Accela’s Cloud-Based Cannabis Software Offers Control Options for Authorities
In a unique partnering, Accela (currently owned by Berkshire Partners) and Los Angeles startup Kind Financial have joined forces to develop the first-ever end-to-end seed-to-sale cloud-based solution for local authorities across the country. Focusing on regional and state bodies, the solution intends to implement capabilities for enforcing and regulating cannabis rules and codes of practice across the industry.
The software aims to give regulatory bodies the power to track compliance of jurisdictional rules and enable these bodies to collect and trace data associated with these regulations, including supply chain data and distribution practices. The intention is to offer local authorities the means of tracking marijuana distribution to ensure that distributors follow the law, pay taxes, and none of the product ends up being sold by illicit means or transferred to areas where the drug is still contraband.
The Lucrative Marijuana Trade
In 2018 alone, legalized marijuana managed to rake in $10.8 billion. As more and more states move to legalize the drug, having proper transparency in its distribution is crucial to ensuring that it does not end up on the black market. The legalization process was intended to lower the dependence on the black market and offer a legitimate solution for growers to exploit the open market. Many small businesses have taken the opportunity to enter the market legitimately, but there is still a large volume of illicit distributors that care little for the regulatory framework regarding the drug.
To this end, Accela’s software could be a key element in ensuring that users follow the law and clamp down on illicit and unregistered sales and distribution. Unlicensed sales tend to be more common in areas where the taxation of legal marijuana is high (for example, California) and the cloud-based software offers the local government a useful tool in controlling the black market and cracking down on cannabis that they can’t earn income from.
