Apple will now host legal apps for delivering and selling weed on its app store

Residents of states with weed rights will soon be able to order cannabis products at home using a variety of convenient iPhone apps.

Last month, Apple tacitly updated its iOS App Store policies to lift a blanket ban on apps that allow customers to purchase cannabis. In its original policy, Apple specifically banned all “apps that encourage the use of tobacco and steam products, illegal drugs, or excessive amounts of alcohol.” The company also banned any app that would “facilitate the sale of controlled substances (except for licensed pharmacies), marijuana, or tobacco.”

But as part of Apple’s new policy, this ban on drug-related apps has been updated to exclude “licensed pharmacies and licensed or otherwise legal cannabis dispensaries”. These guidelines now allow state-licensed cannabis companies to place weed apps in the app store, but will continue to prevent third-party developers from selling cannabis apps. The new guidelines also require that cannabis-selling apps be geographically restricted so that they only work in states or countries where cannabis is legal.

Chris Vaughn, CEO of California delivery company Emjay, recently told WeedWeek that he “felt this was coming,” given that five states have legalized weed so far this year. Vaughn, who views delivery services as “probably the greatest cannabis opportunity,” instructed his company to develop an iOS delivery app even before Apple announced its policy change. Emjay has already submitted its new app for review.

With these new guidelines, Apple has become one of the few major tech companies to accept the fact that most US states have now legalized cannabis in some form. Meanwhile, Facebook and Instagram have deleted the accounts of legal cannabis companies, even in Canada, where cannabis is legal at the federal level. The social media monolith has also gone so far as to ban all cannabis-related advertising, including most legal CBD products.

And not only are Facebook and other social media sites banning cannabis dispensaries, they have “shadows banned” news sites like Marijuana Moment and even official state government agencies like the Massachusetts Cannabis Control Commission. In 2019, a company that offers a range of training courses on safe cannabis use ultimately sued Facebook for censorship and suppression of information about the legal use of cannabis.

Unlike Apple, Google is working to ban the legal cannabis industry from its own mobile app platform. In 2019, Google updated its Android App Store Policies to specifically prohibit “apps that facilitate the sale of marijuana or marijuana products regardless of legality,” including apps that “allow users to” sell marijuana via an indoor network. App shopping cart function “or to help” Users arranging the delivery or collection of marijuana. “