Missouri’s medical marijuana industry is regulated through a series of rules and licenses. Failure to meet licensing requirements or comply with state laws can prevent a business from operating, result in fines, or jail time. There are different rules for dispensaries, cultivators, and cannabis infused product manufacturers, but many areas share overlap. The Missouri Medical Marijuana Program has established regulations regarding security requirements for all cannabis related businesses in the state.
- Access Control Requirements:
All cannabis related businesses in Missouri must have processes to prevent unauthorized entry into areas where only licensed employees are allowed. This can be established with checkpoints that prevent customers or visitors from reaching areas where marijuana is stored, grown, or processed. Using both digital and physical methods of verification at these checkpoints ensures only authorized individuals may access private areas. An electronic card entry system, facial recognition, biometric identification, or other equal standards of authority can be employed to enforce limited entry. All documents of entrance among these locations need to be held for one year. Windows must not be capable of being opened from the outside.
These tools and strategies are capable of preventing unauthorized individuals from accessing areas they aren’t permitted. Should such a violation occur, a method of contacting local law enforcement to assist with trespassing individuals should be in place. Every point of sale, the reception area, vault, and monitoring stations should include manual, noiseless alarms capable of warning local law enforcement. A monitoring system that ensures security systems are functioning properly should also be installed in each facility.
- Perimeter Protection Requirements:
Security cameras should be able to monitor the boundaries of each property involved in the medical marijuana industry of Missouri. Excluding outdoor cultivation, lighting should be in place to increase camera visibility. For outdoor cannabis cultivation, perimeter protection must have an eight-foot chain link barrier with razor wire, and shielded by a mesh screen.
- Security Camera Requirements:
The security camera range must monitor at least twenty feet of the perimeter of a building. Each outer door should be fitted with a locking mechanism to assist in protection during the event of a power outage. A closed-circuit television monitoring system with at least a nineteen inch monitor must be installed. A printer that can deliver clear, motionless photos from the security cameras must also be used. Images should be recorded in at least a 1920×1080 resolution or 15 frames per second. This is faster than the human eye, which can process 12 images per second, but produces jerky movements in video recordings. Recordings must include accurate date and time, placed in a way that does not block the video itself.
Every entry and exit point of the building must be in range of a security camera. Protecting and monitoring these locations should be of the utmost importance. Employee lockers or strongboxes must be hidden and kept away from wherever medical marijuana is produced, processed, or prepared. These areas must also be monitored by at least two different camera angles.
Camera arrangements should be placed so that they cannot be easily interfered with or damaged. Recordings must be kept for sixty days on a server or off-site location on a network capable of on-demand access by law-enforcement agencies. Access to recordings may be in real-time or acquiring copies of recordings. Each security camera should be capable of recording at least sixty minutes of footage in the event of a power outage.
For Help Contact Ozarks Protective Services
Let us worry about the details of protecting your business while you focus on running it. Our experts have the licenses and experience to make sure you stay compliant with the law while operating in the Missouri medical marijuana industry.