New App Lets Users Get Medical Pot ID Card With 'Virtual' Doctor's Visit
SANTA MONICA (CBSLA.com) — A new smartphone app that allows users to get a medical marijuana recommendation from a doctor - and cannabis delivered to their door - is making its debut in Southern California.
EazeMD allows patients talk with doctors face-to-face in what developers say is a "secure real-time video chat environment" and then electronically sends the medical marijuana ID card "instantaneously" to the patient.
The app - which will be available to users in Los Angeles, Orange, and San Diego counties - is aimed at letting an estimated 1.45 million California cannabis patients utilize Santa Monica-based Eaze's proprietary technology give users access to medical marijuana without having to travel to either a doctor or a dispensary, according to Eaze CEO Keith McCarty.
Patients can use the service by signing up at the Eaze website, where they will be connected with a California board certified licensed physician who will conduct a medical evaluation in real-time, McCarty said.
The "virtual doctor's visit" that costs $25 - compared with a traditional in-person visit at $100 or more - and, if approved, the patient receives a recommendation letter from the doctor along with a new verified medical marijuana ID, which the patient can use to place orders from local dispensaries.
Upon received the ID, the patient can then "get pot legally, safely and professionally to their door in about 15 minutes", according to an Eaze spokesperson.
Medical marijuana consumption in Southern California is estimated to be ten times as great as Northern California, which makes up nearly half of America's $3.5 billion legal cannabis industry, according to the latest government data.
The app comes about a year after the debut of Nestdrop, another smartphone app that helps medical marijuana users have their medicinal pot delivered directly to their front door.
Eaze made its first debut in the San Francisco area in July 2014, where McCarty founded the company about one year earlier.