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Article: Microsoft to track legal marijuana with new partner Kind Financial[edit]
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Microsoft announced on Thursday, June 16, 2016, that they are partnering with KIND Financial to help governments track the production and distribution of legal marijuana. Kind Financial is a start-up that has been selling its Agrisoft Seed to Sale software for three years now. Microsoft is licensing its Azure government cloud to Kind.
Although Kind Financial CEO David Dinenberg stresses that they "absolutely do not touch the plant," his company does business with growers and distributors of marijuana, as well as the governments that regulate it. Twenty-five states in the U.S.A. have legalized marijuana, whether medicinally or for recreational use, so there is a demand for the technology necessary to help states make sure that cannabis distribution within their state is done so according to their laws.
Kind also has kiosks and ATM-like machines that help facilitate marijuana transactions in dispensaries. The distribution of marijuana is often done only with cash or through machines like the ones Kind offers since many banks in the United States shy away from the marijuana industry entirely. Microsoft is not interacting with this part of Kind's operations, however.
Microsoft and Kind will apply for contracts with state governments to license their software. Currently, they have applied to Puerto Rico, an American territory, where medical marijuana has recently been made legal. BioTrackTHC, a company similar to Kind Financial, already has contracts with Washington, New Mexico, and Illinois.
Dinenberg feels that his company's partnership with Microsoft is a major step in ensuring the legitimacy of cannabis-related businesses.
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