Are you high? Vending machines could sell pot, booze
Company tests convenient cannabis
It might sound like an idea someone drunk or high would dream up, but vending machines could sell alcohol and marijuana.
American Green, a medical- cannabis technology company, unveiled a prototype for a vending machine that uses biometric verification technology to sell controlled and age- restricted items, including pharmaceuticals, casi- no chips and firearms.
The device would be ideal for casinos that want to go cashless; drugstores looking to sell controlled items, such as Claritin D, off- site; pot dispensaries; and ballparks, according to COO Stephen Shearin. The machine is outfitted with a camera.
A user would set up an account with a government- issued ID and, when needed, a medical prescription. A scan of the account holder’s finger would verify the person’s identity.
Erik Altieri, executive director of the marijuana legalization advocacy group NORML, sees this as a good option for, say, a senior center, where older people who need pot could get it easily without having to go all the way to a dispensary. Of the 29 medical marijuana states in the country, some, such as Louisiana, allow sales only in dispensaries. California is OK with off- site transactions.
“If it’s done in a responsible and safe way, then it’s an interesting and useful way to deploy technology to make access to medical marijuana more convenient,” he said. “Certainly, there’s still a stigma in more conservative ( places) for using marijuana, for medical or recreational. This could make individuals who need it more comfortable. They won’t run into their pastor or kindergarten teacher outside a dispensary.”
Altieri warned against placing such vending machines in places where children would see them and against stocking weed and alcohol together.
Don’t even think about cutting off someone else’s finger to gain access to his or her account. Sherain explained that the finger scanner looks at vein architecture, and if there’s no blood flowing through the dismembered digit, nothing will show up.
Tim Sanford, editor in chief of Vending Times, pooh- poohed concerns that a vending machine full of marijuana would be a tempting target for thieves. It would need to be placed in a safe, heavily trafficked area, where there would be no time to use high- voltage cutters to break into enforced steel boxes.
“If people are going to steal products out of a vending machine, they could probably find a better place to steal it from,” he said. “You could break into a liquor store.”