Companyhopes to be the Amazon of Cannabis’ in places such as NDTop of FormBottom ofFormAs medical marijuanalegalization expands in North Dakota, some national companies are alreadylooking at working with dispensaries.An army veteran, ownerand founder Socrates Rosenfeld who also flew and commanded planes during theIraq war said that one of such group hopes to be the Amazon of CannabisAfter struggling tofind 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 toyears in the military and the social stigma associated to it.Rosenfeld discovered thatmedicinal marijuana helped him mentally,physically and spirituallyHe said he came acrosscountless fellow veterans who sought access to safe and regulated cannabis thatcould help them deal with the stress that was associated with post war.Rosenfeld felt thatthe fellow veterans were close and dear to him that’s why he wanted to pursuethe ventureHe partnered with his brotherand other classmates from Massachusetts Institute of Technology to build JaneTechnologies, an online marketplace that allowed customers to search localdispensaries’ menu items, compare prices and products with other statedispensaries and then order or reserves those items for in-store pickup ordelivery.H said that trying to Imaginewaking up in the middle of the night and drive to a store only to find what youwant is not available, that’s the reason he is using the Amazon model to offerhis online services which he charges only 1$ per order to dispensariesWhat makes thedifference with Amazon is that they are not taking business away retail storesor local dispensaries since they only provide online help for them.
He further said thatunlike Amazon dispensaries cannot deliver in all states or make usage of USmail since, use, sale, possession, cultivation and transport of marijuana illegalunder federal lawHe said he would liketo work with North Dakota dispensaries, which would face only a minimal cost touse Jane Technologies system.”It will be a win-winfor customers and stores using this new way of shopping,” Rosenfeld said.In North Dakota competitionwill be hard on who will grow and sell medical marijuana, according to JasonWahl, the interim director of the North Dakota Department of Health’s medicalmarijuana division.The state Legislature permittedonly two growing facilities apart from the eight dispensaries earlier this yearSo far, more than 115groups and companies have submitted letters of intent to apply to be amanufacturer or dispensary. Wahl said that they have not yet determined thelocation of the dispensaries completely.
The next step in the process will be nextmonth when public hearings will be held at six cities around the state by thehealth department to get public opinion on 50 pages of proposed rules that areavailable online on the health department’s website. The hearings will be in Bullecourt,Williston, Bismarck, and Minot among others.One of the rules thatwere proposed allows deliveries of marijuana to patients which would fit intoRosenfeld’s plan to help patients get product more easily. Wahl said being arural state with the long distances it is only fair to add it in the proposedrules. He said that the rules have restrictions and they require those withregistered cards for medical marijuana to accept the product.Wahl said that heaccepts the criticism about medical marijuana prolonged process of getting theregulations in place but said that the department would have been wasting itstime and resources if they would have started working on the rules before thelaw was approved by the legislature on April 18.They aren’t expectedto get the recreational medical marijuana program in his home state ofMassachusett.
The program is going until next July 1 after the voters approvedit last fall. California begins its recreation program on Jan. 1 after approvallast fall. Majority of the states has legalized medical marijuana. Santa Cruz California where Rosenfeld’scompany is situated is already working with about 120 dispensaries in five ofthe states.
