Prague installs cannabis-dispensing vending machines

Buying cannabis products in the Czech Republic just got a lot more convenient.

Capital city Prague, along with Pasohlávky, Ostrava, and Olomouc, are all now home to their first automated cannabis-dispensing machines installed – and more are expected to dot the cities in the near future.

Unfortunately for cannabis-loving Czechs, there’s a catch.

The products with which the machines are stocked contain negligible levels of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the impairing compound in the cannabis plant, and are instead purchased for their high levels of cannabidiol (CBD).

They’re also not the first weed-dispensing ATMs. Neighbouring countries such as Austria and Poland have had similar machines installed for far longer, to the point that they’re considered commonplace and provoke no more public interest than a soda machine.

Despite these caveats, the general manager of CBD vending machine company CBDmat, René Sirý, believes the machines will eventually become ubiquitous.

“In the future, vending machines with cannabis products could be used in fitness rooms, hotels or at airports,” CBDmat general manager René Sirý told Lidovky.cz, who envisions the machines installed in hotels, airports, and gyms.

The machines function like any other vending machine. Consumers punch in the number code of the product they want to try, and then insert payment – after which, their CBD product of choice is dispensed.

Despite the cannabinoid limitations, the machines are stocked with a range of products to suit any CBD lover’s tastes, including dried flower, oils, tinctures and disinfectants.

The machines work like typical vending machines. A person chooses a number that corresponds to a product, and makes a payment. A three-gram bag of flower costs CZK750, the equivalent of about C$44.

“So far, only basic products are available,” Sirý said, insinuating that the product selection may diversify in the near future.

What’s not likely on tap for the future, however, are machines dispensing high-THC products. Despite the decriminalization of small amounts of cannabis (up to 5 grams of hashish or 10 grams of flower) in the 90s, the drug remains prohibited by Czech law.