Skip to main content

The context you need, when you need it

When news breaks, you need to understand what actually matters — and what to do about it. At Vox, our mission to help you make sense of the world has never been more vital. But we can’t do it on our own.

We rely on readers like you to fund our journalism. Will you support our work and become a Vox Member today?

Join now

Marijuana is legal in California now. Will an Uber-for-pot gold rush follow?

Starting the year off on a high note.

Marijuana plants
Marijuana plants
Ethan Miller / Getty

Starting today, Jan. 1, permitted businesses across California will be legally allowed to sell marijuana to people age 21 and over — the result of a 2016 ballot initiative, Proposition 64.

The state’s move away from (ostensibly) requiring a doctor’s recommendation to buy pot from a dispensary is good news for companies like Eaze, which lets users order drug deliveries through an app. The company’s VP of marketing, Jamie Feaster, told Recode via email that orders from baby boomers and women have spiked in the past year, which they believe indicates growing comfort with recreational marijuana use among a broader swath of the population.

Last year, former Eaze CEO Keith McCarty came on Too Embarrassed to Ask to talk about how the company’s pot deliveries worked then. Feaster said the company now accepts more forms of payment than just cash, but still does not employ delivery drivers directly; instead, as McCarty described in 2016, they are still all employees of the dispensaries with which Eaze partners:

Other companies seem likely to follow if, indeed, a greater number of consumers take up smoking and find they enjoy it. Gunner Winston, the CEO of Dosist — which makes a vaporizer pen for cannabis — says the company expects to grow as people start to see the drug through the lens of general wellness.

“We expect that as more and more people understand the health benefits of cannabis and its role as a wellness tool, we will see a move toward increased interest and acceptance and a departure from the stigma that has surrounded the plant for so long,” Winston said.


This article originally appeared on Recode.net.

See More:

More in Technology

Podcasts
Are humanoid robots all hype?Are humanoid robots all hype?
Podcast
Podcasts

AI is making them better — but they’re not going to be doing your chores anytime soon.

By Avishay Artsy and Sean Rameswaram
Future Perfect
The old tech that could help stop the next airborne pandemicThe old tech that could help stop the next airborne pandemic
Future Perfect

Glycol vapors, explained.

By Shayna Korol
Future Perfect
Elon Musk could lose his case against OpenAI — and still get what he wantsElon Musk could lose his case against OpenAI — and still get what he wants
Future Perfect

It’s not about who wins. It’s about the dirty laundry you air along the way.

By Sara Herschander
Life
Why banning kids from AI isn’t the answerWhy banning kids from AI isn’t the answer
Life

What kids really need in the age of artificial intelligence.

By Anna North
Culture
Anthropic owes authors $1.5B for pirating work — but the claims process is a Kafkaesque messAnthropic owes authors $1.5B for pirating work — but the claims process is a Kafkaesque mess
Culture

“Your AI monster ate all our work. Now you’re trying to pay us off with this piece of garbage that doesn’t work.”

By Constance Grady
Future Perfect
Some deaf children are hearing again because of a new gene therapySome deaf children are hearing again because of a new gene therapy
Future Perfect

A medical field that almost died is quietly fixing one disease at a time.

By Bryan Walsh