There’s a new app that lets you order medical marijuana from the comfort of your own home. The web-based app, called Eaze, has branded itself as “Uber for pot.”
Here’s how it works: The app first brings you face to face with a real doctor through a video chat, during which the doctor has 20 minutes to decide whether to send you an electronic medical marijuana ID card. Once you get the doctor’s recommendation via email, you pay a $25 fee, order the drug and get it delivered straight to your door. This gives people the opportunity to bypass the traditional process of attaining a state-issued cannabis card, which according to Tech Crunch usually requires that individuals find a designated clinic, pay $100 and then wait several days for it to be issued.
“Since inception, Eaze has been focused on providing the easiest, quickest, and most professional way for patients to access medical marijuana. On-demand delivery was just the beginning,” said Keith McCarty, Eaze founder and CEO, in a statement. “EazeMD represents a monumental step forward in our mission to provide patients access to high-quality products and care, quickly and professionally.”
Forbes’ Ryan Mac tried the app for himself, where he was able to “video conference with a doctor, receive a marijuana recommendation and purchase an eighth of an ounce of 'Sour Diesel' for delivery" within an hour.
“The cannabis arrived shortly after the sausage and pepperoni pizza I had ordered to accompany it,” he wrote.
Eaze doctors are available seven days a week, from 8 a.m. to midnight. The company does not cultivate its own crops. McCarty told Re/Code that “Eaze is a technology service. We don't touch the plant and we don't touch the transaction." Eaze has also announced it will be expanding its services, which was initially only available in San Francisco, to Los Angeles, San Diego, and Orange County.
There are still some specific challenges that Eaze has yet to overcome. The service can only be accessed through its website as Apple prevents Eaze, and other marijuana-providing services, from being downloaded via their app store. Deliverymen have to be paid in cash as the service is unable to accept credit cards. Federal law on the matter remains unclear whether these services can use plastic payment.
The tide may be turning in the U.S., however, as Oregon becomes the fourth state to legalize marijuana for recreational use. Just under half of American states now allow medical marijuana. For the time being, McCarty tells Forbes that “we want to be everywhere where we’re allowed to be” and the company is eager and ready to take advantage of legal changes.