The legalization of medical and recreational cannabis opened the doors for the development of new technology specific to the industry. All that new technology hasn’t just helped the industry advance in leaps and bounds: it has a secondary side effect: normalization.
Meadow Care, a cannabis software company, perfectly exemplifies how the development of new technology helps to normalize the industry. The idea for the software company was born in February 2014 while David Hua was attending Oaksterdam University. It was there that he learned about the difficulties dispensaries face trying to manage day-to-day operations. The price of software was exorbitant and the technology was archaic. Hua, who had been in the business of software and technology since 2006, approached a few of his colleagues at Sincerely with an innovative idea. In June 2014, Hua, Scott Garman, Rick Harrison, and Harrison Lee began writing the first lines of code.
Meadow launched in October 2014 and was hailed as the Uber of the cannabis market. By working closely with local medical dispensaries, this San Francisco-based startup allowed medical card users to browse local dispensaries. After uploading identification and doctor recommendation, a customer could place an order for home delivery and receive their purchase in under an hour. And for those who don’t have a medical card, Meadow will assist in scheduling an in-home consultation.
In November 2014, Hua and the team applied to work with Y Combinator, a sort of boot camp for entrepreneurs. YC assists startups with everything from developing business plans, obtaining seed funding, and meeting potential investors. Those chosen receive funding of $120,000 and three months to spend with top developers in Silicon Valley. Meadow was accepted into the YC in January 2015 and graduated in April. They were officially the first cannabis company to graduate.
Meadow Care recently announced the launch of a whole new seed-to-sale platform. With this new enterprise-focused software suite, dispensaries will be able to manage online and mobile orders, coordinate delivery logistics, analyze sales and toggle data, and manage customer information, all while maintaining compliance. The new platform is a software as a service (SaaS) model, allowing dispensaries to pay each month on a sliding scale.
“You have this amazing industry that is ready to grow,” said Hua, now Meadow’s CEO, “but it’s lacking in technology and tools to scale. That’s where Meadow comes in.” According to Hua, all the different aspects of the cannabis industry will become connected through this new seed-to-sale platform that he calls “the GrubHub for cannabis.”
Although Meadow was originally only available in the San Francisco area, Hua plans to make the software available in the wider market. After that, they hope to use the power of education to help dispel cannabis propaganda.
“This is not some get-rich-quick scheme. We’re playing the long game on behalf of the movement. Our overachieving goal is to implement and publicize a lawful marketplace to demonstrate to medical cannabis opponents that patients can obtain access to necessary treatment without endangering public safety or rule of law.”
Public safety and rule of law aren’t the only arguments against the legalization of cannabis. Opponents like the National Institute on Drug Abuse argue that cannabis is a gateway drug that leads to addictive behaviors. It is also stated that there haven’t yet been adequate numbers of studies to prove that cannabis isn’t dangerous.
Hua, a long-time cannabis patient, disagrees. “Marijuana isn’t a gateway drug. The drug dealers peddling the other addictive substances are the gateway. That’s why legalization and legitimization of the industry are so important. When you regulate cannabis, test it, and it’s sold from a store, it makes cannabis safer.”
Another very common argument opponents raise is that the consumption of cannabis causes severe cognitive impairment and an inability to contribute to society through meaningful work. Hua, along with the Meadow team, is a perfect example of how much of a fallacy that statement really is. And they’re not the only ones. An article published by Bloomberg Business stated that the techies from Silicon Valley made up as much as 40% of some dispensaries’ business.
Perhaps one day proponents will do a study that correlates technological advances with cannabis consumption. But until then, Silicon Valley’s movers and shakers help normalize the cannabis industry through new and innovative technologies that they develop for use in the industry.
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