1. A dispensing system, comprising: a cabinet having a plurality of storage locations for storing items; a processor for managing access to items stored in the cabinet; a database for storing data representing at least two reference fingerprints associated with each of a plurality of users that request access the cabinet, the two stored fingerprints including at least a primary fingerprint and an alternate fingerprint; and a scanner at the cabinet for scanning a finger of a user requesting access to the cabinet; wherein the processor is programmed to receive a scanned fingerprint of the user from a finger that has been scanned at the scanner, to compare the scanned fingerprint to the primary fingerprint stored in the database, and if not a match, to then compare the scanned fingerprint to the alternate fingerprint stored in the database, and to provide access to the cabinet if the scanned fingerprint matches one of the stored primary fingerprint and stored alternate fingerprint.