Jacob Redmond
Well-Known Member
Oakland's Harborside Health Center – one of the largest medical marijuana dispensaries in the country – maintained a Facebook page for five years without any complaints. Last month, without warning, the page was taken down. The same thing happened to the dispensary on Instagram, a photo-sharing service owned by Facebook.
Harborside officials say Facebook's only explanation was an on-screen message that read: "We remove any promotion or encouragement of drug use."
Despite the federal government's attempt to close it, Harborside remains a legally operating, city-licensed facility dispensing marijuana to patients with a doctor's prescription – a service that has been legal in California since 1996. Yet it is one of a couple dozen marijuana-related businesses that have seen their social media pages darkened or their apps yanked from Apple's iTunes stores in recent months with little warning or explanation.
Silicon Valley's self-proclaimed libertarian, innovation-encouraging ethos withers when it comes to marijuana, a market that has boomed 74 percent over the past year to $2.7 billion, with California – where only medicinal pot is legal – accounting for nearly half that, according to January report released by marijuana data and analysis firm ArcView.
Medicinal marijuana is legal in 23 states and the District of Columbia, and voters in four states have legalized marijuana for adults. Just last month, an investment firm started by early Facebook investor Peter Thiel joined a $75 million round of funding in Privateer Holdings, which has several marijuana company investments. Many saw it as a sign that Silicon Valley's frostiness toward weed was thawing.
But Thiel's attitude hasn't trickled down.
In a written response to The Chronicle, a spokeswoman for Facebook and Instagram said the companies' "guidelines do not allow the promotion of the sale of illegal content. Once something is reported to us our teams review it, will remove it if it violations those policies, and in some cases we will disable the account."
Apple, which recently banished an app that billed itself as the Tinder for marijuana enthusiasts, declined to comment.
Pot entrepreneurs say online rules governing marijuana are being enforced inconsistently.
Harborside founder Steve DeAngelo said that when dispensary officials pointed out that many of their competitors were continuing to operate Facebook pages, representatives from the social network told them to file online complaints about the violators.
"Facebook wanted us to snitch on our fellow cannabis businesses," DeAngelo said. "We're not doing that. That goes against everything we stand for."
Plus, DeAngelo said, it dodges the question of why legally operating businesses are being excised from the social media site.
Social media companies say they are trying to keep their global audience in mind. When someone creates a public account in a place where it is legal, it could be followed by someone in place where it isn't.
An app for MassRoots, an online community for marijuana users, was in Apple's iTunes store from July 2013 until last Nov. 4 – the same day that voters in Oregon, Alaska and the District of Columbia legalized marijuana for adult recreational use.
Founder Isaac Dietrich offered to geo-restrict the MassRoots app so only people living in jurisdictions where marijuana is legal could use it. He said Apple refused to budge.
"They think it is the 1990s, when they can sweep a bunch of stoners under the rug and their problem will go away," Dietrich said. "But it's different now."
More than 10,000 people have signed a petition on MassRoots.com, urging Apple to allow cannabis-related apps in states where medicinal use is legal. Dietrich was among 30 cannabis-related businesses leaders who signed a letter last month to Apple CEO Tim Cook urging him to change the company's policy. They wondered what made weed businesses different from app-based ride-sharing companies that Apple embraces.
"Apps such as Uber and Lyft are illegal in many localities in which they are available," the letter read. "However, like cannabis-related applications, there is strong demand for these services among Apple customers."
The uncertainty is hard for fledgling businesses like CannaBuild, a Denver software maker that tries to connect cannabis fans to the product. Last year, Apple rejected three apps, including the Tinder-for-weed idea.
"They weren't too keen on that," said CannaBuild CEO Zach Marburger, who eventually found the app a home on GooglePlay. "What it's doing is slowing innovation. They're making it harder to expand your business."
News Moderator: Jacob Redmond 420 MAGAZINE ®
Author: Joe Garofoli
Photo Credit: Tim Hussin
Website: 420 MAGAZINE ®
Harborside officials say Facebook's only explanation was an on-screen message that read: "We remove any promotion or encouragement of drug use."
Despite the federal government's attempt to close it, Harborside remains a legally operating, city-licensed facility dispensing marijuana to patients with a doctor's prescription – a service that has been legal in California since 1996. Yet it is one of a couple dozen marijuana-related businesses that have seen their social media pages darkened or their apps yanked from Apple's iTunes stores in recent months with little warning or explanation.
Silicon Valley's self-proclaimed libertarian, innovation-encouraging ethos withers when it comes to marijuana, a market that has boomed 74 percent over the past year to $2.7 billion, with California – where only medicinal pot is legal – accounting for nearly half that, according to January report released by marijuana data and analysis firm ArcView.
Medicinal marijuana is legal in 23 states and the District of Columbia, and voters in four states have legalized marijuana for adults. Just last month, an investment firm started by early Facebook investor Peter Thiel joined a $75 million round of funding in Privateer Holdings, which has several marijuana company investments. Many saw it as a sign that Silicon Valley's frostiness toward weed was thawing.
But Thiel's attitude hasn't trickled down.
In a written response to The Chronicle, a spokeswoman for Facebook and Instagram said the companies' "guidelines do not allow the promotion of the sale of illegal content. Once something is reported to us our teams review it, will remove it if it violations those policies, and in some cases we will disable the account."
Apple, which recently banished an app that billed itself as the Tinder for marijuana enthusiasts, declined to comment.
Pot entrepreneurs say online rules governing marijuana are being enforced inconsistently.
Harborside founder Steve DeAngelo said that when dispensary officials pointed out that many of their competitors were continuing to operate Facebook pages, representatives from the social network told them to file online complaints about the violators.
"Facebook wanted us to snitch on our fellow cannabis businesses," DeAngelo said. "We're not doing that. That goes against everything we stand for."
Plus, DeAngelo said, it dodges the question of why legally operating businesses are being excised from the social media site.
Social media companies say they are trying to keep their global audience in mind. When someone creates a public account in a place where it is legal, it could be followed by someone in place where it isn't.
An app for MassRoots, an online community for marijuana users, was in Apple's iTunes store from July 2013 until last Nov. 4 – the same day that voters in Oregon, Alaska and the District of Columbia legalized marijuana for adult recreational use.
Founder Isaac Dietrich offered to geo-restrict the MassRoots app so only people living in jurisdictions where marijuana is legal could use it. He said Apple refused to budge.
"They think it is the 1990s, when they can sweep a bunch of stoners under the rug and their problem will go away," Dietrich said. "But it's different now."
More than 10,000 people have signed a petition on MassRoots.com, urging Apple to allow cannabis-related apps in states where medicinal use is legal. Dietrich was among 30 cannabis-related businesses leaders who signed a letter last month to Apple CEO Tim Cook urging him to change the company's policy. They wondered what made weed businesses different from app-based ride-sharing companies that Apple embraces.
"Apps such as Uber and Lyft are illegal in many localities in which they are available," the letter read. "However, like cannabis-related applications, there is strong demand for these services among Apple customers."
The uncertainty is hard for fledgling businesses like CannaBuild, a Denver software maker that tries to connect cannabis fans to the product. Last year, Apple rejected three apps, including the Tinder-for-weed idea.
"They weren't too keen on that," said CannaBuild CEO Zach Marburger, who eventually found the app a home on GooglePlay. "What it's doing is slowing innovation. They're making it harder to expand your business."
News Moderator: Jacob Redmond 420 MAGAZINE ®
Author: Joe Garofoli
Photo Credit: Tim Hussin
Website: 420 MAGAZINE ®
