San Francisco to deliver medicinal marijuana by drones
06 Aug 2015
A weed dispensary startup in San Francisco intends to use drones to deliver marijuana directly to smokers' doors.
Trees Delivery boasts innovative marijuana sales packages and brands its product as the "original craft cannabis box." The San Francisco-based startup offered three different types of pot boxes that customers could order text or online - provided that they had prescription.
Now the dispensary is trying to smarten up its delivery services even more by bringing "Cannabis direct to your door," using drones.
The company is currently awaiting Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) approval to start the new delivery service, and according to CEO Marshall Hayner, once they received the FAA's nod, they we ready to go.
"We have a fleet of three drones that have mechanical arms," he told Mashable. "We have tested them, we're ready, the only thing that holds us back is the FAA."
The company's website even featured a promotional video showcasing the drone-delivered pot service.
"We see drones as an amazing tool for delivery," Hayner added. "A drone will never be late."
Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos was the first to propose drone delivery in 2013, when he announced his company's plans for Prime Air. (See: Amazon wins FAA approval to test drone delivery outdoors)
In California cannabis use for people with certain medical conditions, but the drug is not legal for recreational use.
The company's co-founder Marshall Hayner told The Coin Telegraph, "As soon as the FAA passes the appropriate legislation we will have fleets in every state.
"The model that Trees is building is for complete decentralisation and disruption of the cost-heavy, high-overhead current dispensary model."
The drone business model involved customers using a website, app, or text, for ordering from six cannabis packs, costing between $60 to $150.
A company spokesman told High Times, "We're not sure when we'll be launching yet. We are based in San Francisco and the legal situation here is not clear yet."
Another delivery company Eaze, known as the ''Uber'' for medical cannabis had revealed similar plans for drone delivery in November.
