[Vision2020] Pot Vending Machines in Los Angeles

[Tom Hansen]

>From the Associated Press at:

http://tinyurl.com/376mdo

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Pot Vending Machines in LA

http://tinyurl.com/2f5fv7
Los Angeles medical-cannabis dispensary owner Vincent Mehdizadeh poses 
with his new Marijuana vending machine installed at the Herbal Nutrition 
Center in Los Angeles, Tuesday, Jan. 29, 2008. The black, armored machine 
is bolted to the floor dispenses medical-cannabis to patients who provide 
a doctor's prescription and special identification card and their 
fingerprints. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)

LOS ANGELES (AP) — 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.

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.

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."

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Seeya round town, Moscow.

Tom Hansen
Moscow, Idaho

"People who ridicule others while hiding behind anonymous monikers in chat-
room forums are neither brave nor clever." 

- Latah County Sheriff Wayne Rausch (August 21,
2007)

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