American Green Takes New Approach To Pot Vending Following Operational Challenges

TEMPE, AZ -- American Green Inc. said the marijuana vending machines it rolled out last year at several dispensaries have "not achieved a sustainable level of sales," so it has changed its service model to improve performance.

In 2009, Tempe, AZ-based American Green became one of the first publicly traded technology companies involved in the medical cannabis industry. Its Zazzz vending machine was developed to automate age-verified dispensing of cannabis-based medicines. It hit the market last year.

Due to regulation in the cannabis sector, the responsibilities of filling and maintaining Zazzz machines defaulted to the dispensary owners, rather than to American Green.

"Despite the company's best support efforts, a busy dispensary cannot devote the manpower required to configure and maintain the Zazz unit on an ongoing basis," American Green said in a statement.

The company said its new service model has American Green affiliated employees rather than dispensaries stocking machines with American Green-branded products available only when purchased from the Zazzz machine.

"Navigating the entire cannabis sector has been extremely challenging due to the amount of uncertainty that remains until the federal government makes the decision to support the industry and regulatory issues are better understood," said American Green's president Steph Shearin. "While this sorts itself out, challenges will be inevitable, and when they happen, it becomes necessary, from time to time, to take a couple steps back to find the best route forward."