As of 12:01 a.m. on Monday morning, Jan. 6, any California cannabis business that isn’t using the state’s cannabis tracking system runs the risk of being fined or having their license suspended.
One year ago, on Jan. 2, 2019, California’s track-and-trace system Metrc became available for permitted cannabis businesses, but amid a bumpy rollout, the percentage of cannabis growers, sellers and manufacturers who had adopted Metrc remained in the single digits as late as last May.
Many experts consider the successful, full implementation of the Metrc system one of the last major hurdles for California’s budding cannabis industry to conquer. The industry still has to deal with the crazy taxes that keep the black market three times the size of the legal one and getting access to proper financial services, but the full Metrc conversion date was lurking on the calendar for a long time — and now it has passed. It remains to be seen how many companies will face penalties from the state because they haven’t complied yet.
Metrc argues its data provides four key services to states who use its software: It tracks the location of cannabis at any point in the supply chain, traces the origin of product in the event it’s needed, can be used to identify trends, and can report on the success of a state’s program overall.
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