The National Cannabis Risk Management Association (NCRMA) endorses a suite of insurance products designed to serve the needs of its members and the overall cannabis industry. The products will be available through Trichome, launched in December 2020, which is part of the NCRMA captive. The entity has been established to initially offer property, general premises liability and product liability coverage to cannabis dispensaries and associated grow facilities. The products are available immediately and additional lines of coverage and progression up the vertical are planned for later this year. There are only a few insurance providers currently offering products to the industry because cannabis is illegal on the Federal-level in the US. NCRMA's states that according to its members, those limited offerings have high premiums and inadequate coverages and services, which “has hampered the success of the cannabis industry”. NCRMA's captive-based model provides members accurately priced premiums, a holistic approach to underwriting, appointed brokers vetted by criteria established by NCRMA members, insurance products birthed by cannabis risk management (NCRMA), and short-term profit taking replaced by long term stability and reward. Commenting on the products, Rocco Petrilli, chairman of the NCRMA, says: "The launch of Trichome is a direct response to our members' expressed need for fairly priced and risk management-based insurance coverage to a rapidly emerging and evolving industry.” He notes: "The NCRMA is 100 per cent focused on risk management because risk management without insurance is incomplete and insurance without risk management is illogical. Trichome is the first cannabis-centric insurance solution of its kind, and it's going to change the future of this industry." "We believe that a captive model, Trichome, will successfully forge the path to insurance sustainability and enable cannabis businesses to move forward with growth safely and responsibly,” Petrilli concludes. Earlier this year, Petrilli spoke on a panel at the World Captive Forum (WFC) that was focused on the cannabis industry. When speaking about if cannabis would ever be a scheduled one drug, Petrilli, highlights that if the Federal Government came up with a solution for the banking issue, “the cannabis industry would be happy to leave the legislation at the state level”.
