Marijuana users can now easily find out whether the dispensary is legit or not using their smartphones. The Bureau of Cannabis Control announced that a program encouraging licensed Cannabis retailers to use QR codes on their store windows has been initiated. These QR codes can be scanned by the smartphone camera that will allow you to connect to the bureau’s online license system.
This connection will help the customers to verify that the store is licensed or not.
Bureau chief Lori Ajax, said, “Consumers will be able to determine which retailers ”carry products that are tracked, tested and legal.” As per the officials, the consumers who have phones without the QR code facility can also check whether the cannabis retailer is licensed or not by simply visiting the bureau’s license search tool CApotcheck.com.
California voters have legalized Marijuana sales to all the adults under proposition 64 that was passed in the year 2016. Following this, the state regulators have struggled in meeting the demands for licensing. Many communities have either banned commercial sales or have not set any rules for the legal market to operate.
However, in some communities, legal shos are still undercutting by thriving the illicit market so that they can avoid the taxes that can approach 50%. As per the latest update from the authorities, last week itself, search warrants have been issued against 45 illegal operators in Los Angeles.
The system involving the QR code programs has been appreciated and applauded by the United Cannabis Business Assn. to spot the licensed retailers from the illegal ones. Tool for consumer education is the title given to the system by executive director Ruben Honing.
Honing stated, “When voters approved Proposition 64, there was an immediate assumption that overnight, everywhere that sold cannabis was legal and safe. “Unfortunately, this couldn’t be further from the truth. California’s illicit market is nearly three times the size of its legal one and many consumers cannot tell the difference, leading them to unknowingly purchase untested and unregulated products that may put their health at risk.”
