Insuring Risks Associated With the Production and Sale of Marijuana

摘要

The strong growth potential of the cannabis industry offers insurers significant new business expansion opportunities, but the industry is complex and faces many unique risks. Legalized cannabis businesses need and desire insurance to mitigate these risks. However, the availability of insurance lags behind this need for insurance. Marijuana is still illegal at the federal level, causing many insurers to be hesitate to insure a federally illegal activity. These legal uncertainties will continue until Congress settles the conflict between federal and state laws. Further, there is little data available on the cannabis industry, making it difficult to price insurance products. However, rapid expansion of the cannabis industry has produced multiple unique needs and complex risks that need to be insured. This paper examines many of the risks faced by the cannabis industry, and the issues keeping many insurance carriers from entering this growing market.