Paragon, a blockchain company that develops seed-to-sale tracking solutions for the marijuana industry, is joining hands with Civic Technologies Inc., a digital identity firm, to bring secure and trusted identity services to Paragon's digital community. Customers can now provide their state-issued IDs or driver's licenses to verify their identities on Paragon, making it even more accountable to government regulations and bolstering compliance with the platform's age regulations.
"By using ID verification, we're holding users accountable, which brings an added level of transparency and trust to the industry. The ability to easily identify yourself through Civic provides easy access to our users in situations such as age verification at a dispensary," Jessica VerSteeg, Paragon's CEO, told Bitcoin Magazine.
In our interview, she continued to explain what inspired her to build the company in the first place.
"When I was running Au Box, a monthly subscription service that provides members with a curated box of cannabis products, I came across a huge issue," she explains. "A parent called me asking about the lab results for one of the products in the box because they wanted to give it to their child with epilepsy. I ended up calling the lab and noticed the results didn't match what the supplier was claiming, which made me realize how many companies could be providing false lab results — offering flower that tested positive for mold and being sold as 'god weed,' or flower that had been sprayed with pesticides and is being sold as 'organic.'"
She continued to say, "I did not feel right supplying clients with any products that weren't clean and top quality, so I started tracking everything on the blockchain for Au Box, and later I realized I was creating something that the entire industry could benefit from, so I built Paragon."
One of the biggest issues the cannabis industry is facing is that current seed-to-sale tracking softwares can be compromised. VerSteeg says this problem affects the entire supply chain, and consumers can be given inaccurate product information and, at worst, the wrong consumables entirely.
She says that, by implementing a blockchain solution and utilizing smart contracts, there's now an immutable ledger and a full library of records verifying every move the industry makes. Not only will this make the industry's supply chain more reliable; it will also make it easier to be more compliant with federal and state regulation.
"With recreational and medicinal cannabis legalization becoming more widespread, it's now more important than ever that those in the industry are licensed and compliant," she asserts. "What we're doing is providing a safe and reliable platform to ensure that every user in the supply chain, from the cultivators, to the labs, to the manufacturers, etc. are being honest about their products and services, thereby bringing ease to consumers, doctors and the government.
In addition, Paragon is also preparing to launch the first phase of its new mobile application. Users will soon be able to access a Paragon (PRG) wallet in the app, where they can send and request payments from both businesses and individuals within the cannabis space.
This article originally appeared on Bitcoin Magazine.
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