Despite being one of the oldest legal markets in the country, California’s cannabis industry is still going through major changes. In July 2021, the state established the Department of Cannabis Control by consolidating the authority of three former state cannabis authorities: the Bureau of Cannabis Control, the Department of Food and Agriculture, and the Department of Public Health. Since then, state regulations …
Without a national program, cannabis business applications vary widely. While states like Illinois and Missouri license cannabis businesses through a state-wide program, states like California and New Jersey are allowing municipalities to run their own licensing processes. In addition to differences in state and municipal programs, there is no standard application format. This means almost every application is unique with …
The State of New York is making progress toward legalizing recreational cannabis sales, with almost 40% of municipalities opting in, including all five boroughs of New York City. Many municipalities have opted out, however, and the state’s regulatory framework has yet to be finalized. Despite this, if regulators stay on track, licensing will begin soon and legal sales will begin …
Most cannabis businesses are already equipped with video surveillance cameras, either for regulatory compliance or added security. Surveillance cameras are great for deterring crime, monitoring facilities, and investigating incidences, but their use is even more beneficial when combined with video analytics.  Video analytics for cannabis businesses provide valuable insights that lead to smarter business decisions and increased security, all while making …
With the rapid expansion of the cannabis industry, frequent transport of cannabis is becoming a requirement for many cannabis businesses. To meet this need, cannabis business owners must decide whether or not to vertically integrate and transport cannabis in-house or hire a third-party company. This can be a confusing and daunting decision because while self-transport ensures control over all transport …
When it comes to building security, letting the right people in is equally as important as keeping the wrong people out. Access control systems are often employed by cannabis businesses to easily separate those who have are authorized from those who are not and often employ two-factor authentication. In its simplest form, an access control system grants access to those who have …
The New Jersey Cannabis market has undergone a lot of turbulence and delays, especially for prospective business owners. The state has an existing medical cannabis market and will soon be accepting licenses for adult-use cannabis businesses. With the recent announcement of winning medical cannabis applicants after a lengthy delay and the newly legalized adult-use market and licensing process, the New …
Sapphire Risk Advisory Group is celebrating success in New Jersey after all but one of their 2019 clients were awarded medical cannabis dispensary licenses. Sapphire Risk’s scores in the Security Plan section of the application were some of the highest in New Jersey and helped set the tone for the rest of the application. Knowing that each applicant’s submission begins with their Security Plan, …
The use of access control in cannabis business security is nothing new. Let’s take a door, lock, and key for example. In this scenario, the door is the access control point, the lock is the physical form of access control being used, and the key is the credential which allows access to the access control point. But access control has …
Read Part 1 here. Since the early days of legalization in states like California, Colorado, and Washington, the landscape of the cannabis industry has changed dramatically. In fact, the United States cannabis market of today hardly resembles what it did just 8 short years ago. In the central United States, recreational and medical legalization efforts may be expanding to include states …
