In a momentous step, California has begun issuing licenses to cannabis businesses that will go into effect on January 1. After several months of false starts, the online system has launched to procure state licenses for testing labs, retailers and distributors. These licenses will be required to open up shop in California.
“Now that applications are coming in, we can officially move one step closer to issuing California’s first state licenses for commercial cannabis activity,” Lori Ajax said in a statement. She heads the state Bureau of Cannabis Control.
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When the online system first went up, officials said that it was functioning properly and that it seemed like people were familiarizing themselves with it. They expect completed applications to start really coming in sooner than later.
“People are creating accounts and checking out the site. Some people have started an application but may be putting in some information and finishing the rest later,” bureau spokesman Alex Traverso said in an email to Insurance Journal.
The licenses are temporary and will not go into effect until the January 1 opening day, plus, local permits will be a requirement before going for the state issued licenses.
All business owners must be disclosed, along with diagrams of the location, the location itself and an outline describing how business will be conducted at the site.
Rules and regulations are being brought to the table as fast as they can to standardize this fast-approaching $7 billion industry. From home cultivation rules to possession to cannabis business locations, it all must be sorted out.
Another issue being sorted is buffer zones around schools and playgrounds. There are some areas that simply won’t be able to have cannabis businesses because of where they’re built.
California pot laws are known to be born of the wild west mentality, so it will be interesting to see how many businesses sign up for licenses. The state projects $1 billion in tax revenue within the first couple years.
