Vending Machines

[palmspringsbum]

pot to go

<span class=postbigbold>The War on Ignorance
</span>
The Anchor
By: Andrew Massey
Posted: 2/5/08

According to CNN, in Los Angeles a new type of vending machine has been introduced; one that dispenses medicinal marijuana. My only question is: what pothead thought of that? I'm all for the legalization of marijuana, but it is still illegal in many states (not to mention under federal law), and putting it in plain view is like waving a steak in front of a lion with the munchies.

The marijuana will be held in a machine called the PVM or prescription vending machine. Hopefully, the machine will be used for dispensing other prescription drugs, if the idea catches. In principle, the machine eliminates the need for a pharmacist and lowers the cost of drugs by about $20 to $40, according to MSNBC. If the idea does catch, it could help seniors pay for their medications and help people in lower-income households.

Now, to avoid abuse, there is a 28g per month limit and the machine will dispense 7g or 3.5g packets with each purchase. In order to access the machine, you must have a pre-paid security card and use the fingerprint scanner. Without this, you will not gain access to the drugs.

However, the biggest issue is this: no safe is impenetrable. If someone has enough desire to get inside those vending machines, they will break into them and steal them. Never underestimate the power of a motivated pothead. Even bank vaults can be broken into.

Even if people are not trying to break into the machines, there are easier ways to get the drugs, such as robbing a person who just purchased from the machine. I have a feeling there will be a lot of that once these machines get popular. Also, even though the machine regulates usage, someone will probably try and sell their marijuana at double or even four times what they paid for it. One of the more common things that will happen will be people going to doctors looking for ways to get medical marijuana, much like they do now with pain killers.

Another thing you have to worry about is corruption. If the owner of a vending machine decides to give a drug dealer access to his machine for part of his profits, then a drug dealer could have easy access to weed and no one would be the wiser. There are so many ways that a drug vending machine can be abused. That will end up costing the consumer, making the drugs in the machine almost, if not as, expensive as getting drugs from a pharmacist.

In the face of all of this, I think any drug that can get a person high should not be where the public can reach them, like in a vending machine. They should be behind a counter where there is a pharmacist and several cameras. If they put the machines in places like CVS and have security for it then I can see it working. But the cost of the machines, maintenance, and security will end up increasing the price of the drug. That may defeat the purpose of the machines.

I'm all for the use of marijuana for medical purposes, if it is what gets the job done. I just think that until marijuana becomes entirely legal, for both medical and recreational purposes, it should not be in a vending machine. It is just too tempting for addicts and dealers alike. Too many people will get hurt over it and a seemingly innocent idea will go sour quickly. Keep drugs like marijuana where they belong; behind the counter.


<hr class=postrule>
<small>Andrew Massey is a third year Psychology major and the current Opinions and Lifestyles editor of the Anchor Newspaper. He is the reason you should not consume alcohol or marijuana while pregnant.</small>

[palmspringsbum]

Drug monitoring agency "concerned" about US marijuana vending machines

February 9, 2008

VIENNA (AFP) — The International Narcotics Control Board (INCB), a drug-monitoring agency, said it was "deeply concerned" that vending machines selling medical marijuana were being installed in Los Angeles, in a statement Friday.

"We know that the use of cannabis is illegal under federal law of the United States and we trust the authorities will stop such activities, which contravene the international drug control treaties," INCB president Philip Emafo said in the statement.

The Los Angeles Daily News reported in late January that patients with a special authorisation could obtain up to one ounce (28 grammes) of marijuana per week from special vending machines located in and around Los Angeles.

But the INCB, which monitors the implementation of UN drug conventions, noted: "So far, the results of research regarding the potential therapeutic usefulness (of cannabis) have been limited."

California is one of 11 US states to allow the use of marijuana for medical purposes, it added.

[palmspringsbum]

February 9, 2008


LA Vending Machines Have Gone to Pot


The LAist

Slide your money in the slot, press the right alphanumeric combo, and down drops a treat for you to reach in and grab.

That's vending machine magic in a nutshell. But LA's got some new vending machines that are raising some eyebrows, and possibly violating some international treaties. They are the newly installed marijuana vending machines that are operating out of at least three of the city's medical marijuana dispensaries, and the International Narcotics Control Board is reportedly worried that the overall illegality of the drug is being ignored, and that the therapeutic use of marijuana has not been sufficiently proved effective.

Although California is one of 11 states that allows medical use of marijuana, the "Drug Enforcement Agency and other U.S. agencies have been shutting down major medical marijuana dispensaries throughout California in the last two years and charging their operators with felony distribution charges."

Supporters of the machines--"which dispense 1/8th or 2/8th of an ounce of marijuana at a time"--make their purchase safer and more affordable. Users of the machine must carry cards authorizing them to purchase and use the drug from dispensaries.

The International Narcotics Control Board is calling for the machines to be shut down.

[palmspringsbum]

<span class=postbigbold>Drug War Chronicle - world’s leading drug policy newsletter</span>

Medical Marijuana: California Vending Machines Draw Ire of UN Narcs

from Drug War Chronicle, Issue #523, 2/15/08

When medical marijuana vending machines appeared at a handful of Los Angeles-area dispensaries a couple of weeks ago, the press attention they received was enormous -- so enormous that it was heard deep in the bowels of the UN anti-drug bureaucracy in Vienna. Roused from its dogmatic slumber by the clamor, the UN's International Narcotics Control Board (INCB) issued a statement last Friday saying the machines violate international drug treaties and should be shut down.

"The International Narcotics Control Board is deeply concerned about reports that computerized vending machines to dispense cannabis (marijuana) have been put into operation in Los Angeles," said INCB head Philip Emafo in the statement. "We know that the use of cannabis is illegal under federal law of the United States and we trust the authorities will stop such activities, which contravene the international drug control treaties," he added.

The federal government may not recognize medical marijuana, but it is legal under state law. So far, there is no indication that providing it via vending machines violates the state's medical marijuana laws, much less international treaties which only prohibit non-medical use. And so far, the DEA has not acted against them.

The machines have appeared in three Los Angeles dispensaries, and supporters say they are convenient for patients, secure, and could provide medical marijuana at lower prices. Qualified patients who wish to use the vending machines must provide documentation and fingerprints to the dispensary, which then issues them a card to insert in the machine.

While the INCB reiterated that marijuana is illegal under federal law, it also seemed to suggest that if marijuana was going to be used, its use should be controlled by a federal agency. "The control measures applied in California for the cultivation, production and use of cannabis do not meet the control standards set in the 1961 Convention to prevent diversion of narcotic drugs for illicit use," the INCB said. "Such standards require, inter alia, the control of cultivation and production of cannabis by a national cannabis agency, and detailed record keeping and reporting on the activities with cannabis, including reporting to INCB."

The INCB also took pains to note that it "welcomes sound scientific research on the therapeutic usefulness of cannabis," although it claimed that "so far, the results of research regarding the potential therapeutic usefulness have been limited." But in the same breath, it then complained that Canada and the Netherlands have authorized medical marijuana "without reporting conclusive research results to the WHO" and that "cannabis is used for medical purposes in some jurisdictions of the United States without having definitive proof of its efficacy."

Whether the INCB's "concerns" will spur action from either federal or state authorities remains to be seen. But with each new dispensary, each new delivery service, each entrepreneurial innovation like the vending machines, the medical marijuana industry is becoming ever more deeply entrenched in the social fabric of the Golden State. It may be too late for anybody to stop it -- even the UN.

[palmspringsbum]

Article published Saturday, February 23, 2008

Rethinking medical marijuana

EDITORIAL
The Toledo Blade

LEAVE it to trendsetter California to push the outer limits of the medical marijuana envelope. Literally.

A handful of businesses in Los Angeles have installed vending machines in their stores that dispense envelopes containing small amounts of pot to patrons with state-issued cards authorizing use of marijuana for medical purposes.

The development is sure to pit the Golden State against federal drug laws once again, but sooner or later, state and federal authorities will have to resolve this issue.

California is among 12 states that have legalized marijuana for medical use. But under federal law, any kind of marijuana use is illegal and state laws that make exceptions to ease the suffering of a variety of medical conditions are not recognized

Two years ago, the controversy went to the U.S. Supreme Court, which upheld drug laws that allow federal prosecution in these cases.

The ruling did not invalidate state laws but denied them cover of immunity from enforcement of federal drug bans. And the result has been a hardening of positions by states-rights advocates and the Bush Administration, which vows to wage an aggressive "war on drugs."

California's latest foray into this arena includes 24-hour vending machines that dispense as much as a quarter of an ounce of marijuana to patients with verified user cards and fingerprint identification. Owners of the computerized devices say they're convenient, while offering lower prices, safety, and anonymity.

Still, the Drug Enforcement Agency and other federal agencies say the inventions may need unplugging if a determination is made that federal law is being violated. In the past two years the DEA has shut down medical marijuana dispensaries in the state and leveled felony distribution charges against owners.

But, as we have argued before, arresting legitimate providers of medical marijuana or harassing patients for using the substance in compliance with state law is unfair, just as the war on drugs is fragmented, expensive, and often fruitless.