With more and more states legalizing recreational and medical marijuana and cannabis, manufacturers, distributors, and dispensers of these products are increasingly looking at ways to secure and segregate their inventory. Wire partition cages offer an ideal mechanism to protect items such as edibles, lotions, oils, and dried products from theft or tampering.

However, many of these operations are specifying cages that meet standards established by the U. S. Department of Justice’s Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) for securing of Schedule III, IV and V drugs, in anticipation of possible legalization at the Federal level.

As specified in the Title 21 Code of Federal Regulations, Part 1301.72(b): Physical security controls for non-practitioners; narcotic treatment programs and compounders for narcotic treatment programs; storage areas, these DEA cages must incorporate:

• Self-closing and self-locking doors
• Walls made from 10-gauge (or greater) steel fabric with openings no more than 2.5 inches corner to corner, mounted securely on steel posts no more than ten feet apart, reinforced horizontally
• Walls mounted to posts at least 1-inch in diameter, lagged to the floor
• Ceiling of identical materials to panels, or reaching the structural ceiling of building
• Panels mount flush with the floor

Looking for more details about how to secure controlled substances in your operation? The wire mesh partition members of the Protective Guarding Manufacturers Association (ProGMA) are available to offer guidelines and best practice recommendations for unique applications.