Page 18 - Security Today, July 2017

Securing the Joint
Marijuana’s high volume cash business requires tight security in the Mile High City and beyond
BCy Tom Barry
all it what you will, marijuana, cannabis, weed, Mary Jane or pot, it’s creating a whole new gold rush for en- trepreneurs in an emerging industry, including security products and services.
Differing Opinions
Colorado’s legal cannabis trade has expeditiously blossomed into a $1.3 billion dollar industry, according to 2016 tax data from the Colorado Department of Revenue.
Marijuana has been legal to grow and sell under state and local li- censes since 2009 for medical marijuana, and since 2014 when the first recreational dispensaries opened in Colorado. The federal gov- ernment has a totally different opinion, as marijuana remains illegal in their eyes.
Medicine Man’s marijuana dispensaries and 40,000 square foot grow house, or cultivation facility, one of the state’s largest, have been at the cutting edge of not only specially cultivating marijuana for consumption, but also the development and customization of elabo- rate security measures.
Cannabis purchases remain largely a cash business, as the gov- ernment has limited the industry’s banking privileges, creating added security risks and concerns.
The company’s main dispensary and cultivation facility is located in the Mile High City, as Medicine Man also has dispensaries in Au- rora and Thornton, suburbs of Denver.
This family owned business intentionally selected a warehouse site, near Denver International Airport and I-70, just minutes from a Denver Police Department substation. The facility sits atop a small elevated berm, which is ideal for security purposes, relating to poten- tial vehicle smash-and-grabs and other crimes.
Andy Williams, one of Medicine Man’s founders and CEO, has a heightened awareness of security to protect the staff, customers, structure, the equipment, and their valuable sweet leaves.
“We are growing a very valuable product that is hard to trace once it’s stolen and easily turned into cash by criminals,” said Wil- liams, an engineer by trade and an Army veteran. “It’s important to protect the facility of course, to protect the investment, because there is a huge investment in the infrastructure and the building as well.”
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