As one of the more heavily scrutinized and regulated industries, cannabis has its fair share of compliance challenges. Licensing and permits required to operate a cannabis business vary by state and local jurisdiction. All your products must be properly tested by a licensed laboratory, and clearly labeled. Even cannabis taxes are more complex when compared to other businesses, mainly due to Internal Revenue Code 280e.
The latest compliance challenge causing headaches for cannabis operators? Cashless ATMs.
Cannabis operators do not have the same access to traditional banking services as a mainstream business would. As a result, some dispensaries have tried to work around this by turning to Cashless ATMs, devices driven by payment applications similar to standalone ATMs. These devices are used for cannabis purchase transactions, but miscoded as physical ATM withdrawals. Many of these solutions have been marketed to cannabis dispensaries as compliant when they are anything but.
It’s further proof for cannabis operators that compliance must always be top of mind. While maintaining compliance may seem like a heavy burden, the real trouble begins once you’re found in violation. The consequences for non-compliance range from a hefty fine to the loss of your business license.
How can cannabis operators mitigate the risk caused, not just by cashless ATMs, but by all the other compliance challenges they face? Here are three ways to manage compliance with your cannabis software system.
How Cannabis Compliance Software Can Help
Regulatory Compliance and Traceability – The nature of cannabis as a highly-regulated industry requires you to maintain detailed records to meet the mandatory reporting requirements of state regulators. Your cannabis software system integrates all aspects of your business into a single source, providing a seamless experience when reporting to your state’s track-and trace system.
Product Quality and Control – Ensuring product quality and consistency is important not only from a branding perspective, but also in terms of consumer safety. Your cannabis software system maintains a comprehensive record of raw material data, production notes, and nutritional information to produce accurate labeling and packaging.
Operational Efficiency – As your business grows to encompass multiple states, or countries, maintaining compliance across locations becomes an even greater challenge. A cannabis software system allows you to easily operate in multiple locations with market-specific compliance configurations.
Ensure Your Business is Compliant
There is no easy way to get around compliance in the cannabis industry. However, there are steps you can take to reduce your risk. Our team has created cannabis compliance software to help you keep track of ever-evolving cannabis regulations. Take the complexity out of your compliance. Request a demo of MJ Platform today!
