On January 3, 2023, the Office of Cannabis Policy ("OCP") published a report, titled "State of Maine, Metrc User Group." Maine contracted with Metrc to use its track and trace system, which all Adult Use licensees must utilize in order to operate in Maine's Adult Use Cannabis program. The OCP met with various Adult Use licensees to discuss concerns about the Metrc system. Seven issue areas were discussed:

1. Application Programming Interface (API)
2. Customer Service
3. Functionality
4. Reports
5. Testing
6. Training
7. User Experience

Various recommendations were made by the licensees on how to fix or resolve the above concerns, which are outlined in the report. The OCP acknowledges the issues and agreed that:

• API integration is lacking in some regards, so licensees often have to spend time manually fixing errors and recording important details in Metrc;
• The customer service that licensees have received from Metrc does not live up to their expectations and extended resolution times, hold times, and call back times have significantly impacted day-to-day business operations;
• Metrc functionality needs improvement, particularly for preventing errors from onset or providing avenues to correct errors throughout the system;
• The stock reports users have available to them in Metrc do not provide enough value in their current formats;
• Testing data is not transparent nor automated in Metrc, which creates opportunities for human error;
• Many of Metrc's training tools are not specific to Maine's inventory tracking system, therefore users do not find them sufficient; and There is room for improvement related to the Metrc user experience, particularly to the user view and system performance

According to the report, the OCP will:

• Continue to work with Metrc to implement a batch tracking solution pursuant to PL 2021, ch. 628;
• Develop educational material for Maine users around templating and CSV uploads for large transfers;
• Closely monitor the API V2 implementation, the Tableau reporting integration, and the customer service turnaround times;
• Explore the option of a sandbox training environment; and
• Set up quarterly meetings for Maine licensees to log on and share feedback with OCP about the inventory tracking system, which OCP will then relay to Metrc as applicable.

All Adult Use licensees should review this report and communicate with the OCP any concerns they have about Metrc. This will help improve Metrc and notify the OCP of any ongoing issues you may have with using Metrc's track and trace system. 

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John M. Burke manages the firm's Maine cannabis law practice. Mr. Burke advises and represents the firm's clients throughout Maine in both the Medical and Adult Use cannabis programs in a wide range of Maine cannabis law matters. In addition to Mr. Burke's Maine cannabis law practice, Mr. Burke advises and assists the firm's clients in a variety of industries on various intellectual property matters throughout the United States. Learn more about John Burke by clicking here.

Caseiro Burke is a boutique law firm that specializes in intellectual property law and cannabis compliance and licensing in the State of Maine. We offer clients creative, cost-effective and reliable legal solutions in all intellectual property and Maine cannabis law matters.