Can my kids get poisened from Halloween candy?

Happy Halloween!! As a dad and a professional in the Cannabis Insurance Industry, I get a flood of scary things about the creepy neighbor down the street poisoning my 9 year old. Last year it was from the newly licensed Recreational Marijuana Stores in Washington and Colorado. It appears to have dropped off the social media darling list for now but I think that the week is just starting.

We have Police Department.
We have Forbes.
Snopes talks about it.
Wikipedia talks about it.

Let’s skip beyond the obvious that Edibles can be expensive or who would think of doing that to a kid doing Trick-Or-Treating. How many kids have been poisoned over the years from Halloween?

I am going to go with a Professional, Joel Best, a sociologist at the University of Delaware who specializes in candy tampering legends. Best looked into all the newspapers published between 1958 to 1983 and found fewer than 90 instances that might have qualified for actual candy tampering. Of those, he found five child deaths initially thought to be caused by homicidal strangers but none were investigated. For example, one was a child eating uncle’s heroin stash. A child is more likely to be injured by being struck by a car than finding candy laced by strangers.

So when Halloween rolls around have fun. Send the kids Trick-or-Treating making sure that they can see and be seen. Check the candy for anything damaged. Have fun because the odds are favor that you will get sicker from all the sugar than anything drug laced. Don’t believe the hype and have fun. If you want to talk about insuring a Cannabis business then give me a call.

How do I start a Marijuana Business?

These days it seems like everyone is trying to find out how to start a marijuana business. Some call it a ‘Green Rush’ others just smart business. After all of these years working around the industry, I have developed some tips:

1. Walk away from the $9,000 lawyers and talk to an assortment of experts. One of the best is the 420college. They have classes in a bunch of states and assemble some of the best people that I have met in the industry. It is also at the most reasonable prices with the ability to come back.
2. Select a specialized accountant. The 280E is no joke. Find someone that will work with you and not just take information from you. Al Capone was snagged for taxes don’t be that person.
3. Select an insurance expert. Find someone that is current in the industry. You shop for experts, let your experts shop for products. They can even start advising you on underwriting pitfalls such as protecting your marijuana in a particular size of safe so that it can be insured.
4. Select a legal expert. Find someone that understands the laws. For example in Oregon there are some areas that will not allow a marijuana business.
5. Join an association and find out what associations your experts are in. Not only do some associations you get benefits, you also can meet other professionals and educate yourself. In Washington, I recommend checking out Coalition for Cannabis Standards and Ethics as they are a good mix of benefits, lobbying and networking.
6. Build a business plan and understand product flow, people flow and cash flow. Do not bank on product selling itself and that bad things won’t happen to you. I have seen dispensaries shut down for Robberies and wind wiping out crops.

This is a business like any other with thousands of people wanting to make money. Many of which will not set themselves apart by doing the hard work and learning everything that they can. It is not for everybody. Good luck, I look forward to seeing you out there.

Washington, Oregon, Colorado and California; what do they have in Common?

I think that I am done expanding for the season. After years of working in Washington State and having countless requests, I added Oregon, California and Colorado. If you are in another state, talk to me as it costs several hundred dollars and time to add a state. I don’t want to be adding fees and I like keeping the client’s costs low.

The Marijuana Industry and the Insurance Industry has a fascinating relationship. Insurance rates are built on history and known information whereas Marijuana and the Cannabis Industry is new and rapidly changing not everything is known.

For example back in May, Tom Bolt wrote to the U.S. Syndicates that Lloyds of London will no longer support insuring marijuana operations. Like an old security blanket, tossed in the corner by a growing child we had different companies to work with.

For our agency, it was no big deal as our whole sale company shifted carriers back in February to a product that the clients are enjoying. As retail insurance professional, I work maintain professional relationships with different whole sale companies to find products that suit my client’s needs. It is like going to your favorite restaurant, the specials change from Shrimp Salad to a New York Steak.

There are times that a whole sale company will reject part or a whole application due to risk. One of the more common rejections is covering property because of high fire risk. Be honest, not every company covers every risk and by hiding something when a claim arises, an insurance company could deny payment.

There are a few other agencies that work in the marijuana industry to various degrees. Some agents may be working with a whole sale broker that is going through another whole sale broker which adds fees. Some maybe doing one or two policies a year and not know what a BHO process or how Products Liability Coverage can impact your Vape Line that you are carrying.

The old rule of shop the agent and not the policy holds true. If you assume that Insurance is all the same and run out and attempt to get several different quotes to educate yourself on price then you are creating unnecessary problems. By shopping for price, you are pulling a slot machine lever hopping to match up a policy, good coverages with a good agent. Don’t gamble on you and your business’s future and check us out today.