When it comes to cannabis security the opportunities for security integrators — not to mention the puns — are plentiful. But cannabis security is not for the faint of heart. There are a lot of things to understand about this very unique industry and the ways it needs to work in order to stay on the right side of the law. For example, it is a cash business. Cannabis businesses can’t use the traditional banking system because it isn’t legal federally yet. What may be even more interesting to the security integration community, however, is that that cannabis growers and dispensers also usually can’t get a license to operate in states where it is legal without having a detailed security plan in advance.
“Cannabis represents one of the biggest opportunities for the security industry that we’ve had in years,” says Allan Smith, SightLogix, in this month’s cover story. “Much of the opportunity comes from the ‘seed to sale’ approach employed by many cannabis firms, with multiple facilities under one company umbrella; so once you have established yourself as a trusted expert, you can really go wide with comprehensive solutions across multiple divisions.”