Cannabis Health Insider

Operations of cannabis businesses remain federally illegal despite being considered essential in some states.

Industry leaders and a few members of Congress are focusing on this and sending an appeal for access to emergency funding and other avenues of financial assistance for cannabis businesses. According to them, navigation of uncertainty, closing facilities and furloughing workers, along with other potential financial issues have been faced by these operations due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The extensions of Small Business Administration loan programs to state-licensed cannabis businesses along with ancillary companies have been asked by the cannabis organizations and several federal lawmakers in recent weeks.

According to a statement by Aaron Smith, executive director of the National Cannabis Industry Association, given in an interview with CNN Business, the cannabis industry is considered essential in most of the states where it is legalized and operating, and that it should also be treated fairly by having access to the funding programs.

Currently, it is the best time for the government to consider granting long-awaited policy requests, focusing on access to banking services, according to the NCIA and other advocacy organizations. The National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws had noted in a policy memo (released on April 1, 2020), the further complications added to the cash-centric operations, by the spread of COVID-19 and its potential regarding its survival on different surfaces.

According to Smith, being cash-only operations has always been a public safety hazard, especially now more than ever. He further added with the passing of the Safe Banking Act, this will be an opportunity to fix this issue completely.

According to cannabis investor Rob E. Hunt of Linnea Holdings, achieving greater financial access is extremely difficult during this time.

A glimpse of the potential of the cannabis industry’s cashless, digital-dominated future is seen by the response of cannabis companies to COVID-19. The cannabis companies have adapted to the changes, and have been recognized as essential businesses while maintaining physical distancing. Some states have provided relaxation to the cannabis companies by allowing them to offer delivery of products, curbside pickup services, and online sales.

Adaption to the “analog to digital” transition was observed to be very fast, according to Socrates Rosenfeld, chief executive of Jane Technologies. Jane Technologies has previously developed an e-commerce platform for cannabis retailers.

He added that businesses and industries go through disruption as well, during a time of great environmental disruption, as also seen across global retail.

According to the data by Jane Technologies, the number of delivery purchases was had a greater share in overall purchases compared in recent weeks, at stores that offer both delivery and curbside pickup. Delivery shares were recorded to be 50% of transactions at those stores, during the week of March 11, compared to being 41% a month earlier.

A California based cannabis delivery company, Ganja Goddess, experienced a steady rise in their business following the issuance of lockdown orders.

According to the co-founder Steve DeAngelo, Harborside is one of the longest operating cannabis dispensaries in California, increased the hiring of delivery drivers along with the leasing of additional vehicles, in an attempt to respond to the rising demand.

According to Tyler Beuerlein, chief revenue officer of Hypur, an increasing number of customers are opting for online orders or deliveries, especially in places like Nevada, where delivery is the only available option. Beuerlein further added that this will increase the need for cash-free payment options.

Hypur is a fintech company that benefits from the use of automated clearinghouse transactions that allows cashless payments in industries such as cannabis. Hypur announced its future involvement last week, to facilitate payments for the delivery and curbside pickup of the cannabis company Caliva.