New Industry Trend: The First Automated Cannabis Vending Machine Opens in Colorado

Everyone must make the rounds each day or week to stock up on essentials such as food, drink, and assorted sundries. But, now, some Coloradans can purchase their cannabis stash without interacting with another human being. Cannabis enthusiasts in Aurora, Colorado, can truck on down to their local dispensary, where they can buy weed straight from a machine.

Early this month, Aurora-based Terrapin Care Station Dispensary announced it has a large vending machine called an Automated Cannabis Experience (ACE). Customers can select their choice of products using a touch screen, and the stony goods will drop into the tray, just like a bag of chips or candy bar.

Terrapin Care Station teamed up with BMC Universal Technologies to make obtaining a head stash an automated experience and now boasts the first fully automated cannabis sales in the industry.

First revealed at MJBizCon, the preeminent Marijuana Business Conference, the ganja vending machine prototype was reportedly a big hit, drawing big lines of people wishing to take a big hit.

“It was crazy; it felt like we had an amusement park ride there,” gushed spokesperson Peter Marcus.

To use the cannabis machine, patrons must scan their IDs and utilize a touch screen. Then, the menu will appear, and after selecting the desired product, the customer will pay with cash (debit cards are not currently accepted). The ACE will then do the rest— bagging and sealing the purchase. Finally, the machine attaches a sticker to the goods, and the products drop into the tray.

The mechanical ganja dealer can store many as one thousand one hundred fifty-two cannabis items in the ACE, which is temperature controlled to safely preserve buds, vape cartridges, edibles, and other things.

And not to worry, budtenders, when people arrive at the location—11091 E. Mississippi Ave.—they will still need to present proof of age to a humanoid representative. In addition, the company has plans to install ACE dispensers at the company’s five other retail outlets. While there are legitimate concerns about automation displacing workers, it is safe to assume that the majority of consumers will continue to get their cannabis by interacting with flesh-and-blood budtenders in brick-and-mortar stores. 

Still, it doesn’t take much vision to imagine a day after prohibition has fallen when one can find vending machines on sidewalks and subways offering an array of delectable cannabis products as easily purchased as a can of diet pop.

Until then… some rise, some fall, and some climb to get to Terrapin.