Robert Celt
New Member
Like any good entrepreneur, a medical marijuana delivery service called Eaze sees a green opportunity in Super Bowl 50's Bay Area stop.
Dubbed the "Uber of pot," Eaze has prepared for an anticipated higher demand of its service this weekend by adding drivers and verifying that pot dispensaries will have a seamless supply.
But such an uptick -- like when business nearly tripled on April 20, the unofficial holiday for marijuana users -- would not reflect the typical behavior of those who use the app, said Scott Dunlap, a technology executive for Eaze.
Eaze has drivers who deliver marijuana, often in less than 20 minutes, to the doors of 150,000 patients throughout California.
Those who depend on Eaze are some of the most "vulnerable" residents in a community, and are prescribed medical marijuana to relieve chronic pain, seizures or side effects of chemotherapy, among other ailments, Dunlap said.
In recent months, Dunlap has found himself before scores of city officials to explain the difference between Eaze's delivery services and the marijuana cultivation business, which most Peninsula cities seek to ban.
Palo Alto is among the latest cities to consider an emergency ordinance prohibiting cultivation and delivery of marijuana. A state law adopted in October has cities concerned about losing local authority to state regulations on the matter.
Earlier this month, for instance, the city of Fremont voted to prohibit cultivation and commercial delivery of marijuana, citing abuse of the prescription card system and risk of criminal activity as negative side effects.
Dunlap said other cities, such as Redwood City, ultimately decided not to ban the delivery of medical marijuana. He urged Palo Alto council members on Monday to take the same route.
Such a ban would hurt veterans and cancer patients, Dunlap said. Some patients don't have easy access to transportation to dispensaries because of their age or income, while others are too sick to drive.
"Cultivation and dispensaries -- I totally understand if you want to lock those down," Dunlap said. –...If you guys rush to do this and pass this ordinance and also ban delivery in the process, that's a couple thousand patients that are not going to have access to their prescribed medicine marijuana."
Eaze operates in more than 100 cities in the state and entered the Palo Alto market in September.
In the past five months, Eaze has made 7,554 deliveries to 1,721 unique patients in Palo Alto and Stanford, with no crimes to report, Dunlap said.
The service delivers to hundreds more in East Palo Alto and surrounding unincorporated areas.
Notably, Eaze has made more than 300,000 deliveries since its start in 2014 with only four safety issues, three of which occurred on one day in Northridge, according to Dunlap.
He said Eaze was founded on the hunch that "delivery could be safer than a dispensary."
"Eaze ensures that deliveries are made only to patients with valid medical ID cards, away from schools and parks, by drivers with thorough background checks and driving records, and only with medicine that has been thoroughly tested, packaged, and tracked through the 'seed to sale' process," Dunlap said.
Cities were reacting to a package of bills Gov. Jerry Brown signed in October that included a deadline for them to adopt local measures or give the state authority to license cultivation through the Medical Marijuana Safety and Regulation Act.
Brown signed an emergency bill on Wednesday eliminating the deadline.
The Palo Alto council had decided Monday to wait and see if the governor would do so before it acts on an emergency ordinance.
"It is this looming March 1st deadline that has cities around the state concerned about the potential to lose local authority to regulate land uses in the area of marijuana cultivation," City Attorney Molly Stump said in an email Wednesday before Brown's decision.
Removing the deadline would give cities "more time to work through a thoughtful process and arrive at an appropriate local regulation," Stump said.
City officials indicated they would take up the issue later this year if the March deadline was not a factor.
Vice Mayor Greg Scharff said Monday he probably could not support any city ordinance that has a ban on delivery.
He asked that city staff return with two ordinances, so the council could vote separately on regulations for cultivation versus delivery.
"I think that people... when they're sick and ill, often people with cancer, often use medical marijuana, and I see no downside to the city, frankly, of having the current delivery services," Scharff said.
Scharff, along with council members at the time, opposed ballot Measure C in 2012, a proposition that would have allowed up to three marijuana dispensaries to operate in the city.
City code does not outright restrict or permit cultivation and delivery.
–...In general, the Palo Alto zoning code uses the principle of 'permissive zoning,' meaning that activities that are not permitted are generally prohibited," Stump said by email.
This means that enforcement occurs on a complaint basis.
One purpose of the state law is to "remove any question about the legality of these types of activities in jurisdictions like Palo Alto, by providing for both a state and local permitting process," Stump added.
The new regulations will require those in the medical marijuana business to get local operating permits and annual state licenses starting in 2018.
California legalized medical marijuana nearly two decades ago and was the first state to do so.
News Moderator: Robert Celt 420 MAGAZINE ®
Full Article: Medical Marijuana Delivery Startup Makes Pitch To Palo Alto
Author: Jacqueline Lee
Contact: InsideBayArea
Photo Credit: The Columbus Dispatch
Website: InsideBayArea
Dubbed the "Uber of pot," Eaze has prepared for an anticipated higher demand of its service this weekend by adding drivers and verifying that pot dispensaries will have a seamless supply.
But such an uptick -- like when business nearly tripled on April 20, the unofficial holiday for marijuana users -- would not reflect the typical behavior of those who use the app, said Scott Dunlap, a technology executive for Eaze.
Eaze has drivers who deliver marijuana, often in less than 20 minutes, to the doors of 150,000 patients throughout California.
Those who depend on Eaze are some of the most "vulnerable" residents in a community, and are prescribed medical marijuana to relieve chronic pain, seizures or side effects of chemotherapy, among other ailments, Dunlap said.
In recent months, Dunlap has found himself before scores of city officials to explain the difference between Eaze's delivery services and the marijuana cultivation business, which most Peninsula cities seek to ban.
Palo Alto is among the latest cities to consider an emergency ordinance prohibiting cultivation and delivery of marijuana. A state law adopted in October has cities concerned about losing local authority to state regulations on the matter.
Earlier this month, for instance, the city of Fremont voted to prohibit cultivation and commercial delivery of marijuana, citing abuse of the prescription card system and risk of criminal activity as negative side effects.
Dunlap said other cities, such as Redwood City, ultimately decided not to ban the delivery of medical marijuana. He urged Palo Alto council members on Monday to take the same route.
Such a ban would hurt veterans and cancer patients, Dunlap said. Some patients don't have easy access to transportation to dispensaries because of their age or income, while others are too sick to drive.
"Cultivation and dispensaries -- I totally understand if you want to lock those down," Dunlap said. –...If you guys rush to do this and pass this ordinance and also ban delivery in the process, that's a couple thousand patients that are not going to have access to their prescribed medicine marijuana."
Eaze operates in more than 100 cities in the state and entered the Palo Alto market in September.
In the past five months, Eaze has made 7,554 deliveries to 1,721 unique patients in Palo Alto and Stanford, with no crimes to report, Dunlap said.
The service delivers to hundreds more in East Palo Alto and surrounding unincorporated areas.
Notably, Eaze has made more than 300,000 deliveries since its start in 2014 with only four safety issues, three of which occurred on one day in Northridge, according to Dunlap.
He said Eaze was founded on the hunch that "delivery could be safer than a dispensary."
"Eaze ensures that deliveries are made only to patients with valid medical ID cards, away from schools and parks, by drivers with thorough background checks and driving records, and only with medicine that has been thoroughly tested, packaged, and tracked through the 'seed to sale' process," Dunlap said.
Cities were reacting to a package of bills Gov. Jerry Brown signed in October that included a deadline for them to adopt local measures or give the state authority to license cultivation through the Medical Marijuana Safety and Regulation Act.
Brown signed an emergency bill on Wednesday eliminating the deadline.
The Palo Alto council had decided Monday to wait and see if the governor would do so before it acts on an emergency ordinance.
"It is this looming March 1st deadline that has cities around the state concerned about the potential to lose local authority to regulate land uses in the area of marijuana cultivation," City Attorney Molly Stump said in an email Wednesday before Brown's decision.
Removing the deadline would give cities "more time to work through a thoughtful process and arrive at an appropriate local regulation," Stump said.
City officials indicated they would take up the issue later this year if the March deadline was not a factor.
Vice Mayor Greg Scharff said Monday he probably could not support any city ordinance that has a ban on delivery.
He asked that city staff return with two ordinances, so the council could vote separately on regulations for cultivation versus delivery.
"I think that people... when they're sick and ill, often people with cancer, often use medical marijuana, and I see no downside to the city, frankly, of having the current delivery services," Scharff said.
Scharff, along with council members at the time, opposed ballot Measure C in 2012, a proposition that would have allowed up to three marijuana dispensaries to operate in the city.
City code does not outright restrict or permit cultivation and delivery.
–...In general, the Palo Alto zoning code uses the principle of 'permissive zoning,' meaning that activities that are not permitted are generally prohibited," Stump said by email.
This means that enforcement occurs on a complaint basis.
One purpose of the state law is to "remove any question about the legality of these types of activities in jurisdictions like Palo Alto, by providing for both a state and local permitting process," Stump added.
The new regulations will require those in the medical marijuana business to get local operating permits and annual state licenses starting in 2018.
California legalized medical marijuana nearly two decades ago and was the first state to do so.
News Moderator: Robert Celt 420 MAGAZINE ®
Full Article: Medical Marijuana Delivery Startup Makes Pitch To Palo Alto
Author: Jacqueline Lee
Contact: InsideBayArea
Photo Credit: The Columbus Dispatch
Website: InsideBayArea
