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European start-up banking on the need for weed 
  By Stefanie Olsen
  Staff Writer, CNET News.com
  August 17, 2000, 4:55 a.m. PT 

  A new start-up is preparing to alter reality in Amsterdam. 

  iToke, a kind of alter ego to Kozmo.com, the popular 30-minute delivery
service in several U.S. cities, plans to take delivery orders for
marijuana starting Sept. 1, igniting fires under that country's laws that
prohibit marijuana sales outside of cafes.  
   The company said it plans to let customers order
marijuana through WAP (Wireless Application Protocol)-enabled cellular
phones. To pay for their orders, people will be able to buy prepaid and
rechargeable cards, called iTokens, at kiosks throughout Amsterdam, the
site's founders said. With a handheld device, bicycle couriers can read
the unique ID of each card at the time of delivery.  
   "Users will set up a user/address profile--either through
a normal browser or WAP--which will remain anonymous. After ordering a
product (limited to 2 grams) from a streamlined menu, a courier will
arrive within 30 minutes," said Mike Tucker, 33, one of iToke's founders.  
  Tucker and Tim Freccia, another founder, who have been friends for 20
years and are Seattle expatriates, say they hope to stoke the fires around
marijuana use despite its illegal status across the globe.  
  "We had a coffee moment one day where we realized that our
contemporaries are basically the biggest wealth-generating generation of
all time and they're all tokers," said Freccia, 35.  
  "These are not the slackers that everybody thought they were--and
they're all forced to toke in their basement," he said. "iToke is not
about the legalization of pot, it's about the commercialization of pot
culture. It's about giving pot culture a face-lift." 
  Since the launch of the site, which currently sells only T-shirts, the
prospect of delivering marijuana has become a burning topic for many.  
  "People have offered to quit their jobs to work for us. Lawyers have
offered free services.  MBAs have lined up. Stalwart e-commerce outlets
have offered partnerships," said Tucker, adding that he may deliver some
of the orders himself in the beginning.  
  So far, the company has not announced any major financial backing, but
Freccia said it has been "waylaid by investor interest." The company has
also said it plans to open cafes in select cities, called iTokeos.  
  "Much like GovWorks.com wants to privatize central government services,
we want to make the multibillion-dollar...marijuana business safe, secure
and socially responsible. And want to know what? The public loves the
idea. iToke is e-mocracy at work," Tucker said.  
  But Tucker and Freccia said they are not doing this to end up behind
bars, although they fear that may happen when operations hit. "Instead we
are both testing our business model and promoting our brand globally
within the current legal limits," Tucker said. 
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Never underestimate the bandwidth of a station wagon full of tapes.
- Dr. Warren Jackson, Director, UTCS