Following the recent wildfires which devastated many parts of California, a number of cannabis cultivators wished there was such thing as insurance for them at the time…
While a lot of people lost a lot of money, and in some cases even lives, due to draconian legislation, it wasn’t possible for cannabis growers to have any kind of insurance, for an event like a wildfire. That reality just changed, albeit a little too late for some.
Despite that, California is breaking ground, having approved its first dedicated insurance provider for the state’s cannabis industry. The historic announcement came from California’s own Insurance Commissioner, Dave Jones, who said, “This is the first of what I hope will be many commercial carriers filing insurance products to fill insurance coverage gaps for the cannabis industry. Consumers who visit cannabis businesses, workers who work there, businesses who sell products to or rent property to cannabis businesses, and the investors, owners and operators of cannabis businesses all should have insurance coverage available to help them recover when something goes wrong just as any other legalized business does.”
Until now, understandably, the insurance industry have stayed away from offering insurance to the cannabis industry, mainly out of fear of potential federal prosecution. However, according to Jones, that’s all about to change. Jones set up meetings between commercial insurers and some of the state’s largest cannabis companies.
Jones explained, “Our mission remains insurance protection for all Californians, which includes insurance for California’s legalized cannabis businesses and customers. We encourage more insurance companies to file cannabis business insurance products with the department to meet the needs of this emerging market.”
[Image credit- Pixabay]
