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Pod-based marijuana vaporizers are coming

Yes, it's like a Keurig machine. But for weed.

CannaKorp

As the wave of marijuana legalization lifts the country out of its longstanding fog of prohibition, one former Keurig executive and his 40-something marijuana enthusiast friend have found a way to ride it all the way to the bank: By creating a vaporizer with single-serving, disposable pot pods. Because, in the future, everything will come in a pod.

The device, which is unsurprisingly being called the "a Keurig for marijuana," is actually named the CannaCloud. And it was designed by Massachusetts resident Michael Bourque, who had a bad experience buying weed in a parking lot off of "a guy that looked like ZZ Top" one time. Although legalization would eliminate that point-of-sale problem entirely, in Bourque's blissfully mellow vision on the future, no one will ever have to deal with smoking harsh joints or even touching plant matter at all, if that's their vibe.

Let's ignore for a moment the fact that there are plenty of other vaporizers already on the market — in both pocket and tabletop size — that accomplish exactly the same function as the CannaCloud, but without the need for device-specific pods. That barrier didn't stop millions from from buying into Keurig's coffee machines, of course. And that is what Bourque's business partner and former Keurig Green Mountain VP Dave Manly is banking on.

After showing the device to a focus group, "people said, 'Oh my God, how fast can I have one of those?'" Manly told the Boston Globe. "Which is exactly what people said when they saw the Keurig." It is unclear whether or not this focus group included any actual marijuana consumption.

On the bright side, CannaKorp promises a variety of strains to suit the user's desired effect, and they do boast a number of cultivator-partners. While there's no release date yet, CannaKorp just raised a $1.58 million seed round with the plan to launch sometime in 2017. The device will reportedly cost somewhere in the $149-$179 range and there's also an accompanying device called a "CannaMatic" meant to help growers grind and package their product. All that's left to do is figure out how to handle the inevitable trash pile of cashed CannaCups.