Colorado Launches First Marijuana Vending Machines

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  • A new marijuana vending machine that can hold up to 2,000 products, including vape oils, flower, and edibles has debuted in Colorado.
  • This machine is intended for the more "experienced" customer, who may not need human interaction, its founder says.
  • There are plans to open more vending machines in the state later this year. 
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A local dispensary in Colorado has opened four marijuana vending machines, with flower, edible, and vape oil options.

The anna vending machine can hold up to 2,000 products and will be available at the Strawberry Fields dispensary in Pueblo, located roughly 43 miles south of Colorado Springs. 

These machines are tailored toward the "experienced cannabis customers who don't necessarily need that one-on-one interaction with a budtender," CEO and founder Matt Frost told The Denver Post. "By doing this we're giving more time back to the people who do need hand holding and want that education from a live person." 

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Frost, who has a background in data analytics, got the inspiration for the machine as a way to mimic "the efficiency of a retail self-checkout system to the marijuana industry."

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The machine is located inside the dispensary, so customers will still have to check in and show identification. 

This is the second state with the anna vending machine, as Frost debuted the first anna in his home state of Massachusetts, where the wait at dispensaries can be hours long and some dispensaries may even require customers to make an appointment time. 

Frost is hoping the user-friendly interface, mixed with the increase in contactless purchases, will help bolster anna's popularity. 

Sales of marijuana have been up since March, when users began to "stockpile" marijuana as stay-at-home orders were enacted across the country. 

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Plans for a machine at the Starbud dispensary in Aurora, located about 16 miles east of Denver, are in the works and are scheduled to be available for use later this year. 

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