Marijuana coming to a vending machine near you? (@coindesk/Twitter)

At initial glance, the lime green vending machine with “Zazzz” painted across it doesn’t seem any different from ones that offer Diet Coke or a bag of Ruffles. But instead of snacks to cure the munchies, “Zazzz” causes them—selling marijuana and weed-infused edibles to those with a medical marijuana card in Colorado. 

Zazzz debuted last weekend at a medical dispensary in Avon, Colo. and American Green, the company behind the creation, hopes to streamline the selling of marijuana in order to eliminate the middleman. 

SEE ALSO: Price Of Weed Explodes In Colorado 

“We’re looking forward to using the Zazzz machine to easily track all this inventory,” the owner of the store were the vending machine first opened, Greg Honan, told Denver’s Fox 31. The products will go “to our bud tender, right into the machine. There’s no room for theft by patients, by employees—there’s no way to lose track of the inventory.” 

Stephen Shearin, a pioneer behind Zazzz, said the vending machine is comparable to an automated checkout process at a supermarket that will use active biometrics to confirm one’s identity under the same process that the Control Meth Act uses. Customers will have to present their medical marijuana card to gain entrance into the dispensary and then Zazzz will verify the customer’s identification. 

SEE ALSO: What's The Point Of Legalizing Weed?

“We believe that the process will enhance legal sales facilities in ensuring that controlled substances (so far as we can control at the time of sale) are dispensed solely into the hands of those who qualify legally,” Shearin told The Cannabist. 

Although Zazzz isn’t the first marijuana vending machine, it is the first of its kind completely accessible  by the customer itself. Other similar models in California remain behind the counter, an aspect that Shearin feels deters some medical marijuana users from actually buying the product.

“I see someone who knows what they want approaching the machine, purchasing and departing—all within regulatory guidelines, but without the counter lines. Great for shy folks as well,” Shearin said. 

SEE ALSO: Why Is Medical Marijuana Regulation In Los Angeles So Confusing?

As of now, Zazzz will not be fully accessible to customers until all regulatory guidelines are met, according to Shearin. 

And although Shearin also does not foresee the transition of Zazzz from a medical marijuana use to recreational marijuana use, he does see potential for integration of more vending machines in to other stores. 

"I envisioned something like this 20 years ago but didn’t think I’d live to see the end of prohibition against a plant of such great promise. With that said, in the right place with the right controls, why not? People buy alcoholic drinks at festivals and games. It could happen. But at this point we don’t write the law, we just abide by it," Shearin said.

Reach Staff Reporter McKenna Aiello here, and follow her on Twitter at @McKennaAiello.