Are you interested in buying cannabis, but are worried what others might say if they find out? If that’s the case, let’s talk about secure email for cannabis professionals and why it is important to use encrypted and anonymous email service when doing this.
In 2000, not to mention the 1990s or before, there weren’t that many options to buy cannabis legally. Using marijuana was still pretty much taboo, largely thanks to the lack of proper information (remember being taught in school that marijuana is the “gateway to other drugs”, a statement with zero ground in facts?).
Today, cannabis is legal for medical use in all but three states, those being Idaho, South Dakota and Nebraska. In all other states, cannabis is either completely legal (both for recreational and medical use) or just for medical use (with some states limiting THC content).
But this wasn’t always the case. California was the first US state in 1996 to legalize medical cannabis (through Proposition 215), followed soon by Oregon, Alaska and Washington two years later. By 2012, most states have legalized marijuana for medical use (last were Rhodes Island and Connecticut).
That’s a 16-year journey to legalize cannabis for medical use. Just 6 years before California did it, the Solomon-Lautenberg act was made official, which led to many states suspending driving licences if they caught a driver with cannabis, regardless if it was related to driving or not.
Just as the battle for legalizing marijuana for medical use was won, the battle to legalize it for recreational use started. The first two states to legalize its recreational use were Washington and Colorado via Initiative 502 and Amendment 64. Soon, other states followed and the last state to decriminalize cannabis through the state legislature was Virginia this year.
Three things, in particular, have made legalizing cannabis easier for states:
- First, in 2014, the Rochbacher-Farr amendment prohibited the United States Justice Department from in any way meddling with the implementation of medical cannabis state laws.
- The 2018 Farm Bill made low-THC hemp (below 0.3 percent, dry weight) legal nationwide and removed CBD (Cannabidiol) from the Controlled Substances Act.
- In the same year, the new US Attorney General William Barr declared his stance to not crack down on the cannabis business, a position opposite to his predecessor Jeff Sessions.
It’s Legal Guys! Don’t be Afraid to Buy it!
Why the long lesson on cannabis legislature and what does it have to do with email encryption?
Plenty in fact. The cannabis security is “ripe” for manipulation by scammers for two reasons.
- The legal marijuana market is booming (and continues to do so)
As soon as it became legal, the industry skyrocketed in value. It is estimated that, by 2025, the global legal marijuana market will reach $146.4 billion ($100.03 billion just for medical marijuana.
This means there is money in it and that’s what scammers are after (just like they are after the cryptocurrency market).
- Not enough knowledge about marijuana
At the same time, scammers also like to exploit human fears and lack of knowledge. Even though marijuana has been legal in some states for a decade or two, for many it’s still a taboo to even mention that they’re buying it.
The older generation, for instance, still may think that the inevitable next step from “ganja” is heroin or cocaine. Is marijuana addictive? Yes, 9% of people who start using marijuana can become dependent on it and those who begin using it before 18th year are 4-7X more likely to develop a marijuana use disorder than adults, according to a Marijuana Research Report from the National Institute of Drug Abuse.
However, marijuana is still far less addictive than some substances that are historically widely used and have been legal for decades, such as alcohol and nicotine, which are in the top 5 most addictive drugs, right after cocaine and heroin by the American Addiction Centers. (and let’s not even start to analyze the health risks of nicotine and alcohol and to compare it with marijuana).
The Best Secure Cannabis End-to-End Encryption Email
As you sign up your email to purchase marijuana online, just keep in mind these incidents:
- In 2017 hackers broke into MJ Freeway (cannabis tracking system) twice.
- Also in 2017, Eaze (Californian cannabis delivery service confirmed that one medical cannabis clinic employee broke into the patient database of the clinic and Eaze.
- Then, in 2018, the Washington State’s cannabis traceability database was hacked.
- In the same year, hackers also stole personal health records of a cannabis referral agency.
There are many more such incidents and many more that remain unreported.
Cyber extortion, in particular, is a common strategy scammers use, largely because of the stigma that is still associated with cannabis. As hackers breach cannabis retailers and steal customer data, including their emails, they know that there is a good chance that at least some of those customers don’t want it known they are buying marijuana (even legally).
For instance, something like that can be devastating for the chances of a political candidate in elections, or for someone’s job if their company has a strict “no marijuana” policy.
Cyber-criminals are, of course, well aware of this fact and it is therefore far from uncommon to get an email demanding to pay a certain amount of money to not leak this information.
Another common email threat for the cannabis industry and its customers is, of course, phishing. We already mention that the legal marijuana industry is growing every year. That means there is money in it.
Fraudsters can, in this case, present themselves as a legitimate cannabis retailer, promising a special and “very lucrative” offer for the victim, luring them into another phishing scam.
But, if you are using encrypted and anonymous email, then it’s much more difficult for the hacker to try to extort you for buying marijuana or to draw you into a phishing scam.
At Listmonk we firmly believe that privacy is a human right worth fighting for and it’s your business if you’re buying cannabis.
This is why we believe it necessary to use encrypted email when buying marijuana from retailers that won’t be traced back to you.
Listmonk is a fully anonymous email service that protects your privacy and allows you to make anonymous payments using Monero. If you want to keep your business for yourself, sign up for a Listmonk account today!