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 The first purchase from a ZaZZZ, as the user-automated machines are
called, was for one gram of a strain dubbed Girl Scout Cookies for
$15, inside Seattle Caregivers medical marijuana dispensary.
"It's a way to take something that has proven itself as a viable
business model throughout the last century, and bring it into the
21st century," said Stephen Shearin, president of technology company
American Green Inc, which provides the machines.
Washington state voters joined Colorado in 2012 in legalizing
recreational marijuana, ushering in retail shops carrying a range of
pot products for adults. Voters in Alaska and Oregon adopted similar
initiatives last year.
But in Washington state, a loosely regulated medical marijuana
industry runs alongside the recreational pot system.
The Seattle vending machine debut comes as lawmakers in Olympia
weigh numerous marijuana-related bills, including a wide-ranging
proposal to align the medical and recreational industries by phasing
out collective gardens and allowing medical dispensaries to
transition to recreational-use shops.
Shearin said about five ZaZZZ vending machines are currently planned
for Seattle and Washington state, with more slated for Colorado,
California, Michigan, Rhode Island and Alaska, all among the 23
states where medical marijuana is legal.
Marijuana vending machines are also provided by other companies,
such as California's Medbox Inc, but regulators in each state did
not know how many vending machines were operating.
The machines are upgraded versions of the first ZaZZZ machine that
opened last April in Colorado's Herbal Elements dispensary, which
only carries edibles.
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The Seattle machine was stocked with cannabis flower, vaporizer
pens, hemp-oil energy drinks and other merchandise, Shearin said,
adding that machines would carry unique products not available in
the dispensaries where they are located.
A buyer's medical marijuana license is checked by a dispensary
employee before that person can use the machine, which uses an
ID-card scanner.
At a recreational-use pot shop, such a machine would have to be
installed behind the counter and operated by an employee, under
Washington state law.
"What is the purpose of having a vending machine if it's got to be
manned?" said John Davis, who owns dispensaries in Seattle. "Why not
just sell them the product?"
(Additional reporting by David Ryder in Seattle)
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