Marijuana Delivery Apps Companies Are Ban By Google From Selling Weed
Android Police noted the change earlier
today, speculating that it might spell trouble for the popular weed-finding
apps Eaze and Weedmaps. Google has added a rule banning apps that “facilitate”
the sale of marijuana — whether they’re operating legally or not — but the
company says it’s not trying to drive pot-related services off the Google Play
Store. Google is working with developers to make their apps compliant with the
new rules, rather than trying to ban them from the Play Store altogether.
Android apps can apparently still promote pot,
but they’re not allowed to
offer an “in-app shopping cart feature” to assist with “arranging delivery or
pick up of marijuana” or to otherwise “facilitate the sale of marijuana or
marijuana products, regardless of legality.”
GOOGLE SAYS IT’S WORKING WITH APP DEVELOPERS TO PREVENT
“CUSTOMER DISRUPTION”
From a report, Google described the changes as
less sweeping than that language suggests. “These apps simply need to move the
shopping cart flow outside of the app itself to be compliant with this new
policy,” said a spokesperson. “We’ve been in contact with many of the
developers and are working with them to answer any technical questions and help
them implement the changes without customer disruption.”
Android Police ties
Google’s new policy to an overall push for
a more kid-friendly Play Store. If the key issue is shopping carts, though, it
may be more of a way to get around processing payments for pot, which is still
illegal at a federal level, even as a growing number of states allow it.
Apple’s App Store already bans “facilitating
the sale of marijuana, tobacco, or controlled substances” or “encouraging
consumption of tobacco products, illegal drugs, or excessive amounts of
alcohol” through apps. This has led it to ban marijuana-related apps in the past,
although it’s eased up since then. Weedmaps and Eaze both operate on iOS, but
they don’t offer in-app ordering.
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