Pot Vending Machines Accepting Bitcoin
A COMPANY CALLED AMERICAN GREEN
HAS RECENTLY BUILT
A POT VENDING MACHINE
WHICH SEEMS RATHER A HIGH TECH
WAY TO SELL MOOD ALTERING DRECK..
WHILE i'M NOT SURE I SEE ANY POINT
OF USING THIS GADGET TO SELL A JOINT
THERE MUST BE ONE.
SINCE OTHERS PERHAPS SMARTER THAN i
SEEM TO FIND IT FUN
AND A CONVENIENT WAY TO GET HIGH..
BUT IF THIS EXCLUSIVE GROUP
YOU'D LIKE TO JOIN
YOU MAY FIRST HAVE TO LEARN THE SCOOP
ABOUT BIT COIN*
hzl
6/21/15
*which, while it may or may not be safe,
I would assume isn't traif
Bitcoin-Friendly Cannabis Vending Machines Make 'Historic ...
cointelegraph.com/.../bitcoin-friendly-cannabis-vending-machines-make...Feb 5, 2015 - With the ZaZZZ, paying for cannabis with Bitcoin is straightforward and... Similar to vending machines that dispense snacks or drinks, ZaZZZ ...
RE: traif
Traif - American (New) - Williamsburg - South Side ... - Yelp
www.yelp.com/biz/traif-brooklyn
Yelp
An Evening at Traif - Tablet Magazine – Jewish News and ...
www.tabletmag.com/scroll/30982/an-evening-at-traif
Apr 15, 2010 - It was opening night for the restaurant Traif, which is dedicated to serving almost exclusively non-kosher cuisine. Traif (meaning “unkosher” in ..
Tablet
The Radical Efficiency of the Pot Vending Machine
Seattle just got a new kind of marijuana dispensary—the result not just of changing laws, but of technological progress.
And now… pot.
After medicinal marijuana was legalized in Washington state in 2012, dispensaries sprang, almost fully formed, from a previously underground market. In short order—the second law of vendodynamics being what it is—something else sprang up to sell edibles while avoiding the awkward middleman of a human: the vending machine, gone to pot.
This week brings yet more disruption, in the form of a machine in Seattle that cuts even more to the chase: It sells only buds. (Well, buds plus some strategic accessories: vaporizer pens, hemp-oil energy drinks, and the like.) The machine, situated against a wall of the Seattle Caregivers medical marijuana dispensary, was manufactured by the craftily named tech firm American Green, Inc. It is called ZaZZZ. It features, user interface-wise, a touchscreen and little else. It is, obviously, painted green.
For weed, of course, the challenges are even more complicated because of the messy legalities of an industry that has only recently been recognized as an industry in the first place. (The machine’s debut, Reuters notes, “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.”) So, for one thing: How do you supply the machine with product that has been legally obtained? For another, how do you ensure, in the absence of a discerning human, that the person buying the pot is legally able to do so? And how do you accomplish all that in a way that preserves the ease and convenience of a vending machine?
The ZaZZZ starts with its touchscreen, keeping its products—unlike, say, old-school, snack-focused vending machines—hidden from view. The screen isn’t just an ordering interface; it also allows the machine to offer in-depth information, medical and otherwise, about the strains of marijuana being sold under its auspices.
The weed itself, for its part, is obtained from growers based in Washington state. American Green is based in Tempe, Arizona—and federal laws prohibit the shipping of medical marijuana products across state lines.
The most crucial component of the machine, however, from both a legal and a technological point of view, is its ability to match the face of the pot-purchaser with the ID he or she presents as proof of medical eligibility. When buying marijuana, self-service-style, you start by swiping your ID. Then, the ZaZZZ uses a set of cameras—backed up with facial recognition software—to match your face to the ID you’ve presented.
The machine, Stephen Shearin, president of American Green, explains, is "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." Around five ZaZZZ machines, he told Reuters, are currently being planned for locations in Seattle and around Washington state. More are slated for Alaska, California, Colorado, Michigan, and Rhode Island.
So what was the first purchase made from this game-changing marvel of modern technology? A single gram of pot, sold for $15. It was nicknamed "Girl Scout Cookies."
American Green Builds World’s First Marijuana Vending Machine Accepts Bitcoin
2015/02/08 8:00 AM
American Green, a leader in the new legal weed industry, has deployed the world’s first marijuana vending machine. Vending machines dispensing marijuana related products first made their debut last year and have been limited to selling cannabis-infused foods or edibles. But this bud vending machine, like of all American Green’s previous machines, accepts bitcoin.
“[Consumers] can legally purchase the goods and must pay in cash or bitcoin since the federal government doesn’t allow debit or credit cards to be used in the sale of marijuana,” said Greg Patrick, a spokesman for American Green.
Like the rest of the industry, American Green walks a thin line between legal and illegal; some state laws allowing the company to provide it’s vending machines, while federal laws ban the sale and consumption of marijuana. Because of this legal haziness, credit card companies won’t do business with them — leaving them to turn to alternatives like cash or bitcoin.
“It’s historic, there’s just no other way to state it. We saw the repeal of prohibition in the early 20th century and the mark that made on our country and the companies that did it right,” Patrick said. “We’re in that stage. This will only happen once in our country’s history, the repeal of this prohibition.”
After
scanning their medical marijuana IDs or driver’s license, customers will be prompted by the machine’s touch screen. After clicking on the “green” item in the product menu, the machine will ask you how you would like to pay. If you choose bitcoin, a QR code will pop up which you can scan and pay. Then, a in fashion similar to candy or soda vending machines, a plastic case of weed will be dispensed.
scanning their medical marijuana IDs or driver’s license, customers will be prompted by the machine’s touch screen. After clicking on the “green” item in the product menu, the machine will ask you how you would like to pay. If you choose bitcoin, a QR code will pop up which you can scan and pay. Then, a in fashion similar to candy or soda vending machines, a plastic case of weed will be dispensed.
“Providing a payment facility that has a super-low cost to it, like bitcoin, is an effective way to provide these guys, dispensaries and dispensary owners, with a means of doing their business that is more efficient than other facilities that charge a higher fee,”Stephen Shearin, American Green COO, said in an interview.
For now, these marijuana vending machines are only available in Washington state. Due to federal laws, they are unable to be shipped over state lines. The company will bring the machines to other US states that have legalized weed to one degree or another, but will first need to establish suppliers in the state. The company plans to bring its vending machines to those states later this year.
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