In most cases when you lose something, you retrace your steps, try to remember the last place you had the missing item, and in more desperate moments, maybe pray to St. Anthony.
But what if you would swear you misplaced some weed you just purchased? Well, there’s an internet business that promises it, too, can answer your prayers.
Portland-based Incredibles.me says it will find marijuana you claim you’ve misplaced and deliver it to you in southern Maine, from Kittery to Freeport, as long as it doesn’t exceed the legal limit of 5 grams of concentrate or 2.5 ounces of flower.
They also claim to use “spirit guides” to help find the missing products and return them to you.
Bizarre? Definitely. Legal? The business claims it is, although government officials declined to take positions, and an independent legal expert on regulated substances said it’s undoubtedly illegal.
In an interview last week, a representative from the company who would only identify himself as Jed downplayed the suggestion that what Incredibles.me is doing is illegal or that it is just a delivery service. He said what they do is no different than helping someone locate their missing wallet or lost set of keys.
“People lose money, keys to $15,000 cars, keys to $200,000 houses,” Jed said. “People lose their weed too. The difference is it’s a controlled substance. While it has never killed anyone or caused anyone to overdose, it is still the responsible thing to hire someone to find it. We are responsible young psychics that do that very thing.”
Jed said the business has no owner; instead, there it is a “collective of psychics.” He said they provide a service to tax-paying adult Maine residents who have already “bought their weed legally, and then went out and lost it.”
“The entire thing is a very serious endeavor,” Jed said. “Do some people think it is a gag or tongue in cheek? Absolutely. Some believe in us too. Either way, we offer a respectful service to the adult community with respect for both law enforcement, the politicians in charge, and our clients. We are simply trying to coexist in a space that isn’t quite there yet.”
Jed denied Incredibles.me is simply an attempt to circumvent city and state laws that prohibit the delivery of recreational marijuana. The company website, however, stipulates that the service is legal “in our opinion.”
“Maine is going through some cannabis growing pains,” the website says. “While these growing pains are happening, why not avail yourself of our services? We are not a delivery service, we are not furnishing you weed. We are simply returning YOUR property!”
Dena Libner, chief of staff to City Manager Jon Jennings, said city code specifies recreational marijuana can only be sold from a fixed location. As for the idea of a “lost-and-found” type of business as Incredibles.me claims to be, Libner said there’s more work to be done.
“Without a formal inspection by a code enforcement officer, we don’t have sufficient information to determine whether a business is operating legally or not,” Libner said.
David Heidrich, spokesperson for the state Office of Marijuana Policy, said his office would not discuss Incredibles.me or the concept of “lost-and-found” services.
But attorney Hannah King, of Portland law firm Drummond Woodsum’s regulated substance team, which represents recreational marijuana businesses, didn’t hesitate to offer an opinion about Incredibles.me.
“Everything about this is out of compliance with the law,” King said. “There is no straight-faced argument here. And I certainly wouldn’t take on the risk these folks are taking.”
King said there used to be a loophole in state law about donations being acceptable, which is probably what Incredibles.me is trying to exploit. But delivery methods are completely prohibited, she said, so even if the loophole still existed, Incredibles.me is not operating in good faith.
“I don’t see any interpretation of the law that would make the business model as I understand to be legal,” she said. “There is no difference between what Incredibles is doing and what the illicit market is doing.”
Jed, meanwhile, said Incredibles.me, which opened on April Fool’s Day “a couple of years ago,” doesn’t get many calls for service.
The business is open daily from 10 a.m.-5 p.m. It offers to help find a variety of marijuana and related products, including edibles, vape pens, and pre-rolled marijuana cigarettes for specified fees. Customers must be 21 or older, and payment is accepted only in cash or Bitcoin. The website says its delivery drivers do not carry money to make change “because it is a very dangerous business.”
Its fees are based on the time it takes to locate the missing cannabis products, the quantity of weed, and the distance they have to travel to return it. They also ask customers to tip the “psychic driver.”
“Our service is pricey because we have to drive all over the place to find people’s stuff and bring it back,” Jed said. “Most people would rather pay (half) as much to buy more than to have us find their lost stuff.”
Jed said there are four people who take turns and most days serve three or four clients, and on a weekend maybe six or seven.
“We make enough money to live, eat, and be happy,” he said. “We are basically a small group of hippies that are happy with a roof overhead and Chinese-food money.”
Libner said Portland so far has only issued four licenses for adult-use recreational marijuana sales – and Incredibles.me isn’t one of them.
But that hasn’t prevented it from attracting attention.
“Visiting next weekend!” a user named Chris commented on the website. “I hope you locate the weed I’m bound to lose!”
