited to people over the age of 21. According to LCB, the initiative is an effort to “support COVD-19 vaccinations”.
LCB today announced that it would provide a temporary allowance to state-licensed cannabis retailers to provide one joint to adult consumers who receive a vaccination at an in-store vaccination clinic.
However, this isn’t the first cannabis-for-COVID initiative to make headlines in America.
Another Joints for Jabs initiative was run in Washington DC by advocacy body DC Marijuana Justice (DCMJ). This is the same group that ran #Trump420. DCMJ handed out free, homegrown cannabis to adults at COVID-19 vaccine sites on April 20th. In total, they estimate that they gave away over 8 pounds of dried cannabis across 4,200 joints. The initiative spread across 30 vaccine sites in total.
An Arizona-based dispensary has also recently incentivised people to get their COVID shot with cannabis. The Mint Cannabis dispensary gave a free cannabis edible or a pre-rolled joint to anyone 18+ who received a COVID shot across three locations in Guadalupe, Mesa and Phoenix. The Mint Collective also gave their initiative a fun name: “Snax for Vaxx”.
So far, these cannabis for COVID initiatives have proved successful, though cannabis is only legal in 17 US states. Other states have also launched creative incentives for people to get vaccinated, offering lottery tickets, food, university scholarships, and even beer. Over 42% of Americans are now fully vaccinated for COVID-19.
The latest Jabs for Joints initiative is limited to people in the Washington area, though there’s nothing stopping Australian states from legalising cannabis and rolling out a similar initiative here.
