POT vending machines in L.A.
January 30th, 2008
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 & 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 & owner Vincent Mehdizadeh said, extolling the benefits of the machine. Here’s a surprise: 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 & patent the black, armored box, which he calls the “PVM,” or prescription vending machine. The computerized machine requires fingerprint identification & a prepaid card with a magnetic stripe. Once the card & fingerprint are verified, a bright green envelope with the pot drops down a slot. POT DOWN A SLOT. Mehdizadeh also says any user approved for medical marijuana & registered in a computer database at his dispensaries can pre-purchase the drug & use the machine to pick up. 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. 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. Kris Hermes, a spokesman for advocacy group Americans for Safe Access, said the machine might benefit those who already know how much & what strain of marijuana they’re looking for. But he said others will want to see & smell the drug before they buy it.
What a great country California is!
January 30th, 2008 at 1:12 pm
DEA Special Agent Jose Martinez forgot to say,” … and send billy-bob out to pick his own switch from the hedges and whip him til he cries and then tell him if he doesn’t stop he’ll give ‘im sometin to cry about.”
I say do like in WWII and make about 5,000 cheaper vending machines and place them in strategic s-pots (in his hood). Keep it as secret as possible and move them periodicly.
Baltimore’s crime rate would be cut in half if they placed a few on and around Howard St and it would bring people back to the heart of town, bring homeowners and industry back within the citylimits.
I’m against legalizing it to the general populace because I’ve witnesses one too many souls that are out there in left field with or without partaking. There are those, too, who drink legally then blame their stupid actions on the fact that they took a drag of ‘herbo bieno’.
Get real SCX conductor.
Let’s not forget the lushes on capital hill taking bribes from gun and alcohol lobbyists.
Too bad we don’t have S.W.A.T. teams in B-more that just show up at night with a portable B-hoop and simply catch a crime in the making. I mean, all this is happening right on our steets, right in front of us and RIGHT… you keep defending people like DuPont Mr. Martinez. You probably didn’t know that they sponsored ‘Reefer Madness’. What a coincident that they also were just developing polymers! Hemp was their enemy, too!
PS Keep planting, keep growing and keep the peace.
January 30th, 2008 at 2:04 pm
All we have heard from the Bush administration is how the Democrats want more government regulation. How they they would like to downsize government involvement by letting states decide on issues that taking a stand on pushes them over one side of the fence. Then you have a group of states who decide to allow Marijuana for medicinal use and all of the sudden they won’t recognize the individual State laws and send in the DEA. Just another example of how the Republicans contradict themselves…..You know, kinda of like believeing Abortion is murder but Capital Punishment is acceptable. Give me a break, we all know the bottom line is MONEY so why not bite the bullett and legalize pot to make the tax dollars…..Oh Wait….Then the funding we secretly send to third world countries to supply us with drugs would have to stop. You can bet one thing they make much more with the system as is or they would have already legalized it.
January 30th, 2008 at 2:12 pm
How can we get the same thing here in Oklahoma?
I suffer and they tell me this medicine would help.
I am 73 years old and if I could get hold of it I would take it or smoke it.