There are people who carry a medical marijuana card, so these vending machines will make marijuana easy accessible for these individuals. Is it legal? What do you think about them?
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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... |
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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. |
Rather off topic, but... I believe in Mexico, marijuana is legalized to treat patients with chronic arthritis and other ailments. However, doctors are the only ones authorized to prescribe the marijuana for their patients. I also read somewhere that at one time, Canada was contemplating in legalizing marijuana for medicinal purposes. |
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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. |
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