Microsoft Smokes A Doobie – Partners With Marijuana Tracking Company For Software Development (VIDEO)

Marijuana legalization is the subject of the moment. The DEA recently declined to reschedule the plant, eight states are set to vote on usage in November, and now Microsoft wants in.

The multi-billion dollar technology company recently announced a partnership with Kind, a Los Angeles based ‘seed-to-sale’ software company that tracks the journey of marijuana plants from genesis to joint.

Microsoft’s executive director of state and local government solutions said;

“Kind’s strategic industry positioning, experienced team, and top-notch technology running in the Microsoft Azure Government cloud made for an easy decision to align efforts.”

So Why Is Microsoft Taking Such A Risk?

Money, of course.

Colorado netted $70 million in 2015 from the taxes of marijuana sales, which is almost double that of alcohol tax in the same state in the same year. Other research-based organizations are estimating that legal weed sales could hit as high as $6.7 billion this year alone, eventually reaching $22 billion by 2020.

If every state legalized recreational marijuana, researchers at GreenWave Advisors believe sales could top $35 billion by 2020.

The new Microsoft-Kind partnership has not yet gained any state contracts, but has apparently applied for Puerto Rico’s weed business. They are competing with companies like BioTrackTHC, who have deals with Hawaii’s Department of Health, Washington, New Mexico, and Illinois.

Other Companies Are Jumping On The Marijuana Bandwagon

Privateer Holdings, a marijuana-focused company, attracted $75 million in investments for their mail-order medical marijuana subsidiary company in Canada. Peter Theil, co-founder of PayPal, is backing these investments.

Are the biggest players in the financial, technological, and modern world investing in the future legalization of weed?

This goes against the decision by the DEA to not reclassify marijuana from a Schedule I drug. However, some experts have suggested that this is a ploy to eliminate the monopoly on growing research-grade weed.

The DEA declined to reschedule the plant four times, and yet the industry is booming.

It is hoped that this partnership will increase the legitimacy of one of the most profitable emerging industries.

This video discusses the story further:

Featured Image By Daniel Sandoval And Mike Mozart/CC By 2.0

Kay Smythe is a freelance writer, social geographer, and senior writer at Anthony Gilardi's HIPPO LIFE. She was first published by Guardian Travel in the mid-2000s, which earned her the editorship at her college newspaper in 2010. From there, Smythe was opinion and news editor with The Tab, whilst maintaining a blog with Huffington Post. Her works featured interviews with Oscar and Emmy nominated actors. In early 2016, Smythe was awarded an O1 VISA. She lives and works in Venice, California, and loves it.