Weedmaps.com has long been a pioneer in the online cannabis market. Since 2008, their interactive marijuana dispensary map has led untold thousands of cannabis enthusiasts to their local pot shops based on an archive of tens of thousands of peer reviews and dynamically updated and easy to read menus.
With weed laws loosening nationwide and new dispensaries cropping up in record numbers, it would be easy for Weedmaps to rest on what they’ve built and just keep cashing checks. But lately, the multifaceted marijuana marketing magnate has been expanding its horizons a bit, and bunking down business-wise with some pretty odd bedfellows.
Yesterday, Weedmaps announced a new partnership with a business called Curb. The smartphone app formerly known as Taxi Magic is now called Curb, and it promises its users a quick and easy way to find and pay for a safe, reliable, professional driver to get them from Point A to Point B.
Boasting service in 60 cities, Curb has contracted 90 cab companies with over 35,000 cars, along with 6,500 for-hire vehicles (think Uber or Lyft) in their quest to be the top mobile app for on-demand transportation requests.
Matt Carrington, Curb’s VP of Marketing, sees the Weedmaps relationship as nothing more than another day at the office, stating, “Our partnership with Weedmaps supports Curb’s core mission of providing safe, reliable ground travel to riders around the country.” He added, “Together we can spread the word about responsible consumption and provide individuals with a viable, immediate alternative to driving impaired.”
Red flag.
Sure we all know that a cab-ride home from the bar on Ladies Night is probably not a bad idea, but weren’t we talking about weed?
“Driving impaired” on pot is a subject we have reported on many times here at Toke of the Town, and while cannabis affects everyone a bit differently in different circumstances, the overall feedback on studies of stoned drivers has shown little cause for concern – especially for so-called advocates of cannabis legalization.
To be fair, that was a quote from the white-collar Curb rep.
Surely Weedmaps isn’t losing sleep over baked motorists, considering their fortune was built off of guiding those same motorists to weed stores.
Weedmaps founder and CEO, Justin Hartfield, would clear the air on the subject, right?
“Our partnership with Curb, the second Weedmaps safe transportation partnership as of late, highlights our commitment to providing safe transportation for marijuana users across the country,” Hartfield said in an industry press release yesterday.
Hartfield continued, “As marijuana legalization takes hold across the country, there will inevitably be more people using marijuana. With this partnership, we want to encourage those people to consume marijuana responsibly by providing them with safe transportation options.”
Without trying to be too cynical, the implication sure seems to be that without this ride-ordering app, marijuana users are somehow being irresponsible, or unsafe.
Weedmaps has announced plans to promote their new business venture with Curb by offering their subscribers $15 off their first ride from Curb by entering a specific promo code into the app.
They say they will continue to push their new “safe transportation initiative” to their massive user base across all of their many marijuana-related platforms, both online and off.
Additionally, they plan to release a series of articles on their Marijuana.com website, supposedly highlighting the alleged pros and cons of driving under the influence of marijuana.
It will be interesting to see if one of the most influential outlets in the industry allows their investment portfolio to magnify an already debunked subject that anti-pot prohibitionists are just waiting to sink their fangs into.