NU Online News Service, May 13, 11:47 a.m. EDT
Medical marijuana dispensers and growers can now buy insurance against claims of selling illness-inducing product and other risks from a specialty insurance program manager affiliated with a marijuana retailing school, the two entities have announced.
The protection is being offered by the privately held Prince Insurance Group in Broomfield, Colo., and Los Angeles-based Greenway University, which bills itself as the "leading medical marijuana business school."
The Greenway Insurance, referred to as "All Green Insurance" on the Web site Prince Insurance Group, offers coverage for crops, dispensaries, grow facilities, marijuana baking facilities and workers' compensation.
Applicants seeking a quote for the insurance are asked multiple questions about security, including whether their facilities have a panic button, video cameras, motion detectors, gated doors and windows, and steel doors.
In announcing the coverage yesterday, Gus Escamilla, founder and chief executive officer of Greenway University, said in a statement, "Until today, little to no protection existed for dispensary owners against product loss or illness caused to patients from ingesting any items sold or stolen inventory."
He said the fact that Prince Insurance had selected Greenway "as its partner for providing insurance in this rapidly advancing industry is a continued testament to the legitimacy and standardization of the medical marijuana industry, and the leadership position Greenway has established in this industry."
Greenway Insurance also offers coverages ranging from general liability, theft, fire, crop cultivation, auto and edibles coverage.
"This marks the next phase of our growth to being the leading medical marijuana education and information business school and services organization," Mr. Escamilla commented.
The Greenway University CEO said, "Having so many tools and information raises the bar and provides our students with the resources they need in order to bring standardization, systemization and validation to the industry."
His school teaches cultivation, distribution and compliance and offers a masters degree in business administration with advanced certification programs and a "turnkey, point-of-sale system which tracks medicine from seed to sale, to its in-house botanist and geneticist."
The Greenway University Web site indicates that insurance coverages being offered for "every aspect of any business in this industry" are ultimately provided by Lloyd's of London.
While the Greenway/Prince Insurance Group announcement touts the new program as the "first of its kind," referring to the extension of coverage to "every aspect of the industry," including growers, bakers and doctors' offices, coverage for medical marijuana dispensaries and other businesses–written by Lloyd's and other carriers–has been previously available.
For example, MMD Insurance Group, a division of Rancho Cordova, Calif.-based commercial broker Statewide Insurance Services, provides business insurance for medical marijuana collectives, cooperatives, dispensaries and growers, according to its Web site, http://www.mmdinsurance.com.
In addition, Hayes Insurance Agency in El Sobrante, Calif., has been providing coverage for the medical marijuana industry since 1997, according to its Web site, http://www.hayesbrokers.com/medicalmarijuanaprogram.html. The agency's marijuana program Web page indicates that coverage is available for dispensaries, growers, clinics and canabusinesses on a monoline or package basis.
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