In case you missed this first time it is worth revisiting
As we all know, legalization under Proposition 64 requires a Track and Trace system. This system was intended to allow the State to observe and audit cannabis licensees, with the purported goal of increasing consumer safety, reducing environmental impact, and reducing sales between the legal and illegal market. For our sins, they gave us METRC.
We’ve been complaining about track and trace from day one- literally, Higher Origins was started by an independent developer building a home-brew compliance reporting tool for his family’s farm. This time though, we thought we’d get a little bit more in depth than the standard “METRC bad” rant, and discuss some of the deeper issues- and our alternative, to this regulatory headache.
The Cost of METRC
When METRC (then Franwell) finalized their contract with the State of California in June 2017, they were paid over 59.7 million dollars for development fees and consumables. This initial contract ran for 2 years, with an option to renew for 5 additional years. Since it’s now late 2023, we’re now in the last of those 5 one year renewals listed in the original contract. Let’s look at the cost schedule given in the original contract, and do some math.
