The industry has recently encountered several shocking events. Not only has the industry had several recalls in the past, however the most recent recall has Missouri operators questioning what is going on with the state track and trace system who refuses to comment on the situation. Of equal importance, the Oklahoma Medical Marijuana Authority has shut down a marijuana business and arrested 2 individuals, charging them with drug trafficking and other charges. These incidents directly relate to the importance of cannabis SOPs, employee training, and a good seed to sale software system.
Cannabis SOPs
In the case of the Oklahoma business that was shut down, this business was not ensuring all plants were tagged and entered into the state track and trace system, METRC. Additionally, medical marijuana flower and buds, stored in trash bags, were not labeled or entered into METRC. In this example, standard operating procedures were not being followed. Cannabis SOPs will outline the importance of plant tags, and entering information into the seed to sale system that should be integrated with METRC, the designated track and trace system.
Employee Training
In both cases outlined above, the companies have a chance to improve the knowledge their employees hold about regulations and processes with employee training. The Oklahoma company should train its employees on the importance of tagging plants and inventory and also on the seed to sale software system to ensure the company is entering information correctly. On the contrary, the business in Missouri has a chance to train their employees on what to do when a recall is mandated, and how to research a recall in the seed to sale system. Lastly, the Missouri state regulators should also be trained on how to research a recall in METRC, the state track and trace system.
Seed to Sale Software
Lastly, both businesses should be investing in a good seed to sale software system to accompany the standard operating procedures and employee training that is mentioned above. A good seed to sale software system will integrate with the state track and trace system, and provide product tracking for production purposes. Systems that are hard to interpret, and trace packages back will hinder the business as we learned in Missouri, where business owners are losing millions of dollars because they cannot sell the affected products.
