Machines distribute the drug to people with cards authorizing use
Los Angeles medical-cannabis

LOS ANGELES - The city that popularized the fast food drive-thru has a new innovation: 24-hour medical marijuana vending machines.

Patients suffering from chronic pain, loss of appetite and other ailments that marijuana is said to alleviate can get their pot with a dose of convenience at the Herbal Nutrition Center, where a large machine will dole out the drug around the clock.

"Convenient access, lower prices, safety, anonymity," inventor and owner Vincent Mehdizadeh said, extolling the benefits of the machine.
But federal drug agents say the invention may need unplugging.

"Somebody owns (it), it's on a property and somebody fills it," said DEA Special Agent Jose Martinez. "Once we find out where it's at, we'll look into it and see if they're violating laws."

At least three dispensaries in the city, including two belonging to Mehdizadeh, have installed vending machines to distribute the drug to people who carry cards authorizing marijuana use.

Mehdizadeh said he spent seven months to develop and patent the black, armored box, which he calls the "PVM," or prescription vending machine.

Convenience and privacy
A sliding fence protects the tinted windows of his dispensary, barely distinguishing it from a busy thoroughfare of strip malls, automobile dealers and furniture shops. A box resembling a large refrigerator stands inside the nearly empty shop, near a few shelves stocked with vitamins and herbs.

A guard in a black T-shirt emblazoned with the word "Security" on the front stands at the door. A poster of Bob Marley decorates a back room.

The computerized machine requires fingerprint identification and a prepaid card with a magnetic stripe. Once the card and fingerprint are verified, a bright green envelope with the pot drops down a slot.

Mehdizadeh says any user approved for medical marijuana and registered in a computer database at his dispensaries can pre-purchase the drug and then use the machine to pick up.

The process provides convenience and privacy for users who may otherwise feel uncomfortable about buying marijuana, Mehdizadeh said.

At the Timothy Leary Medical Dispensary in the San Fernando Valley, the vending machine is accessible only during business hours. An employee there said the machine was introduced about five months ago, and provides speedy service.

"It helps a lot of patients who are in a lot of pain and don't want to wait around to get help," Robert Schwartz said. "It's been working out great."

Mehdizadeh said he sought the advice of doctors, and decided to limit the amount of marijuana per user to an ounce per week. Each purchase from the machine yields 1/8th or 2/8th of an ounce. By eliminating a vendor behind the counter, he said, the machine offers users lower drug prices. The 1/8th ounce packet would cost about $40 — $20 lower than the average price at other dispensaries.

'It's to medicate'
A spokesman for a marijuana advocacy group said the machine also benefits dispensary owners.

"It limits the number of workers in the store in the event of a raid, and it'll make it harder for theft," said Nathan Sands, of The Compassionate Coalition.

Marijuana use is illegal under federal law, which does not recognize the medical marijuana laws in California and 11 other states.

The Drug Enforcement Agency and other federal agencies have been actively shutting down major medical marijuana dispensaries throughout the state over the last two years and charging their operators with felony distribution charges.

Mehdizadeh said the Herbal Nutrition Center was the target of a federal raid in December. He said no arrests were made and no charges have been filed against him.

Kris Hermes, a spokesman for advocacy group Americans for Safe Access, said the machine might benefit those who already know how much and what strain of marijuana they're looking for. But he said others will want to see and smell the drug before they buy it.

A man who said he has been authorized to use medical marijuana as part of his anger management therapy said the vending machine's security measures would at least protect against illicit use of the drug.

"You have kids that want to get high and that's not what marijuana is for," Robert Miko said. "It's to medicate."



Pot vending machines take root in L.A. - Health care - MSNBC.com

Best.Quote.Ever.

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Am I alone in thinking this is actually quite a good idea? As a way of forcing marijuana use into the open, rather than imagining it's somehow possible to sto people using it at all, I mean.

it, eventually, is to dispense medication from anti-depressants and pain medicines to viagra.

& i didn't know that it was a medication for anger management.

Prescription pot in vending machines | USATODAY.com Video

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Marijuana vending machines is nothing new... Marijuana machines are all over NYC.... Thank you Gulliani

great idea....but i dunno about the fact that the machine/system could be open to manipulation despite card/inger prints/security. But at least you know your product isn't laced with shit.

you're not alone in thinking that, but I think this is the reason it's so hard to get things like these to happen. to you and I, getting it out in the open and accepting that it will not stop is a positive thing, but to uptight types, it's one of their worst nightmares.

I suppose. Since someone came up with "cannabis psychosis" they've got a fallback. It's a shame it wasn't legalised years ago really, we'd have a lot of potential dangerous criminals who by now would be too lazy to commit any crimes.

People might as well just get the fuck over it with their up tight asses. People and kids are going to smoke weed if they want to. there is no stopping it, sure you can do all the stupid parenting shit but really they aren't going to listen. They have to try shit on their own. I honestly, don't care if they have weed vending machines, I think it's a good idea actually. It grows in the fucking dirt, and the world is basically dying because of the government and doctors? Whats that called.. Hmm how about prescription pills? My mom was on xanax and tried to ween herself off of them and fucking had a spazz out and went into a seizure because of it. The marijuana high last maybe a couple hours, makes you hungry and sometimes parioniod. It's not physically addictive and doesn't really have any side effects. Just legalize it already, seriously.