Ponce
9th March 2013, 09:27 AM
SAN DIEGO — Could San Diegans soon be getting their medical marijuana from vending machines?
Los Angeles-based Medbox Inc. is securing leases to put its automated dispensing machines in up to 30 locations around the city in anticipation that the City Council could approve a dispensary ordinance later this month.
For $150,000, the company assists would-be operators in getting their dispensary up and running with its technology, which Medbox says provides carefully managed access and reduces theft.
More than 100 Medbox machines now operate in California, Colorado and Canada. Previous plans to bring them to San Diego were nixed when the U.S. Attorney’s Office cracked down on dispensaries here in 2011.
Now the company has received deposits to set up its shops in more than a dozen locations in San Diego in the hope that Mayor Bob Filner succeeds in getting new regulations in place.
Medbox CEO Bruce Bedrick said the company’s patented technology has turned it into a consultant for medical marijuana startups that want to run their operations securely and within the law.
“We help people get into the business of medical marijuana by taking them from a ground zero all the way up and through turnkey dispensary,” he said.
Bedrick added, “It is a detractor of crime. ... It’s a lot easier to go in and rob a dispensary that has pot all over the place and cash all over the place compared to some place that uses an 800-pound machine, or two, that’s armor-plated.”
One of the biggest criticisms facing dispensaries — especially from federal prosecutors — is that they are engaged in a for-profit drug-selling operation rather than servicing needy patients as nonprofits. Dispensaries have also been frequent targets for robberies.
Medbox facilities look much like a doctor’s office, although with armored dispensing machines located in a secure area. Medical marijuana patients must provide a state-issued ID card and a fingerprint to gain access and the machines won’t dispense more than has been prescribed by a doctor. Each transaction is recorded.
The City Council is slated to discuss the medical marijuana issue at its March 25 meeting, although council President Todd Gloria’s office said it is unclear if a proposed ordinance from Filner will be under consideration at that time.
In late January, Filner promised to deliver a new ordinance within 30 days that would allow medical marijuana dispensaries to operate legally within city limits. That deadline has passed, but he continues to work with advocates on crafting it.
Filner told San Diego CityBeat that he’s considering a $10,000 permit fee for dispensaries and a 2 percent excise tax on the sale of marijuana products. A mayoral spokeswoman confirmed the ordinance would likely include those provisions but said Filner didn’t have an opinion yet on Medbox’s technology and a TV report that he supports the machines was incorrect.
Filner renewed the dispensary debate Jan. 8 when he told a group of medical marijuana advocates that he would intimidate the city attorney into backing off prosecutions. City Attorney Jan Goldsmith responded the next day by informing Filner that he could halt prosecutions by using his strong-mayor powers to direct police and code enforcement officers to stop forwarding cases to the City Attorney’s Office. Filner issued that decree the next day.
At the time, Goldsmith said about 100 prosecutions had already been completed against dispensaries and 11 were still active and would be dropped at Filner’s direction. The council later voted in closed session — with Filner’s consent — to proceed with enforcement actions until a new ordinance is enacted because of fears that dispensaries would begin opening again before rules were in place.
http://www.utsandiego.com/news/2013/mar/07/automated-pot-dispenser-headed-san-diego/
Los Angeles-based Medbox Inc. is securing leases to put its automated dispensing machines in up to 30 locations around the city in anticipation that the City Council could approve a dispensary ordinance later this month.
For $150,000, the company assists would-be operators in getting their dispensary up and running with its technology, which Medbox says provides carefully managed access and reduces theft.
More than 100 Medbox machines now operate in California, Colorado and Canada. Previous plans to bring them to San Diego were nixed when the U.S. Attorney’s Office cracked down on dispensaries here in 2011.
Now the company has received deposits to set up its shops in more than a dozen locations in San Diego in the hope that Mayor Bob Filner succeeds in getting new regulations in place.
Medbox CEO Bruce Bedrick said the company’s patented technology has turned it into a consultant for medical marijuana startups that want to run their operations securely and within the law.
“We help people get into the business of medical marijuana by taking them from a ground zero all the way up and through turnkey dispensary,” he said.
Bedrick added, “It is a detractor of crime. ... It’s a lot easier to go in and rob a dispensary that has pot all over the place and cash all over the place compared to some place that uses an 800-pound machine, or two, that’s armor-plated.”
One of the biggest criticisms facing dispensaries — especially from federal prosecutors — is that they are engaged in a for-profit drug-selling operation rather than servicing needy patients as nonprofits. Dispensaries have also been frequent targets for robberies.
Medbox facilities look much like a doctor’s office, although with armored dispensing machines located in a secure area. Medical marijuana patients must provide a state-issued ID card and a fingerprint to gain access and the machines won’t dispense more than has been prescribed by a doctor. Each transaction is recorded.
The City Council is slated to discuss the medical marijuana issue at its March 25 meeting, although council President Todd Gloria’s office said it is unclear if a proposed ordinance from Filner will be under consideration at that time.
In late January, Filner promised to deliver a new ordinance within 30 days that would allow medical marijuana dispensaries to operate legally within city limits. That deadline has passed, but he continues to work with advocates on crafting it.
Filner told San Diego CityBeat that he’s considering a $10,000 permit fee for dispensaries and a 2 percent excise tax on the sale of marijuana products. A mayoral spokeswoman confirmed the ordinance would likely include those provisions but said Filner didn’t have an opinion yet on Medbox’s technology and a TV report that he supports the machines was incorrect.
Filner renewed the dispensary debate Jan. 8 when he told a group of medical marijuana advocates that he would intimidate the city attorney into backing off prosecutions. City Attorney Jan Goldsmith responded the next day by informing Filner that he could halt prosecutions by using his strong-mayor powers to direct police and code enforcement officers to stop forwarding cases to the City Attorney’s Office. Filner issued that decree the next day.
At the time, Goldsmith said about 100 prosecutions had already been completed against dispensaries and 11 were still active and would be dropped at Filner’s direction. The council later voted in closed session — with Filner’s consent — to proceed with enforcement actions until a new ordinance is enacted because of fears that dispensaries would begin opening again before rules were in place.
http://www.utsandiego.com/news/2013/mar/07/automated-pot-dispenser-headed-san-diego/