Don’t you just love the 21st century, with all its technologies? I mean, even your pusher who used to stand by the dark corner in the alley is now pushing his products online. No, I am talking about weed, or as the proper Englishman might put it marijuana.
Up to until recently, you could get your fix online. Simply take your Android device, download a weed app from Play Store, and your joint will be screen taps away. It might not directly sell your Marijuana, but it certainly will either give you the right information about where and how you can get it. In addition to facilitating how you get it. Then Google went and ruined that for everyone by banning all apps used to sell weed from the Play Store!
Well, to be fair Google was not weeding out your next fix (pan intended). This change is part of a wider plan by Google to make the Play Store a more child-friendly environment. Weed selling apps are just one of many casualties of Google making the Play Store more accommodating for children.
Through a policy statement, Google says apps facilitating the sale and distribution of marijuana were violating the Play Store by:
Allowing users to order marijuana through in-app shopping cart feature
Assisting the user in arranging for the delivery and pickup of marijuana
Facilitating the sale of substances containing THC
“These apps simply need to move the shopping cart flow outside of the app itself to be compliant with the new policy. 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,” said Google in a statement to newsrooms.
At this point, the weed users affected by these policy changes Google is doing on the Play Store feel more empathic to Huawei after it was also kicked out of the app store. Perhaps Google’s powers over the Play Store ought to be checked!
That means you can no longer use convenient service by apps such as Weedmaps and Eaze to make arrangement for your next joint over your phone. To do that, you might need a guy that knows someone that knows someone… know what I am saying?
It only applies to countries and U.S. states where the use of marijuana is legal; both for medicinal and recreational purposes. For the rest of us, outside those jurisdictions, stay away from weed unless you are looking for a date with the police.
In 2015, Apple too came up with policies to weed out weed business from its App Store. However, as years passed by, it became quiet over the issue. So let us wait and watch, perhaps these changes by Google on Play Store is just another passing storm.
