4/20 Weed Day Meaning: These Apps Will Help You Legally Buy The Right 'Green,' Strain

It’s the holiday season, at least for marijuana dispensaries and their customers. 4/20 has a murky history and it’s unclear exactly how it came to be. Some people think it was a police code used in the '70s in California and that some high school kids picked it up and used it as a sort of slang. Whatever the story, it caught on and now every year on the 20th of April, people across the globe come together to smoke.

Throughout the United States the laws around the use of marijuana have lessened over the last decade or so. Many states have either made the recreational use of marijuana legal or have made it legal for medical purposes. If you’re in a state where it is legal and you’re looking to make a legal purchase for your 4/20 celebrations there are several apps you can use.

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Where’s Weed was founded in 2011, right as the marijuana boom began. Back then it was only legal to use marijuana for medical reasons. It had been decriminalized in some states, but recreational use wasn’t legal anywhere.

“We saw tremendous opportunity when the industry started,” Where’s Weed Co-founder and President Tyler Bartholomew told International Business Times. The website and app allow users to search for dispensaries and strains, order online and even meet up with other enthusiasts in the area.

“This time of the year our traffic’s almost double from 4/20 seasonality,” Bartholomew said.

Where’s Weed sees more than 1,500 orders each month he said, a statistic that’s increased 800 percent since April of last year. In 2017 the company has done more than $750,000 in preorder business and is expecting to clear $1 million by the end of Q2.

But it has to be done carefully. Laws vary from state to state, and if legislation goes through, rules could change rapidly. “We spend a lot of time making sure the information we provide is as accurate as possible,” Bartholomew said. The end goal is always to provide the best experience possible for customers, he noted. Users can select their state to see what laws apply and where dispensaries are.

Users can review and rate specific strains from specific local dispensaries in the app, a useful feature due to the fact that different growers can sell products under the same name that end up being pretty different. To make this more appealing, the company added a game-like feature to the review process where users get badges and level up for reviewing. The app is available in the App Store and Google Play.

It’s a booming business and Where’s Weed has competitors.

The Weed Maps app and website serves a similar function to Where’s Weed. Users can track down dispensaries, doctors and see delivery options in the area easily by entering a location. The app store description says it has more listings than any other directory. Additionally, it has listings in Europe as well as Canada and the U.S. It’s also available in both the App Store and Google Play. Once users choose a location they’re given a list of dispensaries, doctors, deals and brands from which to choose.

There’s also the Leafly app that can guide you whether you’re in Barcelona, Spain, or Anchorage, Alaska. Users can narrow the search to medical or recreational dispensaries, as well as search for and review doctors. Leafly also focuses on education and involvement offering users the option to shop for products and also learn about marijuana focused events that’ll be going on in their area. It’s available for download in the App Store or on Google Play.

And finally, there’s BlazeNow working to connect patients and businesses with their app either for iPhone or Android devices. The app is similarly designed to help users find doctors, dispensaries and accessories they want, and get what they want delivered quickly and conveniently.