What do you get when you combine the ride-sharing service Sidecar with the medical marijuana delivery service Meadow? A medical marijuana delivery service match made in heaven. You heard that correctly: The new weed delivery app Meadow, which allows for medical marijuana patients in Silicon Valley to get weed without even leaving their home, is pairing up with Sidecar, a new ride sharing service which is even newer to the San Francisco area, to distribute the drug to those who hold medical cards.
This will be a good way for both Meadow and Sidecar to gain popularity and a fan base. The idea of same-day weed delivery is still a new concept for most, and since Meadow has such a small market and only extends to the San Francisco area, the app hasn't gained too much momentum yet in the legal weed world. Meanwhile, Sidecar has thus far been overshadowed by other ride sharing services like Uber and Lyft, mainly because of the availability of drivers and the fact that the other two have more marketing resources and a wider reach across more metropolitan areas.
BuzzFeed recently sat down with David Hua and Sunil Paul, Meadow and Sidecar's respective co-founders and CEOs, to get the lowdown on this new venture. If you happen to be a medical marijuana card holder in the San Francisco area or are just curious to learn how this service works, here are four things we learned from it. Head on over to BuzzFeed to check out the full interview — it's definitely worth a read!
1. The drivers delivering your weed must be registered medical marijuana patients themselves.
They also must be members of the dispensary whose orders they're distributing, meaning the marijuana is in the hands of a registered patient at all times. Marijuana laws are already fussy, so it seems best to keep everything as clean and regulated as possible.
2. Meadow chose to work with Sidecar because they were willing to comply with all the laws.
It's guaranteed that all of the dealings will be completely legal; Hua told BuzzFeed that Sidecar was willing to comply with both San Francisco and California weed laws, which was a major factor in the company's decision about who to team up with.
3. Driver discretion is expected.
The companies both promise to keep your orders and records discrete and private as to remain professional and reliable. According to BuzzFeed, there's a special on-boarding curriculum for the drivers who will be delivering marijuana that extensively covers the nuances of this element.
4. Don't really expect this service to expand TOO much.
Pot deliveries can't operate in states where medical marijuana isn't legal (and even where it is, there are nuances), and even in California there are a limited number of cities where this is legal (surprisingly, L.A. and San Jose are not among those cities). For now, the city where this started may be where the deliveries are confined.
Read the full interview on BuzzFeed.
