Patients with a prescription to use marijuana for medical purposes can now get the drugs from vending machines in California, the BBC reported Jan. 28.

A handful of the vending machines have now been installed, including at a herbal nutrition store in Los Angeles. Medical-marijuana patients who have a prescription and agree to be fingerprinted and photographed are issued a special ID card that they can use to access the machines.

"They'll be greeted by a security guard right there. They'll slide the card in and they'll fingerprint in to verify that it's them," said Vince Mehdizadeh, owner of the Herbal Nutrition Center. "A camera takes a picture of them, verifying that they're actually at the machine. And they get the medicine and they move on."

Some observers think that vending machines dispensing prescription drugs could become more common in the future.