Haha, I want an LCD screen on there so people can see the weed that the heath insurance is providing. Way to go LA!

Given all the hoops you have to jump through to use the machine how is it better than going to a pharmacy (or wherever) and handing a piece of paper to a person?

According to the article linked below, "the U.S. Supreme Court declared in 2005 that state medicinal marijuana laws don't protect users from prosecution. The Drug Enforcement Administration and other federal agencies have been actively shutting down major medical marijuana dispensaries throughout California over the last two years and charging their operators with felony distribution charges."

Wonder if this is a circumvention method?

[www.usatoday.com]

"Holy crap, what country is LA in?"

a better one, definitely

I am jealous am people with glaucoma! I want some OG kush!

@Erzengel: It's a little known geographical fact that LA is actually smack dab in the middle of amsterdam.

Explains a lot, doesn't it?

@Erzengel:

Good call. My guess is that there weren't enough pharmacists willing to dispense it so they had to come up with a new plan. I'm willing to bet a billion dollars that the morning-after pill will be the next drug to be added to the machine's inventory.

I'm surprised the Governator hasn't shut em down yet.

I live in L.A. and I know from experience that the OG Kush is well worth every penny! The Super Silver Haze was damn good too.

This is SO Snow Crash

This is the most ridiculous crap ever...first of all medical weed is just a stupid concept, second how long is this machine going to be on the street corner before someone rolls up in a flatbed truck and jacks it

Living in LA really has its privileges :-D

Also- you hardly need glaucoma or cancer;
it's approved as a treatment for insomnia, anxiety, and depression,
which makes it pretty easy to get a prescription if you want one and are willing to pay.

@tdj114:

Actually, it isn't required that it be dispensed by a pharmacist.
You have to get a legit prescription from an MD,
but after that, it bypasses traditional medical vendors.

@soulman:

"how long is this machine going to be on the street corner before someone rolls up in a flatbed truck and jacks it"

From article: "These electronic drug dealers won't be out on the street next to a Pepsi machine, of course. No, they'll be 'housed in standalone rooms, abutting two dispensaries and protected by round-the-clock security guards.'"

you're an idiot, but don't worry no one really cares.

I think the Governator is not against this process.

@soulman:

How is medical weed a stupid concept? What do you think medicines have been made from for thousands of years?

Interesting, with small steps like this and the legislation up in Vermont maybe we can finally get rid of this idiotic stigma about how marijuana is worse for you than say smoking cigarettes and drinking massive amounts of alcohol.

Its so ironic and absurd that republicans are wholeheartedly fighting against states rights on issues like medical marijuana and vehicle emissions. They only support states rights when it helps them persecute minorities and homosexuals.

Personally I think CA should secede. We'd be better off (for every dollar Californians pay in taxes, the fed only spends $0.77 on the state...ripoff) and we'd be the world's fifth-largest economy.

Milfweed.

@m4ximusprim3: You do know Amsterdam is just a city, right? the country it's in is the Netherlands. Weed is just as legal here in Tiel as it is in Amsterdam.

I wonder if the idea behind this is to protect the people who dispense it by adding an additional layer of seperation between user and seller? "I didn't give them the weed, I just put it in the box."

Truly a Brave New World.

@Wasting-Time:
and prostitution in the Netherlands is legal to, get out here.

I packing my bags as we speak.

As a long time NorCal resident and previous hater of LA, I renig all bad things ive said about LA in the past.

Uhgg. My eyes hurt.
I think I cought a case of the 24 hr glaucoma.

@mullingitover: "Personally I think CA should secede. We'd be better off (for every dollar Californians pay in taxes, the fed only spends $0.77 on the state...ripoff) and we'd be the world's fifth-largest economy."

If you think that ratio is bad, try living in the EU. As for California being the world's fifth largest economy, sounds like you've been sampling the OG Kush!

Yeah, no joke, the pharmacists in LA give you a choice between OG Kush and Granddaddy Purple.

Yeah, no joke is right. I went out to see some friends a year ago and they bought me some legal medical stuff called "Romulan". I've never seen weed like that in Michigan, and literally, one hit and I was done.

Other varieties I've heard of:
Lemon Crush
Strawberry Cough
G-13
Lavender

My friends out there talk about going into the shops, letting the guy know what you're looking for, mellow, high, flying, upbeat or sleepy, and he starts telling you about different varieties that might meet your needs. It's like wine shopping for stoners.

@Out2gtcha:

I think I caught a case of the Gave-it-up-five-years-ago-but-now-I'm-booking-a-flight-to-LAX-inexplicably-itis. Now, five times fast...

From article: "These electronic drug dealers won't be out on the street next to a Pepsi machine, of course. No, they'll be 'housed in standalone rooms, abutting two dispensaries and protected by round-the-clock security guards.'"

So instead of having people go to a pharmacy, they're going to go to a special room with armed guards. Something just does not sound right about that.

@TheBear91: It's the Governator's secret plan to round up all hippies in LA.

Not only do you get a choice of medicine, but you can get cookies, brownies, butter, and best of all, clones. We still get busted here, but when you whip out your recommend, the cops smell paperwork and depending on what they caught you for are more inclined to let you go, (and give you your medicine back!)Other than this, LA sucks, though. Oh, the weather is usually good too, and the chicks aren't bad, but other than that LA sucks.

LA's not alone... pretty much the whole of southern CA is infiltrated by phenomenal marijuana (Phenomijuana?). And no, they don't give you two choices, some dispensaries have 75-100 different and unique strains covering a wide range of indicas, sativas and hybrids. This doesn't include all the edible food items (drinks, candy, breads, teas, pb&j, and I've even seen salad dressing and marinades). As well as hashish, hash oil, and kief. Want to make an easy million? Don't grow it, run a hydroponics shop selling grow equipment/fertilizers TO the growers. See, I've got this friend...

two words becoming one sweet product (that probably angers the hell out of anti-medical-marijuana)

Herojuana. Thats right, its a medical strand and if i knew what heroine was like, i could compare the two.

SOULMAN, You're an idiot - "This is the most ridiculous crap ever...first of all medical weed is just a stupid concept." ???

What is your reasoning behind this? Have you ever had a condition that medical marijuana could have helped? I had cancer and marijuana was the ONLY thing that eased the pain and relieved the nausea of chemotherapy. Don't comment on things you know nothing about.

First of all, medical insurance does NOT pay for this nonsense. And, med marijuana costs BIG bucks.

If you have a real need, and weed is the only way out of suffering, then fine. Otherwise, all you are doing is wasting the few brain cells that you have left.

I live here. I could get some. But, if you think I'm going to waste my money on this foolishness, you must be high already!

Marijuana is not a drug, it's a plant that has never killed a single person. Alcohol and tobacco are drugs and they kill millions of people each year and yet they are legal. I don't smoke pot, but I can point out logical fallacies when I sees 'em.

@soulman: My mom has fibromyalgia. She's been on every single drug possible for the pain, from traditional pain relievers to antidepressants. Guess what the only thing that works is?

Thank god for Hearst and his paper factories...

@tdj114: The morning after pill is freely available at any drugstore without a prescription.

Medical marijuana use and sale violates no state or local laws. Only the feds disrupt the process.

I'd be awesomer if it were one of those glass front vending machines that are usually filled with chips and candy. Can you imagine the weed getting caught on the spiral metal screw dispenser thingy. Getting thrown down by two guards as you slap and kick the side of the machine. Funny stuff really.

Everybody is looking at this like it makes weed easier to get to. In a pharmacy, workers and such steal stuff all the time, then there are mix-ups, etc. This is a way to make the distribution of it more regulated and secure. However you look at it, this is a better way to go.

Course I would just go down the street and score a bag... no paperwork to deal with. Wonder if the machine dispenses joints or if ya have to supply the pipe yourself. So much for a full-service vendor.

"But isn't marijuana or "dope" illegal?"

"Only for those who enjoy it..."

@NeoAkira: Yes, however don't you think a $8/hr security guard would help the flatbed driver load up the "AVM" after a small cash donation to the guard's pocket?

@feckineejit:
Yar. When was the last time anyone saw a wreck on the highway due to someone driving too fast cause they were stoned? (driving too slow maybe). How bout the last time you saw someone get in a bar fight because they were high? How bout the last time someone got arrested for attempted murder or burglary because they smoked a J or 2?
Has it ever happened? Maybe, but I've never heard of it.
Besides pot may be mentally addictive, but has never been proven to be physically addictive, unlike alcohol or tobacco.

How can you argue with the bible?
"I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it."
- Genesis 1:29

@Out2gtcha: does God want us to smoke Opium too?

@low_dirt: No but I would say that the Poppy has the most valuable medical implication. If you ever need morphine you would be out of luck.

@low_dirt:"Want to make an easy million? Don't grow it, run a hydroponics shop selling grow equipment/fertilizers TO the growers"

too bad in most states if youre caught selling hydroponics to people growing pot, your business and all your personal belongings will be confiscated

@LOW_DIRT:"does God want us to smoke Opium too?"

opium isnt a natural thing you dont just pick and smoke it

its a man made drug

@OUT2GTCHA: Does God want us eating mistletoe or hemlock? They're natural and unprocessed! Seriously, the "hey man it's like natural" thing is such a horrible argument. Especially when the same people claim cigarettes are worse for you than marijuana. Guess what? Tobacco is natural, too!

Meh, here in SF we just have it delivered.

The big problem I would have with this is not knowing how old the goodie is. Weed does not have the shelf life of a Twinkie!

@feckineejit:

Um....tobacco is a plant. Nicotine is the drug contained in that plant.
Pot and tobacco are both naturally occurring plants. Just because one is more addictive than the other doesn't change the fact that both are basically just dried leaves and buds.

@Out2gtcha:

Pot slows people down. It delays reaction times. They might drive slower, but that also slam on the brakes later than a sober person when a child runs in front of their car. Pot dulls your sense of judgement as well. While you may not get into a bar fight, do you regularly eat a 5lb bag of Dorritos when sober?

Also, 1 joint deposits the same amount of tar in your lungs that 4 cigarettes do.
People get lung cancer from pot, just like they do from smoking.

"I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it."
- Genesis 1:29

Tobacco is a plant that bears seeds.

Now, having said all that, if the government were to grow pot and sell joints in packs, like cigarettes, and tax them, and put the same restrictions on pot as they do on booze, we would have no federal deficit in 2 years, and taxes could be lowered.

The smoking lamp is lit, people. Smoke 'em if ya got 'em!

Dude..

I'm gonna write a really bitchin' post...

in a little while...

seriously...

dude...

what?

@soulman: Don't read much huh?

"These electronic drug dealers won't be out on the street next to a Pepsi machine, of course. No, they'll be "housed in standalone rooms, abutting two dispensaries and protected by round-the-clock security guards.

Fuck that, they are using the machines as a way to track who is buying and how much. I don't want to get fingerprinted to get my smoke. I'll stick with the classic methods thank you

Sing along if you know the words....

God Bless America,
Land that I love.
Stand beside her, and guide her
Thru the night with a light from above.

Everyone posting has missed the point of the machine. Many of the dispensaries (th PC term)in Los Angeles have been getting violently robbed of their product and money. Stocking everything in the machine means the only way to get robbed is if the gang brings a forklift or very big sledgehammers.

@EndlessMike: @ottermann:
All points of argument.
I would however like someone to point me to some proof of a person contracting lung cancer strictly from smoking pot.

As far as tobacco being natural (and green) yes it is. BUT, the point I was driving at is the legalization of pot is not the end-all be-all answer, but unlike a pot plant, you have a whole other process tobacco has to go through to get it in the form humans consume; a man made process, including adding non-natural chemicals.

I'm no religious person at all, and not a hippie or naturalist by any means, I was basically just pointing out the discrepancies in the behavior most people exhibit when high on pot VS when drunk or high on powers/pills.

For the record, even if (and I don't know 4 sure I'm no doc) the tar deposits of 1 joint are equal to 4 cigarettes, pot still comes out on the "less bad 4 U" side as most who smoke cigs smoke WAY more than 4 a day, but some who smoke pot (including me) don't even smoke 1 joint a day regularly with work and social activities, so that argument is moot 4 me. I'm sure some smoke WAY more than 1 or 2 joints a day but still that's not even remotely close to a pack of smokes, which is not an unusual amount for a regular smoker; or more.

@ottermann:
I've never eaten a 5lb bag of Doritos when stoned. LOL another "I'm stoned so I can't control how much I eat…….." stereotype. Coming from someone that sounds like they have never smoked pot, it's not a very credible sounding argument. It sounds like you've watched to many anti-pot, "we're in the drive through stoned, and hit the little girl on her bike" commercials.

Munchies? Yeah, but unlike the stereotypes, you don't loose all your self control when high. You can easily say no to more pot after your high, because once U R high enough, you don't want any more; unlike Tobacco and alcohol which can change your physical need to ingest that substance.
But as you said; leagalize it, and tax it. DONE.

We're finally closing the vending machine gap. Japan has been the world leader for far too long!

@EndlessMike: Of course God doesn't want you eating mistletoe or hemlock -- that's why they kill you.

As for the "pot has more tar than cigarettes" canard, even if we accept as fact the idea that 1 joint has as many carcinogens as four cigarettes (which I don't necessarily accept), can you show me anybody who smokes 10 joints a day? I can show you a whole bunch of people who smoke 40 cigarettes -- 2 packs -- a day. And they're usually the ones who get lung cancer.

We could very easily make pot work within the current framework of laws (no selling to minors, no driving under the influence, etc), but instead we choose to keep it completely illegal. Why? The government makes tons of money seizing property from "drug operations", and the tobacco and alcohol lobbies pay dearly to keep the competition out of the picture. Pure and simple.