Prior to conducting a risk assessment, it is important to identify the specific risk areas unique to commercial cannabis businesses.
Common Risk Areas and Their Drivers
Five common risk areas form the risk assessment, these include:
- Money laundering
- Illicit cannabis market
- Compliance
- Supply chain
- Operational
Commercial cannabis businesses may be more vulnerable to certain risk areas based on their unique historical risks and characteristics. Historical risks include previous threats experienced by the commercial cannabis business and peers. Characteristics include complexity, maturity of products and services, and market footprint. The board and management are responsible for deciding whether the risk officer has adequately identified the significant risks within each risk area that are unique to their commercial cannabis business.
The following risk areas provide guidance on specific risk drivers to the commercial cannabis industry.