By Lois Thomson
According to owner and founder Marcus Brisco, Rolly Receipts LLC started with a conversation, moved to being a concept, and then became a full-fledged business in all 50 states. As he explained, he was sitting around with some friends, and one of the dads said he had gone to a dispensary. “The comment he made was, ‘I’ve been buying cannabis for 40 years and I’ve never gotten a receipt.’ And my buddy said, ‘That would be crazy if you could smoke out of that receipt.’
Marcus Brisco
“When I heard that,” Brisco continued, “and realized no one in the United States was doing it and no one in the world was doing it – when you come up with an idea that no one else is doing, it does not hurt to pursue it. So I jumped in headfirst; it took a while to make it go, but here we are.”
“Here” is Rolly Receipts LLC, a company that produces smokeable receipt paper that is dispensed at ATM machines. Brisco said the ATMs are located in cannabis stores, smoke shops, and hemp shops, as well as in some kava bars.
He went on, “For the customer, it just looks like a regular ATM, other than having our custom signage on it. The person can go up and get their normal cash, and if they get a receipt, it’s going to be one that is also a rolling paper – basically giving them a free rolling paper with their cash. A lot of customers like this if they’re in a dispensary and just buying flower, because they now have a rolling paper to use later with that flower.”
The receipt is lab tested and approved for human consumption, but if the customer doesn’t want the receipt and just throws it away – that has a benefit as well: “It’s incredibly environmentally friendly, it’s not like normal receipt paper that has cancer-causing chemicals, such as BPA and BPS, which is also skin soluble. So not only are they not handling those receipts, but they also are not putting those chemicals into the waste stream.”
Brisco developed a concern for the environment when studying chemistry at the University of Hawaii. Through his educational research, he became aware of the toxic composition of thermal receipts currently used, and decided he wanted to apply his knowledge to a product that would have a positive impact on the environment. He founded his company in 2018 and the result was these smokeable receipts, along with EcoThermal receipts that are BPA and BPS free; coreless, with zero plastic waste per roll; and are 100 percent biodegradable.
While the EcoThermal receipts are available throughout the country, the ATMs featuring the smokeable receipts are currently found in eight states. Acquiring one of the ATMs, however, is a simple process. Brisco said, “We provide everything. If a dispensary owner wanted an ATM in their store, they would reach out to us, and the only legwork they would have to do is sign our placement contract. Once they sign the contract, we provide the ATM, we get the ATM to their store, and then we do full servicing on it, which includes the cash replenishment. It’s completely hands-off for them.”
Brisco’s company is able to do this by partnering with local ATM companies. “We provide the ATM, then we partner with a cash vaulter – a person who does the installation and will refill that machine with cash every time it gets low, to make sure these ATMs are always up and running.”
They also handle the credit card processing, the maintenance, the smokeable receipt paper switch out, and automatic payouts to the dispensary owner. “It’s a great perk for the ATM owners. They never have to touch this ATM, it simply sits there and provides cash to their customers, and gives smokeable receipt paper when they use that ATM.”
While Brisco is pleased with the success so far, he admits it’s been a learning experience. “It took about a year of R&D before we were able to figure out how it would work, how we could get it lab‑tested and approved for human consumption, and how we could actually make it profitable as a business.” And then Covid hit. However, Rolly Receipts is in all 50 states, with the office in Hawaii and a warehouse with employees in Ohio. “We’re growing exponentially every year, and that’s all you can ask for a small business that’s just leaving the start-up phase.”
For more information, call (937) 344-3242 or visit www.rollyreceipts.com.
