Nestdrop Goes Back To Delivering Weed, Adding 9 Locations Along The West Coast

Marijuana delivery startup Nestdrop is back in operation today, this time in 9 cities spread across the entire West Coast, including in Seattle, Portland, and 7 California locations. This now makes Nestdrop the only weed delivery service currently operating across multiple states.

But things were not looking so good a few months ago for the startup. L.A. city attorney Mike Feuer filed an injunction against Nestdrop back in December and ordered it to cease operations, claiming the startup was illegally delivering pot to residents and places of business, in violation of the city’s Proposition D. This was a serious blow to Nestdrop, which only delivered to L.A. at the time.

Nestdrop co-founder Michael Pycher tried working with the city to lift the injunction and started a crowd-funding campaign to raise money for legal fees to fight the order. Pycher maintains that the on-going dispute with L.A. city officials has more to do with a lack of understanding of how his business operates.

Nestdrop started out as an alcohol delivery service in L.A., much like Saucey. It added marijuana delivery later on. Pycher maintains Nestdrop acts a delivery service that makes things easier for those with medical issues who need marijuana, not an actual marijuana business that should be regulated under Proposition D.

L.A.’s Proposition D deals with proper registration for medical marijuana businesses in the city limits. The L.A. Marijuana Farmer’s Market recieved a similar injunction for allowing suppliers to sell directly to those with a weed I.D. card last July.

“Our stance is that the patients really needing medical marijuana the most are the ones who can’t get to a dispensary and would need it brought to them safely and easily,” Pycher said.

It should be noted that Nugg, another weed delivery service about to launch in L.A., looks like it operates in much the same way as Nestdrop but has not been given the same order. Nugg has not started operations yet, but co-founder Alex Milligan believes his weed delivery startup will not fall into the same problems as Nestdrop.

“Nestdrop went about things in a way that blatantly disregarded California and Los Angeles city laws & regulations,” Milligan told TechCrunch. “We’re operating in full compliance with Prop D, meaning we don’t permit deliveries within the boundaries set forth by the measure, and are working closely with a legal team to ensure we’re adhering to all laws within the local municipalities we’re operating.”

In the meantime, Nestdrop has tried to work with L.A., all while quietly seeding plans to deliver in other cities, including San Francisco where there are a more than abundant supply of on-demand weed startups promising fast delivery straight to everyone in Silicon Valley’s door.

“It’s kind of funny. Our competitors probably thought we were dead and that’s what we wanted them to think while we were going about this other option,” said Pycher.

Nestdrop is now blazing ahead on scaling operations in the 9 new locations. It will continue delivering alcohol and working on the injunction in L.A., as well as deliver marijuana to those with a licensed medical marijuana card to the following cities:

Seattle
Portland
San Francisco
Stockton
Pasadena
Glendale
Select parts of Orange County
Oceanside
San Diego

The Nestdrop iOS app will still allow the purchase and delivery of alcohol in L.A. The marijuana delivery portion is not on the app due to App Store rules. However, those with an iPhone who would like to order marijuana in the cities in which Nestdrop now operates can do so either on the Nestdrop website or by texting “smile” to 27126 to get a link to download the separate on-demand weed delivery app. Those with an Android phone can order either alcohol or marijuana via the same app on Google Play.