To stay in full compliance you need to make sure you stay diligent in your efforts of keeping everything on track, together, and up-to-date. A word of advice: don’t let yourself get stuck in a rut or get bogged down. It is a process and you just have to stick with it. You will have good days and bad days when it comes to compliance. As a compliance manager, your mission should not be just knowing the compliance rules but making sure your staff is implementing and abiding by these rules.
The easiest way to accomplish this is to get your team to buy into a “compliance first” mentality. Sure it is easier to take shortcuts but this is the quickest way to find yourself with compliance problems. You will have the most success when your employees see compliance as a must have value versus a tedious task. This all starts with your company’s dedication and commitment to the compliance process and the attitude you as the compliance manager instill in your team.
The more your team buys into the need for compliance the easier your job as the compliance manager will be as compliance will now become the entire team’s responsibility. This will greatly aid the organization in their overall compliance efforts. I recommend having a company wide benefit for staying in compliance and meeting your company’s goals. It could be as simple as a pizza party with prizes. This can easily be implemented with a number of days in compliance strategy. This will allow you to track when you are in full compliance and when you have an issue and fall out of compliance.
This strategy will also allow your team to strive to beat their best score/number of days in their compliance record. Thus, the team will always be pushing for continued and improved compliance as a team priority. In my opinion, it is always better to think of compliance as a goal versus a destination. It may also be the only thing that keeps you sane as the compliance manager.
Get comfortable with things always changing when it comes to compliance because the industry is new and constantly evolving. So just be ready to accept that you will have to constantly be monitoring and updating your compliance notebook. Usually, a weekly review of new regulations will be sufficient. If you do you will always be in the best position when it comes to compliance. To ensure this is the case, you must always be looking out for an update. These updates will usually come across the wire as emergency or temporary rules and bulletins. In addition to these emergency rules, on occasion, the governing bodies will issue amendment and recommendations. It is highly suggested that if a recommendation is given you take preemptive measures to comply with them. More likely than not they will become permanent in the near future so it is an opportunity to get a head of the game.
If you follow these simple guidelines you will find yourself with a very good handle on the compliance requirements for your State and be ahead of your competition. The deeper you dive into the documents and the experience, in general, the better your position will be in your day-to-day operations as well as forming a good relationship with your state representatives. So now it is time to get started and take that deep dive into the compliance pool. You will always want to have, at a minimum, at least one full-time person managing this aspect of the business. More importantly, you will want your team to fully support this person in their efforts and the mantra “Compliance First” would be a good start.
I hope you find this information helpful in getting you started and on the right track when it comes to your business mastering cannabis compliance in your State. Compliance is not an option if you want to be successful in the cannabis industry. So, happy growing and best of luck with your future successes as you venture into this exciting new industry.
Justin Dufour | Value Engineer
Justin is the founder of Viridian Sciences, and currently a Value Engineer at Navigator Business Solutions. Justin focuses his expertise on helping customers and prospective clients understand the unique demands and needs of the Cannabis industry, acting as a single source of in-depth industry, and product knowledge. He works closely with clients and the development team to deliver the Viridian Sciences solution, built on strength of the SAP BusinessOne solution, to deliver a complete, flexible and scalable business solution for all segments of the Cannabis Industry.