Kenton Brothers Guide to Cannabis Security – Part 1

Since the passage of medical marijuana by Missouri voters in November 2018, the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services has begun work to develop rules and regulations for the industry. Looking to other states, such as California and Colorado, will help policy makers in developing regulatory and safety standards. Even with these guides in place, medical marijuana may not be available for purchase until January 2020.

Timeline

While the timeline for rollout seems lengthy, this timeline can be advantageous to business owners preparing to engage in the industry. As with any business, there will be a lot of decisions to make and red tape to navigate. One significant component that should be well thought through, especially for medical marijuana and cannabis-related businesses, is security.

From cultivation to manufacturing, testing, transportation and dispensing companies, security will not only be a fundamental component to business success, it will also serve as required factor in facilitating efficient operations that help comply with regulations.

In this three-part blog series, Kenton Brothers will provide you with our layered approach to cannabis security. First, we’ll introduce you to the concept of Seed-to-Sale tracking. In following posts, we’ll help you understand how integrated systems like commercial video surveillance and access control can help you monitor interactions with product.

Seed-to-Sale Tracking: Enhancing Cannabis Security and Operational Efficiency

Following the example of other states who have already implemented medical marijuana will likely result in the implementation of “Seed to Sale” tracking regulations.

States will require growers to track plants with a unique RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) tag. With this tag, growers will be able to quickly inventory each plant. However, the RFID tag is not only relevant to growers. This tag will create data as the plant moves through the supply chain.

Why are these RFID tags good for businesses? It creates efficiency in inventory and sales. It’s also more efficient to help you meet compliance standards. RFID tags create real-time data that can be securely backed up and stored in the cloud. It’s also extremely powerful for point-of-sale purchases. Using RFID tags can integrate with sales software to help manage inventory – making it a valuable cannabis security tool from seed to sale.

In addition to securely implementing business operations, RFID tags provide data to regulators. This helps state departments monitor things like the outputs between growers or identify food safety issues in products like infused oils and edibles.

Coming Soon

Part II – How security systems integrators like Kenton Brothers can help businesses implement unified video surveillance and access control

Part III – Security Must-Haves for Cannabis Security – vaults, parking gates, intrusion detection, ID scanning, visitor mgmt