Strange

LA's weed vending machines

by cynthia yoo | January 27, 2008 at 11:35 am

5700 views | 11 Recommendations | 7 comments

The SFist thought they would be to first to come up with automatic marijuana vending machines, but I'm surprised our very own lotusland didn't beat either of these cities to the punch.

Yes, Mary Jane is now available via vending machine, but just how many hoops will you have to jump through to get at her? First, you must have a medical marijuana prescription. Next, you will need to be fingerprinted before purchasing a pre-paid credit card with your dosage imprinted upon it. Once you have the credit card in hand, you can enter the "standalone room" that is "protected by round-the-clock security guards." Then you can run home in glee at having paid for weed. from. a. vending. machine.

This is a well-timed advertisement for the vending machines, we suppose, given that the California Supreme Court has ruled that medical marijuana users can now be fired from their jobs if tested positive for the drug. In case you don't want to be seen entering your dispensary of choice by your boss, perhaps you can go for a late-night run for your pot strain of choice (OG Cush or Grandaddy Purple, according to Thrillist). If you move to LA, that is.

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Jordan Yerman

at 12:13 on January 27th, 2008

It seems more like a gimmick than anything, with the same requirements as fulfilling a prescription face to face.[q
url="http://rawstory.com/news/2007/Medical_marijuana_dispensed_by_vending_machine_0125.html"]The
PVM ("prescription vending machine") will dispense medications,
including Cannabis, also known as marijuana. A strict verification
process is required to obtain an access card to operate the machine,
including a face-to-face consultation and fingerprinting.

Cannabis can be legally recommended for medical reasons in
California under Proposition 215 (or the Compassionate Use Act of
1996), though use, therapeutic or otherwise, remains outlawed on a
federal level.

[/q]

nancybroden

at 12:26 on January 27th, 2008

As you might expect, there is much more of a laissez-faire attitude about this in Europe. I caught sight of this, ice tea with Swiss cannabis, in a vending machine in a train station in a little alpine hamlet. No prescription required... Its effectiveness isn't guaranteed either, of course. :-)

Nancy Broden has contributed a photo to this story.

Johnzo Washington

at 13:11 on January 27th, 2008

This illustration was originally for Lawrence.com's magazine edition, and the article was about medicinal marijuana use; the article had three subjective stories, two of which involved patients who benefited from marijuana use, and one story about a grower citing medicinal use as a cover for his operation. The editor was Phil Cauthon, and the article can be found at Lawrence.com. The illustration is by John Lee and more work can be found at Mervsplace.com.

Johnzo Washington has contributed a photo to this story.