Vending machines have long been used to hawk everything from Skittles and sandwiches to juice and java, but now one is being used to offer a new product: medical marijuana.
Not just anyone can pop some coins in and get some bud. The machine, developed by Los Angeles medical-marijuana dispensary owner Vincent Mehdizadeh, gives up to an ounce of pot per week only to preapproved patients.
The specialized machine installed Monday at Herbal Nutrition Center - a medical-marijuana dispensary on La Cienega Boulevard - requires fingerprint identification as well as a special prepaid card.
"I wanted to take steps to benefit the industry," said Mehdizadeh, who owns two dispensaries. "We have legitimate patients that need us."
Mehdizadeh's machine is far from the standard potato-chip model. The black, armored box is bolted to the floor at the entrance to the dispensary.
It has a card swiper, a video camera that also takes a snapshot of any user and adds it to a database, and is protected by armed security guards.
Beginning today, Mehdizadeh said, he will start fingerprinting patients who want to use the machine, which will dispense five types of marijuana: Platinum Kush, Fire O.G., Bubba Kush, Purple Kush and Wild Cherry.
Mehdizadeh says the machine offers greater convenience to patients seeking the drug to ease everything from chronic pain to sleeping problems.
http://www.dailynews.com/breakingnews/ci_8104481
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