MMRSA: TRACKING YOUR CANNABIS

The expansion of the cannabis industry in California has attracted dollar signs from Corporate America, causing a mad scramble of out-of-state investors, cannabis retailers and financially struggling municipalities who are now all racing to grab a piece of California’s face-lifted medical cannabis industry. Historically before regulations, underground cannabis had been grown in backyards, basements and warehouses. As a result, California’s most notorious greens were able to be grown, harvested, manufactured and consumed without leaving much of a bread crumb trail. Now, on top of creating state licensing requirements, the MMRSA requires cultivators to send all product to a licensed third-party distributor who is responsible for quality assurance. As part of this process, all cannabis must now be tracked from seed to sale.

GIVING YOU THE DETAILS

A tracking device for cannabis plants . . . how does that work?! Through a unique identifier and track-and-trace program, a cannabis plant gets a unique number, which it carries for the rest of its life. Like pigeon carriers, each plant requires a zip tie attached to its base with a state ID number. This ID number will provide the state-licensed cannabis source, state licensed cannabis destination and transaction date. Then, when a plant is grown, processed and ready for shipping, the Department of Food and Agriculture (DFA) will track it in a database via a shipping manifest, that similar to your FedEx tracking info, would contain the following:

• What was shipped and how much was sent (quantity or weight)
• An estimated time of when it was both shipped and received
• What was received and how much was received (quantity or weight)
• The actual time of departure and arrival (not estimated, as above)
• Into which category the merchandise fits
• The ID number of anyone involved in the shipping process—e.g., cultivators, transporters, distributors and dispensary workers

ENFORCEMENT

The DFA database will be intelligent enough to flag irregularities found during the tracking process for authorities to investigate. They will evaluate anything that looks off or that reflects abuse of the system. For example, someone with a small grow license will raise suspicions if they are consistently shipping more product than what their license is for. Anyone found violating these provisions face civil penalties roughly double the amount of the license fee plus pertinent criminal penalties.

“Further, tracking and reporting the movement of medical cannabis will create a standardized database for cannabis tracking, providing real-time information to businesses, law enforcement, regulatory agencies, and others in the industry.”

BENEFITS OF SEED-TO-SALE TRACKING

Public Safety—the government’s most important cause. This increased transparency would improve safety, efficiency and compliance by squashing the black market and identifying contamination and other issues.

Further, tracking and reporting the movement of medical cannabis will create a standardized database for cannabis tracking, providing real-time information to businesses, law enforcement, regulatory agencies and others in the industry.

ON THE OTHER HAND . . .

The flip side, of course, to such detailed access and monitoring is the fear that “Big Brother” just got a hold of the cannabis industry.

For instance, DFA investigators will have access to everything in the database, including Social Security numbers and individual taxpayer identification numbers. The Bureau of Medical Marijuana Regulation (BMMR), which via the MMRSA oversees state MMJ regulation, will also have 24-hour access, and they can share any information they deem important with whomever they feel should know about it. If something untoward or suspicious is found, bureau inspectors will visit and inspect.

BOTTOM LINE

California needs its cannabis industry regulated. The seed-to-sale tracking system is one of many regulations that will greatly impact the industry and help it move forward.