The international market for cannabis is projected to hit $31.4 billion by 2021, according to cannabis market research firm the Brightfield Group. In late 2017, the global market was estimated to be worth $7.7 billion, with 90% of global sales driven by the U.S.
With so many new businesses and operations in the emerging cannabis market in the U.S., the field is beginning to adopt many risk management best practices, even above and beyond the myriad compliance requirements that cannabis product growers, producers and vendors must abide by.
Ethan Maxon, Director of Key Accounts and International Sales for Salient Systems, says that new players in the cannabis industry face an uphill climb, both in terms of operations and shifting legislation. Companies grapple with how they are going to package, store, transport and sell product, all while cannabis is federally a Schedule I drug.
They’re also facing regulatory commands that change from state to state. According to Blake Albertsen, Salient Regional Sales Manager for the Pacific Northwest, part of the business plan that is required by the state is a physical security plan, which will outline each security measure in the organization. This includes video surveillance over cash handling areas, entry and exit points, and more.
The cannabis industry has some unique requirements, especially in growing facilities. Plants are sensitive to light and temperature; the nano wavelengths of illumination have to be carefully controlled.
Determining what security system would fit your enterprise? According to Ethan Maxon at Salient Systems, you should ask yourself these key questions before evaluating technology options.
- Do we have a security plan in place?
- How many cameras do we need, and where should we place them?
- What lighting levels do we need to address, and where would lighting impact our operations and product?
- How long do we need to retain our video?
- How many frames per second do we need?
- If there’s an outage or device failure, what redundancy does this system give me and will it keep me in compliance?
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