The vast majority of California’s data from its cannabis track-and-trace system will be kept out of the public domain, according to a top state regulator.
That may surprise or disappoint those in the marijuana industry who expected to get a clearer picture of the legal supply chain later this year.
Licensed operators are uploading their product information into CCTT-Metrc, the electronic system used by the Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) to track marijuana supply from seed to sale.
Florida-based Franwell provides the software.
The CDFA is following the law by not revealing most information collected, a top official said.
“There is statutory language that protects that from disclosure,” said Richard Parrott, the director of the CDFA’s CalCannabis division.
“It’s our plain reading of the statute that says information contained in track and trace is exempt from disclosure unless it’s for state and local agencies carrying out their duties,” he added.
At the same time, Parrott expects the agency will release an overview of the state’s legal supply chain, possibly as a year-end recap.
That will allow industry officials to get a better idea of the size of the legal marijuana market.
“I believe that we will (release) some sort of year-end, high-level (summary),” Parrott said.
“We don’t really know yet what that will look like, but I believe there will be some sort of aggregate data that would be publicly available.”
He said he doesn’t know what the report will contain or when it will be released.
“But it would make sense.”
John Schroyer can be reached at johns@mjbizdaily.com
