If you want to open a medical marijuana dispensary, then you will need to have a good security plan. Stories of dispensaries being robbed at gunpoint are not just cop show tropes. Robberies happen on a regular basis, and the threat is real. Even if you don’t have a lot of cash kept on the premises, dispensaries are an appealing target. There is a widespread belief that dispensaries do have a lot of cash, and also a perception that a lot of them are run by stoners – so they’re a soft target.

Planning and Precautions Can Deter Theft

Having a clear security policy and a plan will help you to avoid a lot of opportunistic robbery attempts, and will ensure that if you do encounter a criminal threat, you will be better equipped to respond.

A Dispensary Security Plan will tackle issues of security from the ground up, creating a safe work environment for your salespeople and other staff members and helping to equip everyone to respond to potential dangers and threats, so you can step away from the office and be confident that everything is going to be OK.

Security Logs and Surveillance Are Essential

If you want to have a medical marijuana dispensary license, then you will actually need to have good security logs. Indeed, inadequate or missing logs are a major infraction and a reason that many licenses are not renewed. Your security plan should be treated as a pledge to uphold a certain standard of diligence to ensure that not only are your finances protected, but that the marijuana on the premises is treated with the respect and control that it deserves.

Facility Security

Your physical security plan should lay out everything about your property, the surrounding neighborhood, the layout of the building, the lighting, the number of security guards you work with and their qualifications, and how people (patients, caregivers, customers, and staff) will access the building. There should be access control measures to limit where non-staff members can get to. Staff members should also have access only to areas that they need to reach to carry out their respective jobs. Movement throughout the property should be monitored.

Procedures and Policies

Your medical marijuana security plan should include a process for logging and reporting incidents, breaches and emergencies. It is hard to predict every single thing that could possibly go wrong, but your procedures should cover the most likely potential issues; such as theft, robbery and staff misconduct. You should document how you train your staff to respond to incidents, have policies for things like locking up at night, and have a clear process for notifying the authorities in the event of an incident.

Workforce Security

It is important to ensure that all of your staff are background checked, and that you have careful hiring guidelines. You should train your staff regularly and re-evaluate them to ensure that they are maintaining a high standard of conduct. If staff ever need to be released from your workforce, then security clearances should be revoked immediately.

If you need to prepare a security plan, then it is a good idea to seek advice from the experts, to ensure that nothing is overlooked.