A few years back when HighSpeed CEO David Umeh approached Snoop Dogg and his venture capital team Casa Verde Capital, L.P. about getting in on the ground floor of his juice delivery business, he was met with skepticism.

According to Umeh, Snoop and his business partners thought the business would take too long to grow and be profitable.

"I think he may want to set up a meeting now," Umeh said in an interview last week. Umeh’s company, HighSpeed, which launched in Boston at the very end of January, delivers a juice at the price of $55 a bottle. And while that may seem steep, patrons also receive the gift of marijuana.

It’s still illegal to sell marijuana in Massachusetts — except to registered medical marijuana patients — and will remain so for at least a year until the first pot shops are licensed and regulated.

Deliveries reach residents outside of Boston and Cambridge

HighSpeed has been growing rapidly in the greater Boston area, in part thanks to voters who backed Question 4 to legalize recreational use of marijuana in Massachusetts last November.

When the company started serving the Boston area on Jan. 30 of this year, they only delivered to Boston and Cambridge. More recently, the company expanded their coverage to serve residents within a seven-mile radius of the TD BankNorth Garden in Boston with its delivery service. Inside that radius are towns and cities such as Everett, Arlington, Cambridge, Revere, Newton, Watertown, Medford, Somerville, Brookline and Waltham.

Even if residents don't live nearby, they can opt to pick up their juice and gift within that zone.

"There have been a lot of people outside those Boston and Cambridge using our service," Umeh said. "Too many to count. Even if someone orders from Worcester, they can still opt for pick up."

Previously, Umeh said, the company had made its own juice but the process was limited by their popularity. Currently, he said, they’re trying to scale up juice production by working with an outside producer. As for the marijuana, Umeh said it is sourced locally.

Following the 2014 passage of Initiative 71 in Washington D.C., HighSpeed took advantage of D.C.'s marijuana regulatory laws. Currently, it is legal to possess up to two ounces of cannabis in the District. It is also legal for one person to transfer up to an ounce of cannabis to another person, "as long as no money, goods or services are exchanged."

Over the last year and a half, a handful of marijuana delivery companies have popped up in D.C., offering everything from art, to cookies, t-shirts and drawstring backpacks.

The newest marijuana law in Massachusetts is similar to that in D.C., with adults over 21 outside the home only able to posses up to one ounce of marijuana. Inside the home, adults over 21 may posses up to 10 ounces of pot and cultivate up to six marijuana plants for personal use or 12 if more than one adult lives on the premises.

It’s also legal for one adult to give away up to an ounce of marijuana to another adult, but not for money.

Expensive juice

Visit HighSpeed’s website and you’ll find an assortment of juices including Berry Farms, Strawberry Lemonade and Ginger lemonade to choose from. From there a few options pop up, click "Love on Demand" and you’ll be whisked away to a delivery menu for delivery within the hour at a cost of $70.

Buying juice for $55 (aka the "love" option) results in about an eighth of an ounce of marijuana either for delivery or pick-up the following day, whereas the $150 "Lots of Love" gets you more juice.

HighSpeed’s delivery person checks the buyer’s driver’s license, which must match the billing information for the purchase – ensuring that all sales are to adults over 21.

Launching in Boston and Cambridge

On Jan. 29, Umeh said, the company quietly opened for business in Boston, exactly one year after starting in Washington D.C.

Umeh said he sees similarities in Washington and Boston as far as the market goes. Ultimately, he said, the goal is to expand to New York City.

"People are super educated here and they seem forward-thinking," he said. After a year in Washington, HighSpeed hasn’t run into many speed bumps and Umeh said he’s hoping for the same in Boston.

"We haven’t had any troubles, aside from a few questions from the Health Department in Washington, who thought our juices weren’t pasteurized correctly," he said. "But that wasn’t the case anyway."

Since the demand is so high for their juice, Umeh said, he’s finally found a company to mass produce the product for their site and possibly in-store sales.

Overall, Umeh said, he sees HighSpeed as a true start up and regards the move to Boston the right one.

"We’re looking at growing, influencing policy and I think we want to be respected as a startup, not a marijuana company," he said.

When Question 4 was enacted in December, Umeh said, the law was up for interpretation.

"The language is there for anyone to see," he said. "If you’re not researching and looking into these markets before jumping in you’re making a big mistake."

Law enforcement skeptical

Authorities are beginning to take a closer look at whether so-called marijuana “gifts” comply with the law. Legal counsel for the Massachusetts Executive Office of Public Safety, for example, referenced HighSpeed in a Feb. 24 letter sent to district attorneys offices throughout the state.

“Obviously this is a thinly concealed scheme to obscure the illegal sale of marijuana by an unlicensed seller,” EOPS legal counsel David Solet said in the letter.

In Springfield, authorities issued a March 2 cease-and-desist order to a store that was charging customers an entry fee, then giving them free “gifts” of marijuana.

Under the new law, gifts are permitted as long as they don’t involve an exchange of money and aren’t promoted or advertised.

“Attempts to evade this safe harbor with delayed or disguised payments, contemporaneous reciprocal ‘gifts’ of money or items of value, or other sham transactions will remain a criminal act,” EOPS Secretary Daniel Bennett said in a Dec. 14 memo to Massachusetts police chiefs.

While possession of marijuana in Massachusetts became legal on Dec. 15, buying and selling pot will remain illegal until lawmakers consider potential amendments to the law and set the regulatory structure that will oversee the new cannabis industry.

Lawmakers in December voted to delay legal sales, meaning the recreational pot dispensaries won’t open until well into 2018. The yet-to-be appointed Cannabis Control Commission, which will be responsible for overseeing pot sales in Massachusetts, will have until March 15, 2018 to develop regulations. The commission is expected to begin accepting applications for pot retail licenses on April 1, 2018.

The Massachusetts law allows only licensed dispensaries to sell marijuana, with a 10 percent tax going to the state an up to 2 percent in additional taxes going to the local city or town where the vendor is based.

Gerry Tuoti contributed to this story.