Does your team follow these 5 tips?
These tips were written by Maureen McNamara for a piece in the Canadian Occupational Safety magazine with Amanda Silliker.
Working in the cannabis industry can be an exciting experience. There are tremendous growth opportunities and we can contribute to people’s wellness while shifting outdated paradigms.
We want you to have positive experiences while selling cannabis. Some top tips to success!
1. Be diligent and thorough when checking patient and adult I.D.’s
Making sure all people in the shop are of legal age is a foundation to selling cannabis compliantly. Spend time with the identification and the person to ensure it is all legit. The repercussion of missing this step could lead to fines, jail time, suspension or revocation of license. This industry is too important to drop the ball on this step. We want to show our commitment to excellence and to preventing youth access.

2. Don’t play Doctor… unless you are one.
We may have a lot of first timers and people that are seeking insight about what types of cannabis are available and what experiences they may have. There is a fine line between being helpful and making claims about what cannabis may do for someone. Always recommend that patients consult with their medical team. Avoid specific language that implies that any product will “treat, cure or mitigate specific medical conditions”.
3. Are they marvelous or mischievous?
Working in retail settings give us an opportunity to meet all sorts of wonderful, interesting, delightful or devious people. Be aware of your surroundings. Create policies to limit the number of people in your shop in a way that allows the team to always “maintain control of the premises”. If someone is simply a bit cranky, break out all your excellent human relation skills. If someone is escalating a situation and you ever feel unsafe, inform your manager, call security or law enforcement.
4. Keep it clean!

You’ll be handling cannabis. We encourage you to consider treating all your products as if they will be purchased by a patient. And, patients often have compromised immune systems. This means being attentive to frequent, thorough handwashing and monitoring the cleanliness of your shop and temperature control where appropriate.
5. Keep it safe!
Your dispensary will have security protocols, high grade locks and cameras. These features are designed to keep you, the consumers and the product safe. We want the retail experience to feel safe and inviting.
Thank you for all that YOU do and will be doing to move the cannabis industry forward with professionalism, integrity and compliance!
Check out our compliance training classes in CO, CA, NV, MD, Canada and private classes in your state!
www.CannabisTrainers.com Maureen@CannabisTrainers.com