Pubdate: Tue, 15 Apr 2014 Source: Washington Times (DC) Copyright: 2014 The Washington Times, LLC. Contact: http://www.washingtontimes.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/492 COMPANY PUBLICLY RELEASES MARIJUANA-VENDING MACHINE In what seems the natural next step to legalized pot, a Colorado company has brought forward a new vending machine that cuts out the middleman for marijuana sales and gives buyers a speedier, after-hours means of purchasing the drug. It's called the Zazz machine, and it's produced by American Green, United Press International reported. It made its debut at a dispensary in Eagle-Vail, Colo., at the Herbal Elements shop. The dispensary, in turn, set up the machine outside a local barbecue restaurant in Avon, UPI said. "We're looking forward to using the Zazz machine to easily track all this inventory ... . We're going to eliminate the middleman," said Herbal Elements owner Greg Honan. "It'll go straight from the bud-tender right into our machine. There's no room for theft by patients, employees ... there's no way to lose track of the inventory." Vending-machine users will have to swipe their driver's licenses to prove identity and age. Meanwhile, several cameras installed on the machine will then analyze the picture on the driver's license to ensure it matches with the person standing at the vending spot who is trying to purchase the marijuana. From wire dispatches and staff reports - --- MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom