The cannabis industry bloomed recently and is brand new in some states. Since it’s in its infancy, rules and regulations often require updates. The Michigan Cannabis Regulatory Agency (CRA) released an extensive set of proposed alterations and new rules drawn from consumer and industry feedback. Some have been well received, while others have raised quite the kerfuffle.
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The draft rules address pain points in the industry like unpaid bills, codifying social equity settings, and shifting how licensees keep data and records. One of the proposed changes has people up in arms, as it allows the government agency to essentially spy on cannabis operations at will.
MLive pinpointed one questionable rule among the pages of proposals listed in the CRA guide to changes. The draft states that businesses need video surveillance recording in sampling areas. What is concerning is the second bit, which dictates that the agency has real-time access to the video surveillance system in a web-based portal.
Business owners have raised multiple concerns during the comment period, all of which centered around privacy. For one, the state-regulated cannabis sales are not exactly legal at the federal level. Employees may be concerned that a federal agency could access footage of them conducting cannabis business under the proposed rule.
A cannabis dispensary operator pointed out to MLive that there is also the danger that “some creepy dude” would use the system to stalk cannabis workers. These are speculative, but the kind of fears regulators ask for during public comment periods.
The CRA states its sole concern is accessing video footage for investigations. CRA cites many failed and malfunctioning video surveillance issues while working to root out bad actors from the industry.
CRA spokesman David Harns told GreenState that the feedback on that rule is loud.
“Although this rule change proposal was a request from Michigan licensees – and other states use this functionality with no issues – the CRA is analyzing the feedback from the comment period, and is seriously considering removing the proposed camera rule change based on the feedback already received,” said Harns.
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This type of rule change could seem small to many, but that tiny window can be kicked open. Once a rule is in place, many agencies could tap into the monitoring system. Closing this loop before the drafted rules are implemented is wise for Michiganders who value privacy.
