National companies now want to work with dispensaries since legalization of marijuana in North Dakota has expanded.
An army veteran, owner and founder Socrates Rosenfeld who also flew and commanded planes during the Iraq war said that one of such group hopes to be the Amazon of Cannabis.
After struggling to find peace for and feeling isolated from people that he loved after his service and seven years in the Army, Rosenfeld’s wife offered him an option he had been conditioned to oppose due to years in the military and the social stigma associated to it.
Rosenfeld discovered that medicinal marijuana helped him mentally, physically and spiritually
He said he came across countless fellow veterans who sought access to safe and regulated cannabis that could help them deal with the stress that was associated with post war.
Rosenfeld felt that the fellow veterans were close and dear to him that’s why he wanted to pursue the venture
He partnered with his brother and other classmates from Massachusetts Institute of Technology to build Jane Technologies, an online marketplace that allowed customers to search local dispensaries’ menu items, compare prices and products with other state dispensaries and then order or reserves those items for in-store pickup or delivery.
He said that trying to Imagine waking up in the middle of the night and drive to a store only to find what you want is not available, that’s the reason he is using the Amazon model to offer his online services which he charges only 1$ per order to dispensaries
What makes the difference with Amazon is that they are not taking business away retail stores or local dispensaries since they only provide online help for them.
He further said that unlike Amazon dispensaries cannot deliver in all states or make usage of US mail since, use, sale, possession, cultivation and transport of marijuana illegal under federal law
He said he would like to work with North Dakota dispensaries, which would face only a minimal cost to use Jane Technologies system.
“It will be a win-win for customers and stores using this new way of shopping,” Rosenfeld said.
In North Dakota competition will be hard on who will grow and sell marijuana, according to Jason Wahl, the interim director of the North Dakota Department of Health’s marijuana division.
The state Legislature permitted only two growing facilities apart from the eight dispensaries earlier this year
So far, more than 115 groups and companies have submitted letters of intent to apply to be a manufacturer or dispensary. Wahl said that they have not yet determined the location of the dispensaries completely. The next step in the process will be next month when public hearings will be held at six cities around the state by the health department to get public opinion on 50 pages of proposed rules that are available online on the health department’s website. The hearings will be in Bullecourt, Williston, Bismarck, and Minot among others.
One of the rules that were proposed allows deliveries of marijuana to patients which would fit into Rosenfeld’s plan to help patients get product more easily.
Wahl said being a rural state with the long distances it is only fair to add it in the proposed rules. He said that the rules have restrictions and they require those with registered cards for marijuana to accept the product.
Wahl said that he accepts the criticism about marijuana prolonged process of getting the regulations in place but said that the department would have been wasting its time and resources if they would have started working on the rules before the law was approved by the legislature on April 18.
They aren’t expected to get the recreational marijuana program in his home state of Massachusett. The program is going until next July 1 after the voters approved it last fall. California begins its recreation program on Jan. 1 after approval last fall. Majority of the states has legalized marijuana.
Santa Cruz California where Rosenfeld’s company is situated is already working with about 120 cannabis dispensaries in five of the states.
New way of shopping. Patient will get product more easily…