Drug depot delivery devices and methods for delivering a drug depot to a site beneath the skin of a patient are provided. In various embodiments the device has a housing having a top housing end, and a bottom housing end. The housing defines a housing channel. The device has a drug cartridge defining a depot channel aligned with the housing channel and configured to slidably accept the drug depot. The drug cartridge has at least a first occluding device configured to occlude the depot channel at a first position such that the drug depot cannot pass through the depot channel without force applied to the drug depot sufficient to deflect the first occluding device. The bottom end of the housing has a coupling configuration for engaging a cannula. A plunger has a push rod to expel the drug depot through the occluding device and the cannula.