The wave of cannabis legalization and decriminalization that has swept across Europe, North America, and South America has been accompanied by a wave of regulations designed to keep cannabis safe.
In many countries, these regulations place a major burden on producers, who must keep detailed information about every plant they grow and harvest, and report regularly on their operations.
These regulations have made cannabis production more responsible, but they have also posed a logistical challenge, one that has required producers to turn to the tech industry for solutions. Here are three ways tech firms are responding in order to keep cannabis production streamlined, profitable, and compliant with regulations.
Seed-to-Sale Platforms
Cannabis producers need to be able to prove to government regulators that their products are being grown, harvested, packaged, and delivered to customers in ways that are safe and which keep cannabis out of the hands of minors.
This requires what has come to be known as “seed-to-sale tracking.” Producers need to be able to trace the origin and destination of each of their plants, from the moment of planting to the day the finished product is shipped off to the customer’s home or business.
High-tech seed-to-sale platforms help producers harvest and store all this information using advanced tracking software, and make everything from filing reports to issuing product recalls significantly less labor-intensive.
Cannabis Payment Solutions
In countries like Canada and states like California and Colorado, e-commerce platforms have proven to be a major component of cannabis marketing and sales. By cutting out the middleman, online shops can sell and deliver their product directly to the customer, making things easier for the consumer and more transparent for regulators.
But finding ways to design an all in one cannabis business payment solution that will allow cannabis businesses to sell to each other while staying compliant with regulations has proven to be a challenge, one that only sophisticated cannabis payment software has been able to adequately meet.
Patient Registration Software
Medical cannabis is a central part of the modern cannabis industry, and patients rely on medical cannabis for relief from pain caused by a wide range of different ailments. But making sure patients can receive their medication in a safe, efficient way and registering new patients is something of a challenge.
Fortunately, new tech solutions are making it easier for patients to be referred directly by clinics to cannabis producers who can then fill the prescriptions in a timely way.
Not only do these cannabis care platforms make it possible for patients to be signed up electronically in a matter of minutes, but they also offer enhanced security: each prescription that is sent out is easily traceable, which makes it easy for law enforcement to track any cannabis products that are being funneled into the black market.
Since widespread legalization began, the cannabis industry has become one of the most exciting and dynamic new investment opportunities. But as the number of cannabis producers grows and as the global market expands, innovative tech solutions that help cannabis producers stay compliant with regulations will only become more important.
Perhaps it is not surprising, then, that for some investors cannabis tech is proving to be just as fruitful and rewarding an investment as cannabis production.
