Apple Now Allow Cannabis Apps In The AppStore

It’s a big victory for the legalization movement: Apple has adjusted its AppStore guidelines so that cannabis delivery services can now offer their applications. It is not known why the company is making the change so suddenly.

Apple: The First Big Tech Company To Allow Weed Apps

It is an adjustment that of course only affects countries in which cannabis may be legally offered, but the step still has a signal effect. While Apple continues to take a very hard line in the AppStore with tobacco and vape products and alcohol, cannabis delivery service providers are now actually welcome with their applications – as long as they meet some clear guidelines. Apple has included its store guidelines for “legal cannabis pharmacies” in the “controlled substances” section. The specialist magazine WeedWeek reports that this implementation had already taken place at the beginning of the month without any major announcement.

One of the most important rules that cannabis apps have to observe is the restriction of the offer through geo-locks to jurisdictions in which this may be legally offered. In addition, the developers are also subject to stricter requirements than normal apps. Cannabis delivery service providers can only discontinue their applications as a company or legal entity, so individual developers are not allowed here.

Great Opportunity

In an interview with WeedWeek, Chris Vaughn, CEO of California delivery company Emjay, described the development of delivery offerings as “probably the greatest opportunity for cannabis”. As the industry expert describes, there have long been expectations among experts that Apple could be the first of the large US tech companies to advance here. And so Emjay had prepared his iOS app accordingly before the announcement: “We had a feeling that this was coming,” says Vaughn. The Emjay boss has another feeling here: “I think Google will quickly follow suit.”