Tag Archives: ID

Digital Insurance Solutions are Ripe for Fast-Growing Cannabis Dispensaries

By Jay Virdi
No Comments

Cannabis sales in the United States are expected to hit $100 billion by 2030, and yet dispensary owners still face hurdles before getting up and running, namely obtaining the right insurance coverage. Unlike a coffee shop or clothing store, it can be difficult to secure the insurance coverage needed to satisfy the requirements prescribed by the state and/or commercial leasing agreements.

Yet a simple answer to the dilemma exists. Increasing demand for cannabis business owner policies has prompted some retail insurance brokers to provide convenient turnkey solutions via digital commercial insurance platforms. These platforms circumvent the traditional underwriting process that could trudge on for weeks, allowing cannabis businesses to ramp up operations sooner.

Currently about 30% of insurance customers interact with and purchase from their insurance provider digitally for their business needs. This can be a game changer for a fast-growing cannabis business operator.

What do you need to obtain insurance online?

Obtaining insurance online lets dispensaries secure a complete, holistic insurance policy in one quick pass to cover the industry’s unique risks.

Increasing demand for cannabis policies has prompted some insurance brokers to offer digital solutions

Like any other commercial business package policy, you’ll need to provide details about your business and its operations when harnessing a digital insurance platform.

The first piece of information needed will be proof of licensing with the applicable state or commonwealth where the business operates. This piece is critical since cannabis is still illegal at the federal level. In addition, businesses will need to have other basic data on hand before finding coverage online, including:

  • The legal name of the business
  • Tax identification number
  • Operating locations
  • Annual or monthly sales projections
  • Number of employees

A Closer Look at Cannabis Coverages

Crime, extreme wealth conditions and legal challenges count among the risks faced by cannabis dispensaries. Here are three essential coverages important for cannabis business owners and operators.

  1. Commercial property insurance. Owned cannabis dispensary properties can face perils such as fire, storms, theft and vandalism. Buildings hold value and need to be repaired or replaced if any adverse events occur. Leased properties may contain equipment and fixtures owned by the business and subject to the very same hazards. Commercial property coverage can help cover the cost of replacing business contents and inventory if damaged through a peril covered by the policy.
  2. General liability insurance. Cannabis retail outlets experience a high volume of foot traffic from customers, vendors and technicians, for example. As such, trips, slips and falls could occur and lead to lawsuits. General liability insurance helps cover legal defense costs should any of these parties seek to recover compensatory damages from accidents and mishaps on the property or occurring elsewhere in a business-related capacity.
  3. Product liability coverage. Issues such as quality control with infused products and concentrates can be a concern for cannabis purveyors. Lawsuits arising from mislabeled or improperly tested products likewise need to be defended by cannabis businesses. Comprehensive product liability coverage can meet the needs of cannabis dispensaries promoting and selling a unique variety of product offerings.

Outside the standard commercial package offering, dispensaries can opt for coverage such as business interruption insurance, which helps pay overhead costs if the operation must temporarily cease due to a covered peril.

Cannabis businesses also often need to retain workers compensation insurance that helps pay for lost time and/or medical bills incurred by employees who become ill or injured on the job. Commercial crime policies help cover losses that may occur on premises or in transit in a cash-centric business.

If cannabis industry owners and managers use an online platform for their insurance needs, they could secure a certificate of insurance in as little as 24-48 hours. HUB’s digital commercial insurance platform, powered by Insureon, is one such direct-to-consumer solution. The platform is ideal for licensed retail cannabis dispensaries in all legal US states.

Bad Actors in CBD: How to Distinguish Quality Products From the Rest

By Joseph Dowling
No Comments

The success of reputable cannabis and CBD brands has inspired an influx of inexperienced and disreputable competitors in the market. These so-called “bad actors” in CBD advertise products that are not manufactured under current Good Manufacturing Practices (cGMP), which help to ensure that all products are consistently produced and controlled according to specified quality standards. cGMP helps guard against risks of adulteration, cross-contamination and mislabeling to guarantee product quality, safety and efficacy.

Joseph Dowling, Author & CEO of CV Sciences

CBD products without cGMP regulations are often inaccurately labeled and deceiving to consumers. In fact, in a test of over 100 CBD products available online and at retail locations, Johns Hopkins Medicine found significant evidence of inaccurate, misleading labeling of CBD content. The prevalence of such brands not only reduces consumer confidence in CBD but also limits the growth of the sector as a whole. Fortunately, CBD consumers and retailers can easily discriminate between a well-tested, reputable brand and inferior bad actors with a few straightforward, minimum requirements to look out for when selecting a product.

Why are “bad actors” a problem for consumers and the industry?

Bad actors in CBD sell products that are not produced under cGMP conditions and are typically not tested by third-party laboratories to ensure identity, purity, quality, strength and composition. This means they are not verified for contaminants, impurities, label claims and product specifications. This frequently results in misleading advertising with inaccurate levels of cannabinoids or traces of compounds not found on the label, like THC. To combat this, the FDA issues warning letters to actors that market products allegedly containing CBD—many of which are found not to contain the claimed levels of CBD and are not approved for the treatment of any medical condition. Still, bad actors manage to slip through the cracks and deceive consumers.

The structure of cannabidiol (CBD), one of 400 active compounds found in cannabis.

Bad actors that put anything in a bottle and make unsubstantiated medical claims hurt the reputable operators that strive to create safe and high-quality products. It is easy for consumers to be drawn to CBD products with big medical claims and lower prices, only to be disappointed when the product does not produce the advertised results. Inaccurately labeled products may contain unexpected levels of cannabinoids, including ingredients that consumers may not intend to ingest, like Delta-9 or Delta-8 THC. Along with unexpected levels of THC, many CBD products available now are not as pure as advertised, with one in four products going untested for contaminants like microbial content, pesticides, or heavy metals.

Further, inaccurate labeling of products and their compounds also prevents consumers from establishing a baseline impact of CBD on their bodies, leaving them vulnerable to inconsistent future experiences. Such a poor experience can turn consumers off to the category as a whole, drawing their trust away from not only the bad actors but also the reliable, reputable brands on the market. The saturation of the market with these disreputable brands delegitimizes a category that has only just begun to break down the stigmas, creating stagnation rather than growth as consumers remain wary of low-quality products.

How can consumers identify bad actors in CBD?

There are several simple ways to identify a bad actor among CBD products and make certain that both consumers and retailers purchase quality, reliable and safe brands in legitimate sales channels. To start, consumers should avoid all CBD products that are marketed with unsubstantiated medical claims. This is a significant area of abuse, as brands that relate any form of CBD product to a disease state, like cancer, should not be trusted. The science to support such medical claims has not been completed, yet, product marketing is years ahead of the evidence to support such claims. Unsupported medical claims could also mislead consumers that may need more serious medical intervention.

Just some of the many CBD products on the market today.

Additionally, consumers must review the packaging, which should include nutrition information in the form of a supplement fact label. The label should include the serving size, number of servings per container, a list of all dietary ingredients in the product and the amount per serving of each ingredient. All labels should include a net quantity of contents, lot number or batch ID, the name and address of the manufacturer, and an expiration or manufacturing date. These signs of a reputable brand are easy to look for and can save consumers from the trouble of selecting the wrong CBD product.

What to look for when selecting a CBD product

With this in mind, products from reputable, tested brands can be identified by a few key factors. Reputable CBD companies are already compliant with the FDA regulations on nutritional supplements, including a nutritional or supplement fact panel on the packaging—just like vitamins. The information in this panel should include all the active cannabinoids in the product, both per serving and package. Clear potency labeling allows consumers to confidently select products that suit their needs and understand the baseline impact of CBD concentration on their bodies, thus helping them to tailor their experience with thoughtful product selection.

Reputable brands also include a convenient QR code on the packaging, linking the product to a certificate of analysis that details the testing results to demonstrate compliance with product standards and label claims. In terms of specific ingredients, consumers should be skeptical of high concentration levels of “flavor of the month” minor cannabinoids, which are often associated with unsubstantiated medical claims. Current scientific research has set its focus on major cannabinoids like CBD and Delta-9 THC, leaving additional research necessary for understanding minor cannabinoids. Minor cannabinoids are typically included in full spectrum products at concentrations found naturally in the cannabis plant, which is a safer approach to consuming CBD until more research is completed.

Consumers should not let the existence of unreliable, untrustworthy brands curtail their confidence in the CBD sector—there are many high-quality, safe and trusted brands on the market. With a knowledgeable and discerning eye, consumers and retailers can easily select top-quality CBD products that millions of consumers have found to improve many aspects of their health and well-being. Looking ahead, clear federal regulations for CBD products that require mandatory product registration, compliance with product labeling, packaging and cGMP will be crucial in weeding out bad actors and will allow compliant companies to gain consumer trust and responsibly grow the CBD category.

Thinking of Starting a Cannabis Delivery or Transport Business? Here’s What You Need to Know

4 Comments

Ask any cannabis connoisseur, and they’ll likely tell you that cannabis delivery services have been around for a long, long time. Given the distancing requirements of the COVID years, the increasing number of medical cannabis patients who need or would like cannabis delivered to their door and the surge in recreational adult use sales, cannabis delivery is coming out of the shadows and into the legal cannabis industry.

Proponents of cannabis delivery say that creating a legal structure and guidelines that allow cannabis home delivery encourages people to buy from legal sources rather than the legacy market. In some cases, it’s a way to entice legacy cannabis delivery operators to transition to the licensed and regulated market. While many states remain hesitant to allow adult use cannabis delivery, some do, and others have taken the first step, allowing delivery to registered medical cannabis patients and caregivers.

Where is Cannabis Delivery Legal?

According to Cannabis Business Times, states that permit medical cannabis delivery as part of another license type, retail, for example, or with a specific delivery license include: Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Nevada, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island and Vermont. Complex reports that delivery service is legally available without any restrictions to anyone 21 years or older in California, Nevada and Oregon.

Medical or adult use, there are restrictions on where cannabis can be delivered, even within states that allow it. For instance, you can’t legally deliver cannabis to college or university campuses. Although many people still discreetly deliver and receive cannabis products on campuses, it’s illegal to do so since cannabis is a federally controlled substance and higher education institutions that receive federal funding must prohibit its use and distribution.

It’s noteworthy that some states without legal cannabis delivery regulations have a “loophole” through which some delivery businesses operate. Gifting, for example, is an established, though not entirely legal, delivery practice. According to NJ.com, New Jersey falls into the gifting loophole category:

Licenses to sell legal weed are still months away, but there’s a handful of entrepreneurs coming into the scene through a possible legal loophole — “gifting” cannabis. It’s a scheme popular in other states and particularly in Washington, D.C. A company lets you buy cookies, snacks or brownies that come with sticker shock of $50 or more. But when they make the delivery, it comes with a suggested gift: maybe a cannabis edible or an ounce of flower.

 Although many underground businesses thrive in the Garden State’s “in-between” market, NJ.com also reports that gray market operators have faced legal penalties and even jail time.

Why Are Cannabis Delivery Services Popular? 

Cannabis delivery services have a rich cultural history in the underground market. Rather than making a transaction in public, home delivery provides a more intimate and secure way of selling cannabis to consumers. 

Cannabis delivery has skyrocketed in popularity due to the COVID-19 crisis. MJBizDaily reports that online cannabis orders boomed during the pandemic, increasing the need for cannabis delivery services. 

Historically, cannabis delivery services also help registered medical cannabis patients receive access to their medicine since their disability or chronic condition might prevent them from leaving the house and visiting a dispensary. This can be especially true for seniors, even if they aren’t a registered patient, but live in a state with adult use cannabis.

What’s the Difference Between Cannabis Delivery and Transport Licenses?

There is real confusion surrounding the differences between delivery and transport licenses.  Basically, delivery licenses are B2C (business to consumer), and transport licenses are B2B (business to business).

Cannabis delivery and courier licenses allow licensees to deliver cannabis products directly to patients, caregivers, and in some states, consumers. While the name of the license differs depending on the state in which you seek to operate, delivery licenses tend to allow operators to act as a retailer without a traditional bricks and mortar location. Delivery licensees purchase and store wholesale cannabis products and sell them via the delivery model. Couriers, however, are traditionally hired by retailers as their delivery arm. In this model, the retailer takes the order, and the courier delivers, like Door Dash or Uber Eats. One key difference between a delivery and courier license is the significantly lower cost of entry for couriers as they don’t have facility, inventory, or storage costs, and generally have lower operational expenses.

But what about transport licensees? Rather than delivering to individuals, transport licensees typically deliver cannabis products between licensed cannabis facilities, such as a cultivator or manufacturer to a retail dispensary or testing facility.

In Massachusetts, there are three delivery and transport licenses (courier, delivery operator, and transporter) as well as a delivery endorsement that allows certain licensees to deliver directly from a licensed establishment to consumers.

The first step to operate a cannabis delivery or transport business is determining whether you want to deliver for retail establishments, buy product and deliver directly or transport cannabis between licensed cannabis businesses. Each model has its plusses and minuses, just depends on what you want. It’s important to note that Massachusetts delivery operator licenses are currently reserved for social equity participants, as reported in the Milford Daily News:

“The new “marijuana delivery operator” licenses…will be available exclusively to participants in the CCC’s social equity program and economic empowerment applicants for the first three years.”

Once you decide which type of license you want, the next steps are first to familiarize yourself with your state’s cannabis rules and regulations, and then to complete and submit a license application.

How to Apply for a Cannabis Delivery or Transport License

While the delivery and transport license application process looks different in each state that allows them, all states require applicants to be 21 years of age or older and most require operators to be current residents of the state where they intend to operate. There are also required, non-refundable application and licensing fees. While these fees are not insignificant, the good news is that they tend to be lower than the fees required for other cannabis business license applications.

Since compliance with state rules and regulations is a condition of licensure, licenses are awarded to some or all applicants that meet the application and regulatory requirements. Once awarded, cannabis delivery and transport licensees must maintain compliance or risk hefty fines and/or face a temporary or permanent shut down. One regulatory example is that delivery operators must digitally verify any and every customer’s photo ID before and when a cannabis product is delivered to a recipient; missing this critical step can put your businesses at serious risk of legal and financial consequences.

How to Maintain Compliance Once You’re Licensed

Maintaining compliance for any cannabis business can be challenging. There are strict guidelines on marketing and advertising, security, employee training, inventory management and more. Additionally, there are restrictions specific to cannabis delivery services, particularly limits on how much product can be delivered per order/transaction.

What does cannabis compliance specifically look like for cannabis delivery licensees? For one, all merchants must verify ID before an order is fulfilled. In states with medical cannabis, this would require medical card ID verification. Otherwise, for adult use markets, a driver’s license or other state-issued photo ID with a valid birthdate is acceptable. Some states require recipients to sign a manifest or receipt acknowledging that they accepted the cannabis order and for the licensee to maintain a record of that acknowledgement for a specified number of years.

There are many other regulations that delivery operators must adhere to and many ways to stay up to date and compliant. Tasking a staff member to handle all things compliance is one option. Another is hiring a compliance professional to set up and oversee a compliance operating system and/or partnering with a compliance software solution provider.

Cannabis delivery services can be very profitable. In comparison to other cannabis licenses, they don’t require as much finance capital to get started. Once a license is obtained, your priority will turn to maintaining compliance. Too many delivery services exist in a precariously legal gray area; don’t let yours be one of them.

Why Comply: A Closer Look At Traceability For California’s Cannabis Businesses

By Scott Hinerfeld
3 Comments

Compliance should be top of mind for California’s cannabis operators. As the state works to implement regulations in the rapidly-growing cannabis industry, business owners need to be aware of what’s required to stay in good standing. As of January 1, 2019, that means reporting data to the state’s new track-and-trace system, Metrc.

What Is Track-and-Trace?

Track-and-Trace programs enable government oversight of commercial cannabis throughout its lifecycle—from “seed-to-sale.” Regulators can track a product’s journey from grower to processor to distributor to consumer, through data points captured at each step of the supply chain. Track-and-trace systems are practical for a number of reasons:

  • Taxation: ensure businesses pay their share of owed taxes
  • Quality assurance & safety: ensure cannabis products are safe to consume, coordinate product recalls
  • Account for cannabis grown vs. cannabis sold: curb inventory disappearing to the black market
  • Helps government get a macro view of the cannabis industry

The California Cannabis Track-and-Trace system (CCTT) gives state officials the ability to supervise and regulate the burgeoning cannabis industry in the golden state.

What Is Metrc?

Metrc is the platform California cannabis operators must use to record, track and maintain detailed information about their product for reporting. Metrc compiles this data and pushes it to the state.

Who Is Required To Use Metrc?

Starting January 1, 2019, all California state cannabis licensees are required to use Metrc. This includes licenses for cannabis: Proper tagging ensures that regulators can quickly trace inventory back to a particular plant or place of origin.

  • Cultivation
  • Manufacturing
  • Retail
  • Distribution
  • Testing labs
  • Microbusinesses

How Does Metrc Work?

Metrc uses a system of tagging and unique ID numbers to categorize and track cannabis from seed to sale. Tagged inventory in Metrc is sorted into 2 categories: plants and packages. Plants are further categorized as either immature or flowering. All plants are required to enter Metrc through immature plant lots of up to 100/plants per lot. Each lot is assigned a lot unique ID (UID), and each plant in the lot gets a unique Identifier plant tag. Immature plants are labeled with the lot UID, while flowering plants get a plant tag. Metrc generates these ID numbers and they cannot be reused. In addition to the UID, tags include a facility name, facility license number, application identifier (medical or recreational), and order dates for the tag. Proper tagging ensures that regulators can quickly trace inventory back to a particular plant or place of origin.

Packages are formed from immature plants, harvest batches, or other packages. Package tags are important for tracking inventory through processing, as the product changes form and changes hands. Each package receives a UID package tag, and as packages are refined and/or combined, they receive a new ID number, which holds all the other ID numbers in it and tells that package’s unique story.

Do I Have To Enter Data Into Metrc Manually?

You certainly can enter data into Metrc manually, but you probably won’t want to, and thankfully, you don’t have to. Metrc’s API allows for seamless communication between the system and many of your company’s existing tracking and reporting tools used for inventory, production, POS, invoices, orders, etc. These integrations automate the data entry process in many areas.As California operators work to get their ducks in a row, some ambiguity and confusion around Metrc’s roll out remains. 

Adopting and implementing cannabis ERP software is another way operators can automate compliance. These platforms combine software for point of sale, cultivation, distribution, processing and ecommerce into one unified system, which tracks everything and pushes it automatically to Metrc via the API. Since they’ve been developed specifically for the cannabis industry, they’re designed with cannabis supply chain and regulatory demands in mind.

As California operators work to get their ducks in a row, some ambiguity and confusion around Metrc’s roll out remains. Only businesses with full annual licenses are required to comply, leaving some temporary licensees unsure of how to proceed. Others are simply reluctant to transition from an off-the-grid, off-the-cuff model to digitally tracking and reporting everything down to the gram. But the stakes of non-compliance are high— the prospect of fines or loss of business is causing fear and concern for many. Integrated cannabis ERP software can simplify operations and offer continual, automated compliance, which should give operators peace of mind.