Miami Herald Logo

Fort Lauderdale-based BioTrackTHC powering Washington state marijuana-tracing system | Miami Herald

×
  • E-edition
  • Home
    • Site Information
    • Contact Us
    • About Us
    • Herald Store
    • RSS Feeds
    • Special Sections
    • Advertise
    • Advertise with Us
    • Media Kit
    • Mobile
    • Mobile Apps & eReaders
    • Newsletters
    • Social
    • Facebook
    • Twitter
    • Google+
    • Instagram
    • YouTube

    • Sections
    • News
    • South Florida
    • Miami-Dade
    • Broward
    • Florida Keys
    • Florida
    • Politics
    • Weird News
    • Weather
    • National & World
    • Colombia
    • National
    • World
    • Americas
    • Cuba
    • Guantánamo
    • Haiti
    • Venezuela
    • Local Issues
    • Crime
    • Education
    • Environment
    • Health Care
    • In Depth
    • Issues & Ideas
    • Traffic
    • Sections
    • Sports
    • Blogs & Columnists
    • Pro & College
    • Miami Dolphins
    • Miami Heat
    • Miami Marlins
    • Florida Panthers
    • College Sports
    • University of Miami
    • Florida International
    • University of Florida
    • Florida State University
    • More Sports
    • High School Sports
    • Auto Racing
    • Fighting
    • Golf
    • Horse Racing
    • Outdoors
    • Soccer
    • Tennis
    • Youth Sports
    • Other Sports
    • Politics
    • Elections
    • The Florida Influencer Series
    • Sections
    • Business
    • Business Monday
    • Banking
    • International Business
    • National Business
    • Personal Finance
    • Real Estate News
    • Small Business
    • Technology
    • Tourism & Cruises
    • Workplace
    • Business Plan Challenge
    • Blogs & Columnists
    • Cindy Krischer Goodman
    • The Starting Gate
    • Work/Life Balancing Act
    • Movers
    • Sections
    • Living
    • Advice
    • Fashion
    • Food & Drink
    • Health & Fitness
    • Home & Garden
    • Pets
    • Recipes
    • Travel
    • Wine
    • Blogs & Columnists
    • Dave Barry
    • Ana Veciana-Suarez
    • Flashback Miami
    • More Living
    • LGBTQ South Florida
    • Palette Magazine
    • Indulge Magazine
    • South Florida Album
    • Broward Album
    • Sections
    • Entertainment
    • Books
    • Comics
    • Games & Puzzles
    • Horoscopes
    • Movies
    • Music & Nightlife
    • People
    • Performing Arts
    • Restaurants
    • TV
    • Visual Arts
    • Blogs & Columnists
    • Jose Lambiet
    • Lesley Abravanel
    • More Entertainment
    • Events Calendar
    • Miami.com
    • Contests & Promotions
    • Sections
    • All Opinion
    • Editorials
    • Op-Ed
    • Editorial Cartoons
    • Jim Morin
    • Letters to the Editor
    • From Our Inbox
    • Speak Up
    • Submit a Letter
    • Meet the Editorial Board
    • Influencers Opinion
    • Blogs & Columnists
    • Blog Directory
    • Columnist Directory
    • Andres Oppenheimer
    • Carl Hiaasen
    • Leonard Pitts Jr.
    • Fabiola Santiago
    • Obituaries
    • Obituaries in the News
    • Place an Obituary

    • Place an ad
    • All Classifieds
    • Announcements
    • Apartments
    • Auctions/Sales
    • Automotive
    • Commercial Real Estate
    • Employment
    • Garage Sales
    • Legals
    • Merchandise
    • Obituaries
    • Pets
    • Public Notices
    • Real Estate
    • Services
  • Public Notices
  • Cars
  • Jobs
  • Moonlighting
  • Real Estate
  • Mobile & Apps

  • el Nuevo Herald
  • Miami.com
  • Indulge

Business

Fort Lauderdale-based BioTrackTHC powering Washington state marijuana-tracing system

By Nancy Dahlberg

    ORDER REPRINT →

July 08, 2014 09:10 PM

As legal sales of recreational marijuana began in Washington on Tuesday, a South Florida technology company was also making history: BioTrackTHC, which offers software that tracks cannabis from seed to sale, is powering the Washington State Marijuana Traceability System.

BioTrackTHC, based in Fort Lauderdale, won the Washington state contract last fall to develop what it says is the first state seed-to-sale real-time monitoring system in the United States. The company, founded about seven years ago, develops software to enable governments and businesses to track legal cannabis production, testing, transportation, destruction and sales.

The state monitoring system tracks both the inventory and the taxable sales amounts associated with transactions, enabling the state to maximize revenue collections while holding legal cannabis growers and dispensaries accountable for the whereabouts of their inventories. The system allows the Washington government to view, in real time, every gram of legal cannabis in the life cycle within the state, said Patrick Vo, chief operating officer of BioTrackTHC and its parent company, Bio-Tech Medical Software.

When a business propagates a new plant, either by seed or clone, BioTrackTHC’s system generates a globally unique non-repeating 15-digit identifier.

Sign Up and Save

Get six months of free digital access to the Miami Herald

SUBSCRIBE WITH GOOGLE

#ReadLocal

“It’s not the same as tracking cantaloupes, because every single gram needs to be accounted for,” Vo explained. “There needs to be unbroken accountability from seed to sale and that is what our system does. . . . Whatever side you are on politically, everyone can get behind transparency.”

BioTrackTHC’s business software has already been used in nearly 500 medicinal cannabis cultivation and retail operations in eight U.S. states, Washington, D.C., and Canada. And if Florida voters approve medicinal marijuana in the November election, “we definitely look forward to seeing a transparent, well-tracked, well-run industry in our home state,” Vo added.

The parent company was incorporated in 2007 and developed tracking software to combat the Oxycontin problem in Florida, Vo said. About five years ago, it also began targeting the legal marijuana industry, and its BioTrackTHC division has become its primary business. The companies have 40 employees and have offices in Fort Lauderdale, Colorado and Washington.

“We started from the ground up and built a system tackling the challenges unique to marijuana. It has been battle-tested and informed by industry best practices,” Vo said. “We definitely thought this through and anticipate scaling to a national and global level.”

Follow @ndahlberg on Twitter.

  Comments  

Videos

Miami Yacht Show to open in its new location

Kevin Tomlinson, the broker convicted of extorting two prominent rivals in South Beach’s high-end real estate market is sentenced to 364 days in jail

View More Video

Trending Stories

Americans arrested in Haiti with arsenal of guns won’t face U.S. charges

February 21, 2019 04:06 PM

Patriots owner Robert Kraft is among the hundreds charged in Florida sex traffic sting

February 22, 2019 12:23 PM

Trump threatens to deport Venezuelan military officials’ families that have fled to Miami

February 22, 2019 07:21 PM

It’s about to get easier for legal immigrants in Miami to get their papers. Faster, too.

February 22, 2019 03:14 PM

Florida man forced 5-year-old to perform sex acts on him, deputies say

February 21, 2019 08:16 PM

Read Next

Business

Macron visits French farm fair amid rural anger, decline

The Associated Press

    ORDER REPRINT →

February 23, 2019 03:06 AM

President Emmanuel Macron is visiting France's biggest premier farm fair amid nationwide anger at government policies seen as favoring urban elites and neglecting the heartland.

KEEP READING

Sign Up and Save

#ReadLocal

Get six months of free digital access to the Miami Herald

SUBSCRIBE WITH GOOGLE

MORE BUSINESS

Business

Sliding scale of fees proposed for state police protection

February 23, 2019 03:05 AM

Business

20 years ago, a thunderous explosion shook the Lehigh Valley

February 23, 2019 03:05 AM
A look at Nigeria’s top 2 presidential contenders

Business

A look at Nigeria’s top 2 presidential contenders

February 23, 2019 02:51 AM

Business

Friday Sports in Brief

February 23, 2019 02:50 AM

Business

Dozens die from tainted liquor in India’s northeast

February 23, 2019 02:45 AM
From bombers to Big Macs: Vietnam a lesson in reconciliation

Business

From bombers to Big Macs: Vietnam a lesson in reconciliation

February 23, 2019 02:12 AM
Take Us With You

Real-time updates and all local stories you want right in the palm of your hand.

Icon for mobile apps

Miami Herald App

View Newsletters

Subscriptions
  • Start a Subscription
  • Customer Service
  • eEdition
  • Vacation Hold
  • Pay Your Bill
  • Rewards
Learn More
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Newsletters
  • News in Education
  • Public Insight Network
  • Reader Panel
Advertising
  • Place a Classified
  • Media Kit
  • Commercial Printing
  • Public Notices
Copyright
Commenting Policy
Privacy Policy
Terms of Service


Back to Story