OMEN
01-31-2008, 09:24 AM
Marijuana vending machines have been launched in California.
The machines can only be used by people who have been prescribed the drug for health reasons, reports the BBC.
Patients will have to provide a prescription, and be fingerprinted and photographed before being allowed to use the facilities.
Eleven US states allow the medicinal use of marijuana, primarily for pain relief, but it remains controversial.
Vince Mehdizadeh, owner of the Herbal Nutrition Centre in Los Angeles, where one of the two first machines is based, said it would allow patients to buy extra supplies whenever needed.
Once the users have been photographed, fingerprinted and have shown their prescription, they will be issued with a card which can be used in the machines, he told KWTX News 10 in the US.
"They'll be greeted by a security guard right there. They'll slide the card in and they'll fingerprint in to verify that it's them," he said.
"A camera takes a picture of them, verifying that they're actually at the machine. And they get the medicine and they move on."
The operators think that vending machines issuing prescription drugs could become a common sight in the US.
Marijuana remains officially banned in the US and the federal government does not recognise any medical use.
Annanova
The machines can only be used by people who have been prescribed the drug for health reasons, reports the BBC.
Patients will have to provide a prescription, and be fingerprinted and photographed before being allowed to use the facilities.
Eleven US states allow the medicinal use of marijuana, primarily for pain relief, but it remains controversial.
Vince Mehdizadeh, owner of the Herbal Nutrition Centre in Los Angeles, where one of the two first machines is based, said it would allow patients to buy extra supplies whenever needed.
Once the users have been photographed, fingerprinted and have shown their prescription, they will be issued with a card which can be used in the machines, he told KWTX News 10 in the US.
"They'll be greeted by a security guard right there. They'll slide the card in and they'll fingerprint in to verify that it's them," he said.
"A camera takes a picture of them, verifying that they're actually at the machine. And they get the medicine and they move on."
The operators think that vending machines issuing prescription drugs could become a common sight in the US.
Marijuana remains officially banned in the US and the federal government does not recognise any medical use.
Annanova