Everyone seems to agree that few of us are safe from the impending roboacolypse. Not the farmers, not the restaurant workers, not even the fashion models or (gasp!) the lawyers.

What about those employed in the cannabis industry? Not according to a recent article on Seedo, “an Israeli and Maryland based startup that claims to be able to quadruple the yield of traditional cannabis grows using climate-controlled chambers run by robots.”  According to a news release dated March 19, 2019, Seedo has partnered with Kibbutz Dan in Northern Israel to establish the first fully automated, commercial-scale, pesticide-free containerized cannabis farm in Israel. You can watch the video here.

Seedo claims that its airtight, stackable containers will take the guesswork out of the cultivation process, optimize land-use, and reduce the environmental footprint of the farming operations. Oh – and each container can produce at least 326 pounds of dry cannabis bud per year.

Meanwhile an April 2019 cover story by Marijuana Business Magazine that surveys salaries across the cannabis industry indirectly highlights the benefits of moving to automation. The article notes that at nearly every level of the cannabis industry people tend to earn more than their mainstream counterparts and that for most companies, payroll is the biggest expense.

We would add that payroll aside, employees are often the greatest source of risk for cannabis businesses which are generally held strictly liable for the actions of their employees. This means one bad hire can put at risk an investment millions of dollars. We see this all the time with so-called “consultants,” who offer grand visions of easy money but just as often walk away leaving a business in shambles and carrying a briefcase (or two) full of cash. We also see this in situations where owners and employees are doing their best, but a mistake is made and the regulatory agency steams ahead with license revocation proceedings.

Are robots the answer? Maybe not yet, but in this tightly regulated industry where a mistake (honest or not) can result in license revocation, we should expect cannabis businesses to take advantage of any technology that promises to mitigate risk.

We’ve written about the potential benefits of harnessing the power of blockchain technology to track and trace cannabis from seed to sale and provide an effective regulatory tool for governments (see here and here). We’ve also warned of the risks and dangers (and outright scams) associated with many cryptocurrencies and the heightened risks that come when a federally prohibited substance is combined with use of typically anonymous cryptocurrencies.

I have been writing and speaking about the potential benefits of blockchain in a variety of contexts, not limited to cannabis. Last month, I spoke about the benefits of blockchain for local governments on a panel hosted by the International City Managers Association, Government Finance Officers Association, and National League of Cities. The consensus in terms of local government use is that blockchain technology has the potential to provide tremendous benefits to local governments in terms of efficiency and transparency, but that it is still very much in the development stages and great skepticism should be exercised when presented with opportunities to implement it. There are still a great deal of scams and misinformation surrounding blockchain technology, especially in the context of cryptocurrency.

A handful of cities and states are pioneering the way forward in adoption of blockchain technology use. This week, California Assembly Members Ting and McCarty introduced AB 953, which would allow local governments accept city or county cannabis license tax amounts due by payment using “stablecoins.” The bill would authorize local governments to either accept stablecoins directly into a digital wallet controlled by that jurisdiction or to utilize a third-party digital asset payment processor that allows for the immediate conversion of any payments made by stablecoins into United States dollars and deposit into an account of that jurisdiction. The vulnerability of digital wallets is explained in my white paper.

A stablecoin is defined in the bill as: “a digital asset that has price stable characteristics pegged to United States dollars and United States dollars serve as collateral to that digital asset.”

Digital asset is defined as “a digital representation of value that is used as a medium of exchange, unit of account, or store of value and is not legal tender, whether or not denominated in legal tender.”

We are very interested in watching how this bill plays out in the Assembly, and will keep the blog updated as things progress. We are skeptical that this particular proposal will succeed, but encouraged that the State Legislature continues to search for viable banking solutions for the cannabis industry. Stay tuned: the bill may be heard in committee on March 24.

Two years ago, we published a series of posts about the cannabis industry’s embrace of the Internet of Things (“IoT”)—the network of physical objects connected through the Internet—for use in everything from garden sensors to dispensers. In that same series, we also discussed some of the potential legal risks and ramifications of using the IoT in the cannabis business—particularly some of the privacy and security risks inherent in the IoT.

Just last week, California Governor Jerry Brown approved of SB-327, the first information security law in the U.S. specifically targeting the IoT. SB-327 takes effect on January 1, 2020, and will require manufacturers of connected devices—essentially, devices in the IoT—to equip them with “reasonable” security measures. These security measures must be appropriate to the nature of the devices and information they collect and contain, and must be designed to protect the devices from unauthorized access, destruction, use, modification, or disclosure. SB-327 also requires devices that can be accessed outside of a local area network either to be equipped with a unique password or to allow a user to generate its own password.

It’s important to emphasize that SB-327 does not impose any requirements on users of IoT devices, but rather to manufacturers. So, for many businesses in the cannabis space that rely on the IoT, no real changes in operations may be necessary. Both plant-touching and ancillary marijuana companies that manufacture qualifying devices, on the other hand, may need to re-do or even re-invent their products.

It’s also important to note that the law applies to more than just California manufacturers. It applies so long as a business manufactures—either itself or through a contracting third party—qualifying devices that will be sold or offered for sale in California. Crucially, there is no threshold for product sales in California. Consequently, any manufacturer, anywhere, could be subject to SB-327.

Complying with SB-327 may be as simple as assigning randomly generated passwords to each device or re-tooling software or firmware to provide more robust security protection. But for some manufacturers—especially of devices that gather or contain sensitive information—compliance may be more involved and may require a ground-up reinvention. Consultation with counsel is always the best step towards compliance.