Products Liablity & Marijuana Insurance

Products Liability is a huge question for a business owner in today’s market. Yes, it is expensive however with the average cost of defense running at $500,000, it becomes smart money. Recalls and lawsuits are expensive. Yes, there are cases that are cheaper and plenty that are more expensive. As you are thinking of protecting your investment, think of how many product recalls occur in the US on a weekly basis. Did you know that there are websites dedicated to this? Most of us have received at least one notice in the mail concerning our cars. Why would we think that a fast moving industry such as the marijuana industry would be different?

If you are a dispensary or a retail store then you should consider adding it to your store’s insurance package. When there is a suit, everyone possible gets named and it usually takes a lawyer, money and time to get untangled from a lawsuit. Our first run in with this was the Mirth Soda in three of the legal stores in Washington State. Who do you think would be named in a lawsuit if a bottle exploded in a customer’s hands?

If you sell Vape Pens and do not have Product’s liability then you are in a risky situation. The batteries can catch fire and the US Department of Transportation has limited them on flights in the US. There have been instances where Vape Pens have exploded. Be a Captain of Industry and know every step of production underneath your operation. By understanding where your products come from and how they are insured/treated only promotes your long term success.

Grower and processors, the first chance that you can cover your products, cover them. The Marijuana industry came out of the shadows with little regulation and oversight. Do you follow good manufacturing procedures? When was the last time you checked the chemical list for banned substances? Is your equipment being cleaned between runs of different growers or are you blending products? Being careful also includes being careful about what you bring in to your product stream.

There have been policies that I have refused to sell because of clauses against Cannabis/Marijuana’s product liability. A client buying a product has an expecation of the product being safe and if they find out otherwise then you are looking down the wrong end of a lawsuit. You never know who is going to try to take a short cut below you on your product stream and you don’t know how someone is going to use your product when you sell it. If you want to protect your business then you have product liability.

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.