METRC cannabis tracking is the RFID-based, cloud-hosted track-and-trace platform that 29 U.S. states and territories use to monitor every regulated cannabis plant and product from propagation through retail sale. Short for Marijuana Enforcement Tracking Reporting Compliance, it was built inside a supply chain technology company called Franwell, launched in 2014, and is now the default compliance backbone of the legal cannabis industry. If you hold a license in a METRC state, the system is not optional software; it is the ledger your regulator audits against.
Where METRC Is Used
Not every legal cannabis state runs on METRC. As of 2025, the jurisdictions that contract with the platform are Alabama, Alaska, California, Colorado, the District of Columbia, Guam, Illinois, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Rhode Island, South Dakota, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Virginia, and West Virginia.1Metrc. State and Regional Cannabis Track-and-Trace Partners Colorado also uses METRC separately for its industrial hemp program. States such as Arizona and Washington use entirely different systems, so the tagging, reporting, and training rules below do not apply there.
How Tagging and the Cloud System Work
Every plant and every package receives a physical RFID tag containing an encrypted chip with a unique identification number. Handheld scanners or stationary sensors read these chips without a direct line of sight, so a worker can verify hundreds of tags in a room without touching each plant.2Metrc. An Introduction to RFID That tag number is the digital identifier that follows the plant or product everywhere it goes in the regulated chain.3Metrc. Regulate Efficiently With RFID Technology
The software side is cloud-based. Licensees log in through a secure web browser from a desktop, laptop, or tablet, and every authorized user, including state regulators, sees the same data at the same time. There are no local servers to maintain, and updates roll out automatically to every account. Each employee gets their own credentials, and the platform records every action under that specific user. Sharing logins is prohibited.
Tags are color-coded by license type rather than by product form. In most states, blue tags designate adult-use products, yellow tags designate medical products, and pink tags designate hemp, though those assignments can vary by state.4Metrc. Metrc Plant and Package Tracking Guide You order tags directly through the METRC interface once your account is active.
What You Have to Log, Stage by Stage
“Seed to sale” is not marketing shorthand. Cultivators begin tracking at the earliest stage of plant life and continue through every transition until the product reaches a consumer or is destroyed.
Cultivation
Tracking starts with mother plants and clones. Cultivators log genetics, planting dates, and the development timeline, then record locations, phase start dates, and the use of fertilizers and plant treatments as plants move through vegetative and flowering cycles.5Metrc. Understanding the Essentials of Seed-to-Sale Cannabis Tracking Each plant carries its own RFID identifier the entire way.
Harvest, Testing, and Packaging
At harvest, you enter the wet weight for all plants in the batch.6Metrc. Metrc Support Bulletin – New Features in Metrc Before product can move further, an independent testing facility uploads lab results directly into METRC. The platform tracks potency, pesticides, heavy metals, microbials, mycotoxins, moisture, and terpene profiles.7Metrc. Metrc Support Bulletin – Lab Testing Best Practices and Common Errors
The source package sits in a “Submitted For Testing” status until the lab uploads results. Only after the status flips to “Test Passed” can you create child packages for sale or transfer. If something goes wrong during test sample creation, the system can block movement of the product even if it passed testing. A data entry mistake at the sample stage is one of the most common ways licensees freeze their own inventory.7Metrc. Metrc Support Bulletin – Lab Testing Best Practices and Common Errors
Transfers Between Licensees
Whenever cannabis moves between licensed facilities, the sender generates a transfer manifest in METRC before the product leaves the building. The manifest lists the package ID, item name, quantity, category, receiving license number, planned route, driver information, and estimated delivery time. A single manifest can hold up to 500 packages. Any package not on the manifest cannot legally be transported, and packages tied to completed retail sales cannot be included.8Metrc. Cannabis Transfer Manifest Best Practices Guide
Retail Sales
At the register, the system records which batch was sold, when, and in what quantity. That final transaction closes the loop. If a regulator later investigates a consumer complaint, the data ties the retail receipt back through every prior step to the specific plant the product came from.
Recording Waste and Destruction
Cannabis that fails testing, expires, or is otherwise unsellable cannot be thrown out casually. You enter the quantity to be destroyed, the reason, the method, and the destruction date into METRC. The physical product then has to be labeled with the source package tag number, the waste amount, and the waste date.9Metrc. Metrc Support Bulletin – Package Destructions
Most states also require the product to sit in a quarantine area for a holding period before physical destruction. In some states that period is 72 hours, though the exact duration varies by jurisdiction. The hold gives regulators a window to inspect the material before it is gone. When you report the actual destruction, you provide a detailed description of the product, the associated METRC data, product name, quantity of each lot, destruction method, and reason.9Metrc. Metrc Support Bulletin – Package Destructions
What It Costs to Operate on METRC
The budget line has three parts: tags, platform fees, and hardware.
Tag prices differ by type and state. One representative state charges $0.45 per plant tag and $0.25 per package tag, plus shipping. A cultivator running several thousand plants through each harvest cycle will spend hundreds of dollars on plant tags alone, and package tags come on top for every unit created downstream.
Most states also charge a monthly service fee for platform access, training, and support. Across the 17 states that charge a separate monthly fee, the average is roughly $41 per month, with most states at exactly $40. Ohio is $45, Louisiana is $50, and Massachusetts is $41.50. California, Illinois, Michigan, and Montana fold METRC costs into annual licensing fees instead of charging a separate monthly bill.
Hardware is the quiet third cost. You need computer terminals with reliable internet, handheld RFID scanners, and ideally a backup terminal. If your only workstation fails during a busy harvest day and entries miss their required timeframe, that is a compliance violation. Redundancy is cheap insurance.
Training Before You Get Access
You cannot create a METRC account and immediately start logging product. Every user must complete the New Business Training before unlocking any other courses or system features, and only users listed as employees under an active license even get access to the training platform.10Metrc. Metrc Learn – An Essential Training Tool for Cannabis Operators
After that foundational course, users can enroll in tracks tailored to their facility type. Cultivators, manufacturers, and retailers each have specialized coursework. Some states offer a combined Vertically Integrated Training course for businesses operating across multiple license types. New users register an account, select their state and user type, and verify their email before beginning.10Metrc. Metrc Learn – An Essential Training Tool for Cannabis Operators
Using Third-Party Software With METRC
High-volume operators rarely type each transaction into the METRC web interface. They use point-of-sale systems, inventory tools, or full seed-to-sale suites that sync with METRC through an application programming interface. As of April 2025, third-party integrators must use “Metrc Connect” for all API connections, replacing the older API v1.11Metrc. Welcome to Metrc Third-Party Integrators Presentation
If you are shopping for software, confirm the vendor has completed Metrc Connect validation and offers a tested sandbox integration. An unvalidated integration that drops data or formats entries incorrectly creates compliance problems that land on your license, not the software company’s.11Metrc. Welcome to Metrc Third-Party Integrators Presentation
How Regulators Use the Data Against You
State agencies have administrator-level access to the entire METRC database in their jurisdiction. They can see harvest weights that look suspiciously high, inventory that has not moved in months, and test results that do not line up with production volume. Those anomalies routinely trigger on-site inspections where enforcement officers compare the digital record against the physical product on your shelves.
Regulators also use METRC data to verify tax obligations, because excise and cultivation taxes in most states are calculated from weights or sales figures already in the system. Inaccurate records can result in fines, suspension, or permanent revocation of a license. Penalty amounts vary by state, but regulators across every METRC jurisdiction have the authority to pull digital records without advance notice.
Where Compliance Actually Breaks Down
On paper, METRC is a simple idea: tag everything, log everything, keep the digital record in sync with reality. In practice, it demands constant attention. Every phase change, weight entry, transfer, and waste event has to be recorded accurately and within the timeline your state requires. The platform timestamps each entry, so a late submission stays permanently visible to regulators.
The most common source of trouble is not fraud. It is ordinary data entry error: mismatched package IDs, incorrect weights, test samples linked to the wrong source package. Those mistakes freeze inventory, delay transfers, and trigger audit flags that cost days of staff time to resolve. Businesses that build METRC steps directly into daily operations tend to run smoothly; businesses that treat compliance as an afterthought spend most of their time putting out fires.