Now that California is home to the largest legal marijuana market, there are new rules and regulations that farmers and business owners must comply with to ensure their products gets on store shelves and stays there. Tests include how pure the product is and how accurate the label is. If anything is found in violation of these rules, products are pulled from shelves. Below are a few examples of how the California cannabis industry has not met the high security standards and ways you can prevent the same from happening to you.
Safety Testing Fails For California Cannabis Products
Last July, many cannabis-infused products were kept from store shelves due to safety test failures regarding their potency and purity. A small amount of products failed due to “unacceptable levels of pesticides, solvents and bacteria, including E. coli and salmonella” according to an AP News report.
When these strict testing guidelines were put in place last summer, about 18% of products failed to pass between July 1st – August 29th. Sometimes, it’s an easy fix that can be corrected with an updated label. Other times, more serious problems are found like contaminated products.
The foundation of all California cannabis dispensaries should be cultivating and/or purchasing the highest quality produce to, at minimum stay, compliant and, at most, establish your company as one that sells the best products.
Did You Know Employees Are The #1 Security Concern For Dispensaries?
As the legalized marijuana industry continues to grow, dispensaries are increasingly having to address, plan, and prevent crimes like burglary, theft, and potentially violent crimes. This is a problem across the nation and unfortunately employee theft has been a huge issue that requires dispensaries to enforce strict hiring and onboarding rules. See the following theft examples from the North East to the South West:
The high risk of crimes dispensaries face is two-fold. Since most major credit card companies aren’t comfortable working with these businesses yet, they run on and accept cash only. With the large amount of cash flowing into these companies daily, robberies are increasing. Secondly, the products they sell are in high-demand, which makes it appealing for employees to steal inventory.
It’s estimated that “90% of financial and product loss in the marijuana industry can be chalked up to employee theft” according to this article. To account for employee theft, dispensaries are increasingly conducting thorough background checks and employing physical security guards to mitigate theft. A fool-proof inventory management system is also necessary to prevent theft.
Employee theft and robberies aren’t the only threats to dispensaries. There are concerns regarding licensing, growing and selling quality products, trusted distributors, and more. As customers, you can ensure your preferred retail location is licensed and pays their taxes to support dispensaries that comply with all rules and regulations. For dispensaries, it might seem like there are too many hoops to jump through to become and remain compliant, but it will be worth it in the end when your company is leaps and bounds ahead of your competitors. If you’re in need of a monitored security system for your dispensary, read more about our managed access control and video surveillance solutions. For more information, take a peek at our blog page for additional tips on securing dispensaries or contact us today!