Medbox hopes to get $40 million from medical, recreational marijuana dispensing

WEST HOLLYWOOD, Calif. – A company that makes vending machine-like systems has a new business: medical and recreational marijuana.

Medbox said Thursday that it had been contracted to file dispensary license applications and build-out facilities in Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Oregon, Illinois and Nevada, as well as recreational licenses in Washington and Colorado. Residents of the latter two states voted to legalize recreational use of marijuana last year.

Medbox said that licenses in those markets are limited, and competition between applicants is fierce, but that it hopes to hit $5 million in sales per state in consulting and technology sales. The company noted that there has been "evidence of overzealous consultants" who are "preying on the public" with unrealistic success rates, overpriced services and duplicate work product to multiple parties competing against each other for the same dispensary license.

"We have a proven track record of taking care of business for our clients and getting results," Medbox CEO Bruce Bedrick said. "We have filed our applications in Vermont and Massachusetts for our clients, and we are eagerly awaiting filing additional applications for our clients in Connecticut, Nevada and Illinoise when those licensing periods commence over the course of the next few months."