At Wellington Security Systems, we’re no strangers to highly regulated and highly secure industries. We have clients in tightly controlled industries like pharmaceutical manufacturing and banks, so following the rules is nothing new. Which is why we’re excited to leverage our 30 years of security experience in the recreational cannabis industry through helping a new upstart, Boxes, get their security system and protocol set before they launch.
Cannabis was legalized in Minnesota for adult recreational use in August 2023, and as of fall 2025, a small number of state-licensed cannabis businesses have opened. Sales are expected to hit $430 million by the end of 2026 and there’s potential to see over $1.5 billion in sales by the end of the decade. It’s a fast-growing industry poised to bring a lot of money into the state.
But with all that opportunity comes a lot of rules and regulations. The cannabis industry is tightly regulated with businesses being required to register with the state and meet several operational requirements including:
- Security: Businesses must meet state and local security requirements, including video surveillance, locking mechanisms, secure entries, and employee presence.
- Record-keeping: Businesses must maintain detailed records for three years, including security, training, and inventory.
- Inventory and storage: Products must be properly separated, especially for wholesalers, and businesses must maintain sanitation and storage procedures.
We met with the Boxes team at a new local cannabis-based business to learn more about their company—a distributor and wholesale marketplace. Then we got to work designing a comprehensive cannabis security solution that covers all the bases and meets state code.
“Wellington was prepared and knowledgeable about the security needs of cannabis-based businesses in Minnesota,” said Henry Kelly, Chief of Operations at Boxes. “We are confident in our decision to select them as our security systems provider.”
Wellington’s Cannabis Security Solution
- Access Control Systems: for controlling who enters restricted areas and tracking all activity with audit-ready logs.
- Fire and Life Safety Systems: including NICET-certified fire alarm design, inspection, and monitoring for full compliance.
- Video Surveillance: for 24/7 monitoring, secure storage, AI-enabled alerts, and retention settings that meet state requirements.
- Intrusion Alarms: to protect cash and product from theft with code-compliant intrusion detection systems.
Our client will have everything in place to meet state security codes and pass their audit. These same codes not only dictate what security measures you have in place, but what happens if your system goes down. Did you know that if your security system goes down, you have 72 hours to get it operational or cease all operations until it’s fixed? That’s a lot riding on how quickly your security team can respond.
“Being a local company means we’re there when you need us, said Dustin Brown, GM at Wellington Security Systems. “If you’re looking at an outage, the last thing you want is to be stuck on hold with your vendor halfway across the country trying to troubleshoot on your own. If you have a problem with your system, we’ll be there with the skills and tools to get you up and running again.”
If you’re in the cannabis industry or are hoping to break into this exciting space, let us help you secure the business you’ve put so much into. We’ll design a compliant cannabis security solution that passes audits and grows as your business grows.
For more information on securing your cannabis dispensary, shop, storage, retail outlet, or cooperative, give us a call at 612-822-4094 to get started with your free cannabis security solution audit.
Wellington Security Systems is a trusted commercial security systems partner serving customers in and around the Twin Cities metro for over 40 years, specializing in burglary systems, access control, surveillance cameras, and fire alarms. For more information or a free security audit for your business, contact us today.