Discover how Scandit’s ID verification technology helps cannabis dispensaries detect fake IDs, ensuring compliance and protecting business reputation.
Regulatory compliance is not just a legal requirement; it’s the backbone of a dispensary’s ability to operate. One of the most significant challenges these businesses face is the effective verification of customer age, especially given the increasing sophistication of fake IDs. As the cannabis industry matures, dispensaries must adopt cutting-edge technology to ensure they remain compliant while delivering a smooth customer experience.
Jessica Grisolia, Director of Retail Industry Solutions at Scandit, stands at the forefront of the retail technology revolution. Jessica’s expertise spans global retail trends, automation, and the digital transformation of in-store experiences.
Her work at Scandit focuses on creating solutions that enhance the way businesses, including cannabis dispensaries, navigate the challenges of ID verification in today’s highly regulated environment. With a background in product management at Avery Dennison Graphics Solutions, Jessica has spent her career driving innovation and managing change, equipping her with a unique perspective on the role of technology in ensuring compliance and enhancing customer satisfaction.
In this interview, Jessica provides insight into how Scandit’s ID scanning technology is helping cannabis dispensaries detect fake IDs more effectively than manual checks, streamline their compliance processes, and mitigate financial and reputational risks.
We explore the importance of accurate ID verification in an industry where a single misstep can lead to heavy fines, loss of licenses, and lasting damage to a company’s reputation. Jessica also discusses how businesses can future-proof their operations with advanced technology, preparing them for expansion and regulatory changes.
Ganjly: What specific challenges do cannabis dispensaries face when it comes to fake ID use compared to other age-restricted businesses like bars or liquor stores?
Jessica Grisolia: Unlike tobacco or alcohol, cannabis has the unique distinction of being used for both recreational and medical purposes, which leads to more nuanced and quickly-changing regulations that can vary significantly from state to state — applicable to the sale, consumption, and even its delivery (e.g., direct-to-consumer versus third-party delivery).
This patchwork of state-level regulations creates a challenging environment for businesses operating in multiple jurisdictions and, in this industry, regulatory compliance is not just important — it’s critical. Companies must not only adhere to regulations but also be able to demonstrate their compliance consistently.
Recent years have seen increased scrutiny from regulatory bodies, with states implementing stricter enforcement and even a single violation can have severe consequences, significantly impacting a company’s sales and reputation. As a result, companies must be well-versed in their state-specific regulations, including proper ID verification procedures and legal limits on sales.
Ganjly: Can you elaborate on how Scandit’s ID scanning technology enhances the detection of fake IDs compared to traditional manual verification methods?
Jessica Grisolia: Mass-produced fake IDs are becoming more sophisticated, with built-in attributes such as accurate barcodes and microprints that are impossible for the human eye to assess. Scandit research has shown nearly half (45%) of US adults aged 18-25 reported knowing someone who successfully used a fake ID to gain access to age-restricted products or venues, and 19% specifically called out successful use in cannabis dispensaries.
In addition to being less accurate, manual ID checks can be time-consuming, cause customer friction, and do not prepare the company for an audit, all of which can lead to fines, license loss, missed sales, and reputational damage. Scandit’s ID scanning technology solves these problems. ID Validate detects if IDs are fake in just one second.
It’s fast, accurate, and secure, and designed specifically for busy frontline workers and customers. Moreover, it works completely on-device, so it doesn’t require an internet connection, avoiding the need to train your employees and, most importantly, fully preparing a cannabis dispensary to prove that it has remained compliant at all times.
Ganjly: Given the regional differences highlighted in the report, how should cannabis businesses in high-risk areas like New England adapt their ID verification processes?
Jessica Grisolia: Cannabis businesses in high-risk areas should prioritize adopting an accurate and secure ID verification process. Thousands of fake IDs are most likely accepted every month at the point of purchase, most of them being for the age of 25 and under, and this can greatly jeopardize businesses.
States are becoming stricter in regulations, and businesses need to be prepared for increased audits. Having a fast, secure, and transparent process of ID validation helps the company be prepared for future audits and entering new markets if desired, not to mention avoid fines, customer friction, license loss, missed sales, and reputational damage.
Ganjly: What role does employee training play in effectively combating the use of fake IDs, and what best practices should cannabis businesses implement?
Jessica Grisolia: Manual ID checks require a strong and resource-intensive training plan. With this method, employees need to be trained on the specific policies and regulations frequently, in addition to being educated on the attributes of (fake) IDs.
Yet even with such intensive training, the odds of manually detecting fake IDs are getting slimmer by the minute, with fake IDs becoming increasingly more sophisticated and harder to detect by the human eye. By implementing Scandit’s ID Validate solution and letting technology do the heavy lifting in a fast and accurate manner, training is completely avoided, thus saving money, time, and resources better spent elsewhere.
Ganjly: How can investing in advanced ID verification technology help cannabis businesses mitigate financial losses and regulatory penalties associated with fraudulent IDs?
Jessica Grisolia: ID verification technology shields cannabis businesses from regulatory penalties, effectively ensuring fake IDs are detected at a significantly higher rate than by the human eye and offering proof of secure ID checks in case of any audits.
Therefore, fines, license losses, bans on selling, and reputational damages are all avoided. What’s more, delivering a smooth customer experience using fast and state-of-the-art technology as opposed to a time-consuming and error-prone manual ID check will positively impact customer loyalty and repeat sales and also employee retention and satisfaction, implicitly saving talent acquisition costs.
Ganjly: Could you explain the long-term benefits for a cannabis business that adopts Scandit’s ID verification solutions, beyond just compliance with regulations?
Jessica Grisolia: Long-term, the business will be then prepared for future expansion, either to a new region or even a new US state, as it’ll have a safe and accurate solution from the start. Moreover, having an advanced ID verification technology based on camera-based scanning offers a much better user experience both for the employee and the customer, ultimately leading to higher employee and customer satisfaction and retention.
Finally, Scandit’s diverse and powerful solutions can help businesses optimize their operations even more with a combination of ID scanning, barcode scanning, and label capture, as well. For instance, companies delivering cannabis can use our ID scanning technology for age verification and proof of delivery, in addition to ID validation.
Ganjly: What are the potential risks for cannabis dispensaries that fail to adopt robust ID verification technologies, both from a legal and a reputational standpoint?
Jessica Grisolia: Just one violation can impact the business both legally (i.e., it could lose its license and pay fines) and reputationally (i.e., customers will lose trust in that dispensary and look for other options). Cannabis dispensaries rely a lot on community building, so damaging their reputation has a great negative impact on them.
Ganjly: How does Scandit’s technology integrate with existing systems in cannabis dispensaries, and what are the steps for implementation?
Jessica Grisolia: Scandit’s ID technology does not require a long and resource-heavy implementation or deployment process. Our SDKs (web and native) can all be implemented very easily and the process is supported by our Enterprise Support team. It can take as little as a few days to have a fully integrated and deployed ID scanning solution.
Ganjly: Can you share any success stories or case studies where Scandit’s ID verification solutions significantly reduced the incidence of fake ID acceptance in cannabis dispensaries?
Jessica Grisolia: No public success stories, but we can say a top 5 cannabis retailer uses Scandit for ID scanning.
Ganjly: What future advancements do you foresee in ID verification technology, and how might these developments further protect age-restricted businesses like cannabis dispensaries?
Jessica Grisolia:Scandit is constantly improving its ID verification technology, through advances in computer vision and machine learning, but also adding more and more verifications in our solution. Future advancements such as biometrics and NFC verification, for example, will make our solution even more robust.
Thank you, Jessica for doing the interview. To know more about Jessica, head on over to Scandit.com.
