IBM suggests using blockchain to sell cannabis

IBM recommends using blockchain technology to track the distribution of cannabis in British Columbia.

According to a document In a proposal submitted to the government of the Canadian province of British Columbia, IBM advocates the use of blockchain technology to ensure consumer safety and track the legal distribution of cannabis in seed-to-sale (from seed to sale).

Blockchain is a technology that allows blocks of information to be stored and transmitted in a transparent and secure manner, without a central authority. All changes are recorded in this massive database, which is secure and shared among its various users.

This, in fact, is the strength of IBM’s recommendation. By ‘leveraging the transparency and immutability of information, blockchain could ensure consumer health and safety through traceability across the entire cannabis supply chain, thereby eliminating the risk of fraud.”.

The document adds: «The relevance of blockchain to cannabis regulation is similar to the many monitoring applications that exist in the pharmaceutical sector or the food industry.».

According to IBM, blockchain could help the provincial government «take control» of sales and product supply in order to «completely» eliminate cannabis sales on the black market.

British Columbia will implement cannabis legalization on July 1, 2018, along with the rest of Canada. The provinces of Ontario, from Quebec, the’Alberta and New Brunswick have already revealed details about how they will legalize cannabis.