What Is Metrc? Seed-to-Sale Tracking for Dispensaries Explained

By James Buddsey · Updated November 1, 2026

Metrc is a seed-to-sale tracking system that many state cannabis regulators require licensed businesses to use, so that every plant and package can be followed from cultivation through testing, transport and the final retail sale. Each item carries a unique tag, and licensees record every receipt, sale, adjustment and destruction against it. As of October 2026, Metrc names 28 state and territory cannabis programs that use it, including California, Colorado, Michigan, Illinois and New York.

For a dispensary, the tracking system is not a back-office afterthought. It is the official record of what you hold and what you sold, and it is usually the first thing an inspector compares against your shelves. This guide is written for dispensary owners and managers. It explains what seed-to-sale tracking is, what a retail store has to enter, how reconciliation and variances work, how your point-of-sale system fits in, what the rules say inspectors can penalize, and which states use Metrc or something else, with regulator sources linked throughout, as of October 24, 2026. It is general information, not legal advice: talk to a cannabis compliance attorney about your own license.

What is seed-to-sale tracking?

Seed-to-sale tracking is a state-mandated record of every cannabis plant and product, from the time it enters the regulated system until it is sold or destroyed. Washington’s rule puts it plainly: licensees “must track cannabis from seed to sale” in a system the state specifies, and the information “must be kept completely up-to-date.”

States require it for one main reason: to keep legal cannabis legal. A complete trail lets a regulator spot product that leaked out of the licensed market (diversion), product that came in from an unlicensed source, items that skipped required lab testing, and sales that do not match reported taxes. New Jersey’s regulator describes its system as a real-time inventory tool intended to protect consumers and prevent diversion. Washington’s rule lists the events that must be logged, including transport, theft, destruction, lab samples and “point-of-sale and excise tax records.”

What is Metrc, exactly?

Metrc is the software vendor and platform that a state contracts with; the rules about what you must record come from your state regulator, not from Metrc. Oregon’s Liquor and Cannabis Commission explains the split on its Metrc page: Metrc handles “the technical and operational components” of the Cannabis Tracking System, while the OLCC is responsible for its “statutory and regulatory issues.”

Metrc assigns each plant or package a tag that the business orders through the system, and the company highlights radio-frequency identification (RFID) tags as a core feature. Metrc also offers training through Metrc Learn and keeps a public list of validated integrators, the outside software companies whose products connect to its API. That list matters for retailers, because it is how your point-of-sale system talks to the state.

What does a dispensary record in Metrc?

A retailer records every event that changes the quantity or status of a tagged package: receiving, rejecting, selling, returning, adjusting and destroying. California’s rule is a good template. Under 4 CCR 15049, licensees must record receipt, rejection of transferred product, destruction or disposal, packaging or repackaging, lab testing and “sale or donation,” each “within 24 hours of occurrence.”

Each California entry must include the product type, weight, volume or count, the date, the unique identifier and the brand name. For destruction, the notes must name the employee responsible, the reason and the method. Returns are handled differently by state. Washington allows a retailer to accept returns of open cannabis products if they come back in original packaging with the lot, batch or inventory ID “fully legible.” Check your own state’s rule before you write a return policy.

What is inventory reconciliation, and what is a variance?

Reconciliation means counting what is physically on your premises and making the tracking system match it; a variance is any gap between the two. If the system says a package holds 40 pre-rolls and the shelf holds 38, you have a variance of two, and you need to find out why before you adjust it.

Common causes are ordinary: a sale that failed to sync from the POS, a return keyed to the wrong package, a damaged unit set aside but never recorded as waste, or a receiving error. Less ordinary causes, such as theft, are exactly what the system is built to surface. Washington’s rule lists theft of any cannabis item as an event that must be recorded.

The legal minimum varies. California requires licensees to reconcile on-premises inventory with the track-and-trace database “at least once every thirty (30) calendar days” and to fix data entry errors within three calendar days of discovering them. Many operators reconcile high-risk items daily and do a full count weekly or monthly, because a small gap found today is far easier to explain than a month of compounding errors. Your state’s rules set the floor; your SOPs can be stricter.

How does Metrc connect to a dispensary POS?

Most retailers report sales through their point-of-sale system, which sends each transaction to Metrc through the state’s API, rather than typing sales in by hand. Metrc’s validated integrators list can be searched by state and business type, so you can confirm a POS vendor connects in your market before you sign.

Integration does not move the legal responsibility to your vendor. The license holder still owns the record. Practical checks: confirm which events the POS sends (sales only, or receiving and adjustments too), watch for failed or delayed syncs every day, make sure each product in the POS is mapped to the correct package tag, and know what you will do if the connection goes down. California requires licensees to notify the state of any loss of track-and-trace access lasting longer than 72 hours, and it requires every user to be trained before getting access, with the account manager keeping the user roster current and removing people who leave.

What do inspectors look for, and what are the consequences?

Inspectors compare your physical inventory, tags and records against the tracking system, and penalty schedules treat tracking failures as serious violations. Washington’s published penalty rules are the clearest example of the stakes:

• Failure to use or maintain traceability (including untagged product, records missing for finished product, or reusing an identifier) is listed under Category II, WAC 314-55-521, violations that create a direct or immediate threat to public health or safety. The schedule runs from a $1,250 fine for a first violation to a 5-day suspension or $2,500, then a 10-day suspension or $5,000, then license cancellation.
• Noncompliance with recordkeeping requirements is a Category IV violation under WAC 314-55-523, starting at a $500 fine and rising to a 30-day suspension or $7,500 for a fourth violation in a two-year window.
• Diversion, or moving or storing cannabis to or from an unlicensed source, is in Washington’s most severe category, with license cancellation as the penalty.

Other states set their own penalties, and amounts differ. What inspectors tend to check is consistent: tags on every package, received transfers that match manifests, quantities that match the system, documented reasons for adjustments, destruction records, and a current list of trained users. For more on what regulators expect from stores, see our cannabis law guides and the state pages for California, Washington and Michigan.

Which states use Metrc, and which use other systems?

As of October 2026, Metrc is the most common state system, but Washington runs its own platform and New Mexico moved to a new state system in September 2026. The table below lists only states we confirmed on a regulator page or a vendor state page with bulletins dated in 2026.

Metrc’s partner list also names Alabama, Alaska, the District of Columbia, Guam, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Minnesota, Mississippi, Oklahoma, Rhode Island, South Dakota, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Virginia and West Virginia. BioTrack and other vendors still sell business software in many states, but we did not confirm another state that currently runs BioTrack or MJ Platform as its official system on a regulator page, so we have left them out. If your state is not listed, check your regulator’s website for the current system.

Two changes this year show why that check matters. New Mexico’s regulator shut off BioTrack and required “all cannabis activity, including sales” to run on NMS2S from September 4, 2026, and existing BioTrack user accounts did not carry over automatically. Washington moved the industry off Leaf Data Systems to CCRS, a system the LCB built and maintains itself.

How much does Metrc cost a dispensary?

Costs are set state by state, and we found few regulator pages that publish them, so ask your regulator for the current fee schedule. One clear case is New Mexico, where the regulator says “the new system is free for all cannabis licensees.” In Metrc states, tag and support pricing is announced in state bulletins; Colorado posted a tag and support fee update on October 16, 2026, and Michigan posted industry tag pricing for fiscal year 2026-27 on August 31, 2026. Budget separately for your POS integration fee, which your software vendor sets.

What this means for your store: a daily and weekly compliance checklist

A short, repeatable routine catches most tracking problems before an inspector does. Adapt this to your state’s rules and your SOPs:

Daily

• Confirm yesterday’s POS sales all reached the tracking system; resolve any failed syncs.
• Accept or reject incoming transfers only after checking product, counts and tags against the manifest.
• Record any returns, damaged units and waste with a reason, against the right package tag.
• Spot-count high-value or fast-moving packages and compare them to the system.
• Log every adjustment with a written reason and the employee who made it.

Weekly

• Run a fuller count of a rotating section of inventory and investigate every variance.
• Correct data entry errors well inside your state’s deadline (three calendar days in California).
• Review the user roster: remove departed staff and confirm new users finished training.
• Check tag supply so you never hold untagged product.
• Read new bulletins from your regulator and Metrc for rule or workflow changes.

Monthly

• Complete a full reconciliation (California’s legal minimum is every 30 calendar days).
• Keep destruction, adjustment and reconciliation records organized for inspection.

For more on running a compliant store, start at our Dispensary Business hub, and if you are planning promotions, read Can Dispensaries Advertise on Google?

Metrc and seed-to-sale FAQ

State systems, rules and penalty schedules as of October 24, 2026. General information, not legal advice. Talk to a cannabis compliance attorney about your license.