The Sharks are in the Shallows… and We’re Gonna Need a Bigger Boat

Ethephon contamination in Nevada, HLV in Massachusetts and California, CBD unregulated and out of control.

The phrase, “You can pay me now or pay me later” is one many of us remember and use. It’s from the FRAM oil filter commercials in the 70s and 80s. The implied meaning of the phrase in the commercial is basically you can pay some money now for a good oil filter or, if you don’t, you’ll pay much more later when your car breaks down.

The commercial no longer airs but the concept holds true in many areas of life and commerce. Cannabis is no exception. Operators in the cannabis industry have balked and resisted the value of risk management and prevention. Arguments include “we can’t spend money on things that don’t impact our sales” and “we are in cannabis…risk is nothing new to us.”

The latter is absolutely true. WE ARE in the cannabis risk business and WE ARE risk takers. Being a risk taker, however, does not remove our responsibility to reduce or eliminate risk whenever possible. This is EFFECTIVE risk management. And contrary to the above, EFFECTIVE risk management does impact your sales…and your profitability.

This edition of the NCRPS newsletter, Chronic Risk, launches a series of articles that deal with cannabis product risk and more importantly cannabis product safety. We at the NCRPS have continually maintained that product risk is the threat that could take the legs out from under the cannabis industry. No, we are not part of the naysayers that live on LinkedIn or the doomsday cannabis crowd. We are a team of cannabis experienced risk managers whose passion is to work with the industry to use EFFECTIVE risk management to ensure its profitability and sustainability.

Don’t get caught by the thought that you can’t afford EFFECTIVE risk management. Don’t cut corners to save dollars in critical areas of your cannabis business. Remember the FRAM guy or better yet, Quint the boat captain from Jaws. He was a risk taker too…