Staying Up To Date With METRC
Working with METRC Solutions
Both legal regulations and public expectations raise the bar high when it comes to your cannabis product standards. Following state rules while meeting the needs of a diverse client demographic is a daunting challenge for cannabis producers.
Enforcing rules about cannabis while meeting the needs of cannabis businesses and clients is a huge challenge for governments. METRC is the solution that many states and suppliers have turned to for help. FolioGrow works with you by providing METRC support in states where our system and processes are compatible with METRC tracking. FolioGrow integrates with over ten METRC state specific programs. Whether you are using METRC Alaska or METRC DC, FolioGrow can help you navigate the cannabis cultivation management software system.
What is METRC?
What is METRC, and what does METRC stand for? METRC stands for Marijuana Enforcement Tracking and Compliance. It provides a marijuana tracking and reporting system to support the enforcement of regulations related to the legalization, production, and distribution of cannabis. METRC follows marijuana from when the seed sprouts to when the final sale is made, “seed to sale.” This is also called end to end tracking.
The METRC system relies on RFID tags. RFID means radio frequency identification and refers to the scannable code on the tag, which can be read with an RFID reader. The code is similar to barcodes and may be even be referred to as a barcode, although it does offer a distinct technology that not all barcodes have. These RFID tags are attached to plants, which allows for dynamic tracking of a specific plant throughout the growing, testing, and harvesting process. When product is packaged, a package tag is applied, which provides a unique identifier for that group of packaged plants as they are shipped and sold.
These METRC tags provide information that can be easily tracked and monitored in the METRC system. In addition to the plant or package tag’s ID, the tags will also have your facility name and license number and the tag order date. Color coding is also used; yellow tags are for medical plants and blue tags are for recreational plants. The METRC marijuana tracking software tracks the origin, contents, licensee and destinations of marijuana.
METRC Benefits
The main benefit of METRC is consumer safety. If a product has an unfavorable event, such as making someone ill, the incident can be tracked back to the specific plant group. Product associated with the specific plant or package tag can be pulled from shelves. This gives your marijuana consumers reassurance that if something goes wrong, the marijuana tracking software will track it and almost immediately ensure restored safety in the cannabis market. METRC cannabis is safer cannabis. A secondary benefit is that the METRC cannabis tracking system makes it more difficult to produce marijuana illegally or to cheat on reporting the entire inventory.
While this also increases the safety for legal buyers by keeping all legally sold cannabis tracked in the system, it also helps ensure that the government receives the correct amount of taxation from marijuana sales. Just as Nevada’s gaming regulators are going to make sure that slot machine excise taxes are paid, Nevada METRC is going to help the state collect all the taxes due on marijuana cultivation and sales.
This function of METRC marijuana tracking actually benefits you as an ethical producer, since it makes it less likely that your competition can’t cheat the system. When competitors can’t flood the market with black market product or a lowballed price that they were only able to achieve through not paying taxes, the playing field is leveled for those who are following the rules.
Who Has to Comply?
Over a dozen states and the District of Columbia rely on METRC and require cannabis suppliers to comply. All participating states require marijuana growers and distributing businesses to receive METRC training and METRC certification. But since each state has specific rules to follow, METRC adapts to each state in its tracking and reporting processes. Systems for METRC California, where marijuana is completely legal, and METRC Maryland, which only tracks medical marijuana, will not have exactly the same requirements and needs. And some states have specific marijuana licensing authorities, while others, such as Oregon, place the cannabis compliance responsibility under the liquor control commission.
FolioGrow is compliant and compatible with METRC in Washington DC and in these states:
The types of businesses that must comply extend far beyond the grower. Manufacturers who use cannabis as an ingredient in their products, testing labs, distribution companies, wholesalers, medical dispensaries, pharmacies that carry medical marijuana, and retail establishments all must follow METRC rules to be in compliance with state regulations.
METRC charges a monthly fee, currently $40. This covers the license to use their program and ongoing training and support. There is a separate cost per tag for the RFID plant and package tracking tags. However, you do not have to purchase any software to participate in METRC tracking and reporting; the entire system is cloud-based. This is especially helpful if you are managing growing facility in multiple states. You could be based in Ohio and still enter or follow up on date for METRC Michigan or METRC Montana. And with the increasing popularity of METRC’s system and increasing legalization of marijuana, growing cannabis cultivation businesses will increasingly need to communicate across state regulatory lines.
You don’t have to navigate these state systems alone. FolioGrow is here to help support your business and help you ensure that you are in compliance, whether your state uses METRC or another system.
