When people think about Canada’s recent move to legalize cannabis for recreational use, tech may not be the first thing that comes to mind. But cutting-edge software and wireless technology is playing an incredibly important role in keeping cannabis businesses profitable as they work to ensure compliance with the federal government’s complex regulatory apparatus.
The law that made recreational cannabis use legal, the Cannabis Act, is designed to make sure that cannabis production is kept out of the hands of criminal organizations. Indeed, this was one of the main justifications Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau gave for passing the law.
This means that in order to legally sell cannabis products, businesses need to receive a license from the federal government, and must be able to track every plant they produce from seed to sale. They must also undergo routine inspections in which they demonstrate their compliance.
The strict demands of this regulatory framework mean that cannabis cultivators have needed to invest significant resources in ensuring that their product is compliant with the legal requirements of their jurisdiction. In addition to the usual start up costs of any new business, cannabis cultivators and sellers need to make sure that they are providing accessible records of their production at every step of the way.
Keeping track of cannabis from seed to sale requires a steady flow of detailed information, much of it gathered within the greenhouse itself. Not only can this be time-consuming and expensive, it also introduces a real possibility for human error that can have a potentially serious impact on the business as a whole.
Cannabis cultivators and sellers who are not able to provide accurate, detailed information about the origin of their products risk having their sales license revoked, and may even face fines or jail time.
This is where the tech solutions come in. Because most of the regulations facing cannabis businesses revolve around documenting production, the best way to ensure compliance is to equip staff with fast, effective methods of logging and accessing data. This has led to the rise of companies providing tailored seed to sale software tools that help businesses manage data storage and flow in real time.
For example, if you are a cannabis company, seed to sale software for your business can help with everything from gathering data about growth, movement of plants, and harvest, to recording lab reports for quality control, generating compliance reports, and managing sales.
Because seed to sale platforms like Ample Organics build software specifically designed to meet the Canadian regulatory framework, transparency is efficient and easy. Cannabis companies equipped with these tools don’t need to spend huge amounts of money monitoring and recording data by hand, and nor do they need to worry about whether or not a small human error will cause problems for their business down the road.
As the cannabis sector continues to expand, it is likely that software from companies like Ample Organics will become standard across the industry, due to its ability to streamline operations. This is all the more reason for budding cannabis businesses to adopt high tech compliance solutions today to stay ahead of the competition.
