Jonathan Robbins, chair of the Cannabis Practice, commented to Law360 on the challenges that cannabis businesses face when they seek insurance coverage. Marijuana businesses have experienced setbacks in recent months, including sales impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, and most recently looting following protests from the Black Lives Matter movement. Experts estimate the damage across all businesses could top $2 billion and dispensaries are dealing with coverage questions unique to an industry that is illegal under federal law.
“There are going to be unique challenges when it comes to insurance, like there are with everything in this space. It's harder, more expensive, and there are more pitfalls.”
Robbins added, “You have a lot of businesses that were teetering on the ability to maintain operations, but then they lost their inventory and on top of that, they don't know how long they have to wait to be paid out. Are these businesses going to be able to survive? Unfortunately, I think a lot won't be.”