Your cannabis dispensary sales may be booming, but if your business fails to stay in compliance with the strict and ever-evolving regulations required to operate, you could be risking everything. For 2021, the following are the top four compliance oversights we see cannabis dispensaries commonly make.
1. Not having a system for accurately reporting your inventory
Most states require retail cannabis dispensaries to comply with seed-to-sale tracking and reporting. Reporting inventory and sales figures is required for retail operations in most states and failing to comply will result in a costly violation.
2. Not enforcing daily sales limits
Each state has specific daily purchase limits for customers buying cannabis and cannabis-related products from your dispensary. It’s important to educate your budtenders on the different purchase limits, how to properly calculate transactions at the time of sale, and knowing when a customer has met/exceeded their daily limit.
3. Not checking identifications
As a dispensary owner, you understand the importance of validating the age of your customers. However, you can’t always be at the cash register checking identifications. All too often, budtenders get busy and may unknowingly overlook validating a customer’s age—a serious compliance violation. In fact, selling to minors has become such a big problem that the Bureau of Cannabis Control (BCC) has begun sending minors into dispensaries as decoys to ensure compliance.
4. Not adhering to delivery regulations
If your dispensary offers delivery, your couriers must be at least 21 years of age, have a valid driver’s license and carry a copy of your business license in their vehicle. All vehicle documentation—VIN, license plate number and registration—must be submitted to the BCC prior to making deliveries. In addition, drivers are not permitted to carry more than $3000 worth of product in their vehicle at any one time.
It’s important to note that regulations may differ depending on the state in which your business operates (For example: in California, the delivery vehicle must also be equipped with a permanent or temporary GPS device owned by the dispensary).
About the Author
Corey Tobin is an NCRMA Appointed Broker and Senior Vice President of Bolton & Company, one of the nation’s largest employee-owned insurance brokers. As a cannabis industry specialist, he can help you stay informed on key coverages to protect your dispensary. If you have any questions related to your coverage, please contact Corey Tobin at ctobin@boltonco.com or 626-703-1556.
