Law California

[ataxian]

@ataxian - well then, here is another for you to rant upon

"That five-year transition was clearly spelled out in Proposition 64, which California voters passed in November 2016. But a few weeks ago that phasing-in period was effectively eliminated by regulators in Sacramento."
​

So, why isn't anybody suing the shit out of the Department of Agriculture?


Guest Opinion: Don’t Let Big Business Shape California Cannabis
Guest Opinion
Hezekiah Allen is the executive director of the California Growers Association, which consists of more than 1,200 cannabis growers and business owners. Leafly welcomes op-ed contributions from industry and political leaders on a range of topics related to cannabis.

Let’s get some clarity on this issue: big cannabis. Some leaders in our community think this is “noise.” Most see it as a critical component of a discussion about our future—a future that we are building with intention and a future that deserves honest, clear, and transparent dialog.


RELATED STORY
California’s Limit on Big Growers Just Vanished. Here’s Why
Big isn’t inherently bad. Small isn’t inherently good. But both can be—and often are—self-interested. When a business becomes big enough, amasses enough resources, and/or enjoys enough of a regulatory advantage to bend public policy to its interests, there is a problem. And that is exactly the problem we are observing now.

When small businesses work together to shape public policy, there is an intrinsic element of “the greater good” embedded in their work, because their interests reflect shared goals and common ground. Small businesses—small farms particularly—provide an irreplaceable cultural and economic value to our community.

Emerging From the Shadows
For more than a decade, most businesses in the cannabis industry in California have had little opportunity to come out of the shadows. A policy vacuum at the state level left most localities with few good options. Many cities and counties chose to put their heads in the sand, deferring to local law enforcement. This left most businesses in hiding, unable to engage with policymakers, and unable to build businesses and brands.

As we emerge from more than a century of cannabis criminalization in California, it is wise and prudent to take our time.
In the midst of this environment, a few municipalities moved forward and adopted local medical cannabis regulations. As a result, a handful of businesses in those cities got a head start. They were able to build their businesses while thousands of others around the state were left behind. This phenomenon most severely impacted the marginal and criminalized communities where cannabis commerce was most present.

So, as we emerge from more than a century of cannabis criminalization in California, it is wise and prudent to take our time. We won’t miss the opportunity to scale up just because we take a few years to get there. On the other hand, if we allow a finite, inelastic marketplace to be dominated by a few large players and close the door to others, we may lose the opportunity to establish a diverse marketplace, built around small and mid-sized businesses, that has the capacity to restore social and economic justice to our communities.


RELATED STORY
Emerald Triangle Growers Scale Up Together in Co-Ops
A Long Road to Normalization
Cannabis consumers deserve the same choices as grocery shoppers, and California’s cannabis growers deserve the same opportunities as the state’s food producers. And yet they don’t. Where are the consumer champions calling for cannabis growers to have access to the privileges afforded to all other growers in the state through the Direct Marketing Act, which allows customers to buy directly from producers?

The Price Problem
Concerned about the price of cannabis? Ask your retailer what markup they are taking. Many California retailers state are striving to keep markups and prices reasonable. Others are not. Our experience as growers is that the big retailers are typically not the ones seeking to be balanced and fair. We have talked a lot about craft growers; it is probably time we start talking about small-scale retailers, cottage food makers, and all the other small businesses that have been excluded from the regulated market for years.

A Controlled Market
Why do some cannabis retailers take a 100% (or more) markup when other, similar industries are closer to 30% or 40%? Because they can. California’s cannabis marketplace is one in which too few businesses control access to consumers. We lack the competitive forces that keep a market honest.

In the past 15 years, the wholesale price of cannabis flower (the price growers are getting) has decreased, first in half, then in half again. Meanwhile, the price to the consumer has remained relatively static. Where is the surplus revenue going? To the “keystone markup” that many retailers are taking—and, ultimately to the big-budget lobbying and PR efforts that are now seeking to shape public policy and public opinion to serve a few retailers’ own interests.


If you are concerned about cost to the consumer, we should create policies that protect against price gouging. Perhaps folks concerned about massive price increases would support a surplus markup tax? After all, if it’s price to the consumer that matters most, we all share an interest in ensuring reasonable, fair markups. Right?

Or, better yet, let’s support policies that would allow small farmers to market their products directly. Cut out a few steps in the supply chain, and California can have both low prices and small farms. This is the most direct way to ensure consumers have access to high quality products and fair prices.

The High Cost of Low Prices
While everybody would like to be able to afford heirloom tomatoes, meticulously tended in small patches and selling for $5.99 a pound, many families can’t afford them.

Many shoppers can only afford the lower-priced tomatoes grown by larger, more efficient farms that pay workers less; rely on unsustainable use of natural resources, synthetic fertilizers, and toxic pest management; and consolidate even more wealth in the hands of a select few.


RELATED STORY
California Farmers: Grow Big or Go Home?
Rather than crashing our economy so a few people can get wealthy, let’s rebuild it so everyone can afford healthy, high-quality produce.

A small handful of well capitalized, well positioned businesses will work to protect the comfortable position that regulatory advantage has provided them.
Giving California’s cannabis farmers a transition period of five years by enforcing regulations that protect against industrial-scale agriculture will maximize choice and competition. It may inflate wholesale prices—but that is uncertain. Regardless of wholesale pricing, the facts in the market tell us that the price to consumers will still be largely determined by retail markups.

That five-year transition was clearly spelled out in Proposition 64, which California voters passed in November 2016. But a few weeks ago that phasing-in period was effectively eliminated by regulators in Sacramento.

The need for healthy competition among California cannabis cultivators is clearer than ever. That is why it is critical to ensure that as many of those cultivators as possible have an opportunity to transition to a regulated system—rather than hand the market over to the well positioned few who happen to control market access.

Keep in mind, “healthy competition” does not mean a free-for-all. Imagine the difference between a civilized sporting match and a ruthless bloodsport. The difference? Rules.


RELATED STORY
California Releases Emergency Cannabis Regulations
The bottom line is this: There are a small handful of well capitalized, well positioned businesses that have benefited tremendously from a controlled, inequitable market during the last decade. They will work to protect the comfortable position that regulatory advantage has provided them.

California has one chance to get this right. In order to build the cannabis marketplace that so many activists, business owners, and consumers have long envisioned, we need to do two things. First, the state needs to implement the law as the voters passed it, with the five-year transition period included. Second, we need to keep pushing for policy reform so that cannabis consumers and growers have all the opportunities that are afforded to consumers and producers of other crops.

It is time we open up the market, reduce barriers to entry, disrupt the regulatory advantage enjoyed by a few, create opportunity for as many entrepreneurs as possible, and work to reform federal and global policies so that cannabis consumers can enjoy the same choices as everyone else. Then we can let the market decide.

advocacyCaliforniacultivationguest opinionlicensingopinionregulations

Hezekiah Allen
Hezekiah Allen is the executive director of the California Growers Association, which consists of more than 1,200 cannabis growers and business owners. Born and raised in rural Humboldt County, he works to protect the interests of the state’s cannabis cultivators and other small and mid-sized businesses.

I guess I'll grow in my garden.
If they can't get it right the civilian's will!

The street will be fine! $250/(1/4#) like you said the politician's are messing it up?

 

[Baron23]

“They could have legalized cannabis without writing 200 pages of laws.”

No, sadly they could not. They are nanny state bureaucrats and this is exactly their purpose in life as government....with unfortunate consequences for the rest of us.



How recreational marijuana in California left chemists in the dark

On a gray afternoon in early November, Samantha Miller supervised a handful of people in long white coats while they placed very delicate samples into very expensive machines. Miller spends most of her waking hours inside the peppy, lime-green-accented lab she founded. For five and a half years, she tested every sample that came through its doors herself. Lab workers are advised to avoid handling that much material because they can get repetitive stress injuries, but Samantha Miller loves to test weed. “There isn’t someone more qualified on the planet to be a cannabinoid scientist than me,” she’s told me more than once.

I’d spoken with Miller at length on the phone in July, then again in October, before I met her in Santa Rosa, California. Both times, she’d seemed unflappable: she laughed loudly and often; she’d referred to herself as a unicorn and a renegade. But that day in November, a palpable current of stress pulsed beneath our conversation. When Californians voted to legalize recreational weed, the state government saw an opening to reign in this diffuse, largely unregulated market. Changes are coming by January 1, when legalization goes into effect, but at the time, Miller still didn’t know what those changes would be. We took a seat in her office and closed the door.

“Does the government really expect this to come together in 45 days?” she asked me, clasping her hands between her knees and looking me in the eye. Beneath her casual, Northern California exterior — long, center-parted hair, bootcut jeans, matching jewelry — Miller still felt like the mohawked punk kid she was in her teens. Like many legacy people in cannabis, she doesn’t trust that the government had the best interest of independent growers, distributors, manufacturers, and testers in mind. Miller worried that the green rush as she knew it, which had helped prop up the middle class in weed-rich areas like northern California, was coming to an end. She worried that new front-end costs would run people who’d been working in weed for years straight out of the business, making room for VC companies and faceless corporate conglomerates. She worried she wouldn’t get an operating permit in time and she wouldn’t be able to pay her staff.

But mostly, Miller worried because she has no idea what the hell was going to happen and, as of that November, it seemed like neither did anybody else.

Weed has long been a fact, not a sin, in California, which became the first state to legalize medical marijuana in 1996 and has had a thriving underground recreational market for decades. But those who use and sell recreational weed have long been punished in numbers that belie the general population’s sentiment toward the drug; between 2006 and 2015, more than half a million marijuana arrests were made here. Black and Latino Californians have been arrested for marijuana-related crimes at far higher rates than white Californians. Legalizing recreational weed won’t just be a rubber stamp on an already-running industry; it’ll seriously impact the state’s economy, criminal justice system, and the thousands of workers currently involved in the supply chain.

Medical marijuana already brings in an estimated $50 million to $109 million in taxes every year. The Legislative Analyst’s Office predicts California will eventually make more than $1 billion annually from taxing recreational marijuana. Local taxes may also be applied and the seed-to-sale costs are likely to increase as growers, manufacturers, distributors, and testers adhere to the state’s stringent regulations. Some believe that, even after legalization, the black market will continue to thrive because many California consumers will want to continue to pay what they’re used to paying.

On November 16, the state finally released “emergency regulations”
Alaska, Colorado, Oregon, Washington state, and Washington D.C. have already legalized recreational marijuana. In November 2016, California, Massachusetts, Maine, and Nevada voted to join them. But for all the examples available, California has still struggled through its own regulatory process. California is the country’s most populous state and there are only 11 full-time people working to regulate its mammoth marijuana industry.

When Prop. 64 passed in November 2016, the initial language indicated there would be separate regulations for recreational (what the state calls “adult-use”) cannabis and medical cannabis. In April 2017, the medical regulatory agency — then called Bureau of Medical Cannabis Regulation — posted stringent and wide-ranging draft regulations. In late June, the state scrapped its original plan and formed an agency called the Bureau of Cannabis Control (BCC) to regulate both medical and adult-use cannabis under a single licensing system. In September, the state withdrew the earlier draft regulations and the BCC, the Drug and Food Association, and the Department of Public Health went on a listening tour, meeting with stakeholders across California. And on November 16, the state finally released what they were now calling “emergency regulations” to the public.

The current regulations touch every part of the business: growing, manufacturing, testing, distribution, and more. They include surveillance requirements that appear to entail providing video to the bureau upon request without, say, a warrant. The regulations specify, for instance, how much weed can be transferred in a single trip, who can travel from the lab to the distribution center to sample, how much THC edibles can contain, and what level of pesticides will be tolerated.

Initial reviews of those many pages are mixed. “They could have legalized cannabis without writing 200 pages of laws,” said Sam David, the founder of Coastal Analytical, a Carlsbad-based cannabis-testing lab. (The full regulations clock in at 276 pages.) His concern reflects that of others in the industry: that the government isn’t so much “legalizing” recreational weed as attempting to reshape the market by over regulation.

“They could have legalized cannabis without writing 200 pages of laws.”
Miller and David’s corner of this billion-dollar world is perhaps the least easily understood by the consumer and the BCC alike. While industry magazine Marijuana Business Daily estimates that 100,000 to 150,000 Americans worked in legal cannabis in 2016 — before California and other states legalized recreational weed — fewer than one percent of those people worked in testing labs. That small number includes administrative staff and low-level technicians, meaning even fewer know how to test for the specific elements the state has now laid out. Lori Glauser, the co-founder and COO of cannabis-testing company EVIO (formerly named Signal Bay), estimates there are 30 people across the United States with the kind of experience California is requiring. The few expert level cannabis-testing labs that do exist here are relatively new; when Miller founded her lab, Pure Analytics, seven years ago, she said it was the third cannabis-testing lab in California and the fourth in the nation. A typical Miller sentence sounds something like “The number one analyte that we find is Myclobutanil, which is a chlorinated fungicide found in a product called Eagle 20.” You can’t wing being an expert lab tech and you can’t learn it in a couple of weeks.

Even though medical marijuana hasn’t been heavily regulated at the state level, many consumers, cities, and companies have already been demanding cleaner and safer weed. Medical marijuana patients often have compromised immune systems; they don’t want to be using cannabis that could have contaminants in it. Other users with stable immune systems might just be discerning about what they’re putting in their bodies. Some cities have already raised their testing standards above the state’s requirements and a few dispensaries, like SPARC SF, have been testing to the most sensitive levels available since their inceptions. “It’s a significant burden, but something we thought was really important to do,” said Josh Hoffman, SPARC’s Director of Product.

To this point, those cities, companies, and clients that have opted-in to stronger regulation have kept expert cannabis testing labs, those official white-lab-coat operations staffed by trained chemists, in business. But now anyone who wants to sell cannabis legally in California will have to go through the labs. Not just the extra credit kids. Everybody.

Testing is an industry built on precision; its leaders operate in a world of excel spreadsheets and contingency planning. But it doesn’t take a scientist to see that there’ll be a lot of new weed going through the system and very few people who have experience testing it.

On the morning of November 16, Miller started refreshing the Bureau of Cannabis Control’s website. She’d heard the day before that the regulations would be available; finally, mid-morning, they appeared. The BCC held a livestreamed advisory board meeting, which she half-watched on her computer while she underlined a printed copy of the document. She felt a sense of relief flood her body. The emergency regulations weren’t perfect, but they were better than she’d expected. Most important, they were done.

Miller is highly competitive — she enjoys what she calls “business as a sport” — and for the past few months, she hadn’t been able to plan her business. She hadn’t known what kind of equipment to order, what paperwork to fill out, if she’d need to institute a new workflow, if she’d have to upgrade her space, or if she’d have to fire or hire staff members.

“There’s no room for failure.”
Miller immediately found clear improvements from the draft regulations. The state relaxed what she perceived as overly onerous restrictions on who could manage or work in a lab. For instance, she wouldn’t have been able to manage the lab she founded under the draft regulations, because she doesn’t have an advanced degree. Now, after some lobbying from various labs, the state would allow for equivalent work experience. There is a transition period of six months, which means dispensaries won’t have to throw out weed harvested this fall; they’ll just have to affix a label that it hasn’t been tested to the state’s current standards. There is now a phased-in testing schedule, where labs need to test for pesticides, residual solvents, and other contaminants at one level on Jan. 1 and a stricter level on July 1.

And, finally, she had some clarity on the licensing process. Miller knew there were always going to be two initial steps to joining the legal market on Jan. 1, She’d need a local permit before she could apply for a state temporary permit. She applied for the local permit in advance of its September deadline. At first, the local permit office thought she was a grower and kicked the application back to her with more questions, but they eventually sorted that out. On Oct. 2, the permit office sent her an email saying she’d be fine and they’d help push her through. But that email was sent a week before more than a dozen wildfires destroyed much of Sonoma County, where Miller’s office is, and seven neighboring counties. Miller hadn’t heard from the permit office — now responsible for regulating the fire recovery process — since. She’d long imagined being stuck on January 1st, unable to apply for a state permit, unable to get a local one. “There’s no room for failure,” she’d thought.

But the state said it would now accept “another authorization” which showed the intent to permit. The email should fit this bill. Or, if she submits her application to the state, they’ll write the local permit office and, if that local office doesn’t respond within 10 days, the state will take it as a blessing of intent and authorize a temporary permit.

Miller was less impressed with the annual licensing fees for each lab, which start at $20,000. State licensing fee for non-cannabis testing labs start at $305. This is more than her federal tax bill and Miller doesn’t have enough revenue to take that kind of hit lightly.

But overall, as she underlined, the process struck her as fair and reasonable. Finally.

Back in the spring, California released a document about the contaminants they’d be screening for: pesticides, residual solvents and processing chemicals, microbiological impurities, heavy metals, and foreign material. Some of these contaminants are universally and immediately understood: who wants to buy weed mixed with a bunch of rat hairs (more formally: foreign materials)? Scanning for heavy metals like lead and arsenic seems to make sense, but not every state does it. When it comes to pesticides and some “microbiological impurities,” there’s a more heated debate.

California guidelines identify a potential health and safety hazard from pesticides, but some call that overkill. “It’s not like people are dying from pesticides in cannabis and it’s a very expensive test to operate,” David said. To test for pesticides at the level the state now requires, each lab will need an instrument which can cost around $350,000 new. In Oregon, about 10 percent of marijuana flowers and 26 percent of extracts and concentrates have failed to meet the pesticide requirements since they went into effect. The cost of failures can bankrupt small growers who buy soil that’s already got pesticides in it or who work in areas affected by drift. Should a significant amount of product fails statewide, the cost of weed will go up for consumers, many of whom will still be medical patients. So does the potential harm of inhaling pesticides merit these costly precautions?

“It’s not like people are dying from pesticides in cannabis.”
It’s hard to know, since marijuana is illegal on a federal level. That means the US DEA doesn’t allow institutions receiving federal funding to possess marijuana for research purposes (with the exception of the University of Mississippi). So scientific consensus on the health impacts of marijuana itself — including potential contaminants — is far behind the state-driven legalization movement. Attorney General Jeff Sessions, who met with anti-marijuana activists last week, has signaled his reticence to expand this research. Similarly, the EPA can’t approve any pesticides for use on marijuana, because it doesn’t approve marijuana cultivation in the first place. So states have been left to sort the issue themselves, with very little useful research to tap into.

Tobacco, for instance, seems like it would offer a comparable case study, but doesn’t give us much useful information. The tobacco industry has EPA approval for many different kinds of pesticides. (Then again, Big Tobacco has some of the world’s most persuasive lobbyists.) And nobody’s arguing that tobacco can be used as medicine for cancer patients. An average cigarette contains dozens of carcinogens and hundreds of toxins, including arsenic and glass fibers, and even smoking tobacco in a pipe or a hand-rolled cigarette is known to have detrimental health effects. Isolating pesticides in tobacco research, or even following up on the few pesticide guidelines they have put in place, hasn’t been a priority for the EPA.

A UC Davis study, conducted in a private lab with the department’s funds, found some bacterial and fungal pathogens on marijuana could be deeply harmful, particularly to medical consumers with compromised immune systems. “Inhaling marijuana in any form provides a direct portal of entry deep into the lungs where infection can easily take hold,” Joseph Tuscano, a lead study author, wrote. While edibles avoid this concern, they can also pose health risks. For instance, some are presently made or stored under conditions that could potentially breed the bacteria that leads to botulism. Botulism is exceptionally rare; in 2015, the last year for which data is available, there were 39 foodborne cases in the U.S. of which one was fatal. A botulism case has never been connected to edible consumption. However, as marijuana is a newly regulated industry and is still classified by the DEA as a prohibited schedule 1 drug, alongside heroin and peyote, a single false step or error will reverberate.

While everyone I’ve spoken with in the industry believes the safety of cannabis products is paramount, some believe the BCC guidelines go too far while others feel they are not specific enough. Hoffman, the head of product at SPARC SF, is concerned the state’s guidelines do not adequately discriminate between different kinds of bacteria, meaning that using organic gardening techniques (like spraying “compost tea” on the leaves) could lead to a failed test.

The BCC guidelines note the “inherent challenges” of regulating an industry that’s not federally regulated, hasn’t been regulated in other states for very long, and has no generally accepted (or validated) testing methods. “The level of work that the state had to do to come up with legitimate action levels was immense,” said Miller. “They did an excellent job. It may end up being overly conservative, but it’s better to start out overly conservative than expose the general population to harm.”

The BCC’s communications director declined requests for a phone interview with Bureau Chief Lori Ajax, though he furnished The Verge with short responses to written questions. He wrote the phase-in schedule was “developed [to balance] the contaminants most harmful to public health with the current testing abilities of the laboratories in existence today.”

Lori Glauser has been through this regulatory process in five states, including in Oregon, where EVIO has five labs. “The testing part isn’t too different from what we expected,” she said of California’s regulations.

In 2015, before the regulations took effect, there were 40 cannabis-testing labs in Oregon. The majority couldn’t pass all the standards the state required. On the day the regulations went into effect, there were only 12 labs open. That number has been steadily creeping back up.

Glauser took a long view of the regulatory process. It was stressful at first, particularly for growers, some of whom hadn’t paid much attention to the regulation conversation. Many in the industry lost money those first few months. “We spent a tremendous amount of time just educating the market,” Glauser said.

Oregon is a much smaller state with fewer testing regulations. If Oregon is any example though, Glauser said California labs can expect to get flooded with marijuana, see a backup in the labs, experience huge stress in the industry, and, eventually, find an evening out.

Meanwhile, EVIO is on a hiring spree in California, where they’re getting ready to open a handful of new labs in the north and the south. (The Central Valley is a bit of a dead zone for weed testing, both because it doesn’t have comparable population centers and because there’s enough pesticide drift there that Central Valley weed rarely tests clean unless it’s grown indoors.) “There are lots of people who are chemists with experience testing similar substances and using this kind of equipment – maybe they test grapes or pharmaceuticals,” Glauser said. “But I haven’t seen many migrating into cannabis yet.” She hopes to win the best of California’s fruit and pharma testers over to the weed side.

For those in the business, the last two weeks in December are go-time. They’ve weathered a hectic, trying year as the state struggled to form its regulations and they struggled to predict the future. Surprisingly enough, Miller’s beginning to grow concerned the pendulum may have swung too far to the other direction. “It sounds like [the BCC] started out really conservative, then heard all the feedback that they were being too stringent, and have now overcorrected on the phased approach to implementation,” she said. Regulations are a very Goldilocks business; the state’s jumped from one ill-fitting chair to another and has yet, in Miller’s estimation, to find the one that’s just right.

Starting January they’ll be lighter in some areas than she’s used to. Until the regulations will tighten up again in July, Miller said she can’t guarantee that if a product meets the state’s first rounds of less stringent requirements in January that means it will be safe.

Add to these questions a bunch of non-testing changes, like the implementation of a track-and-trace system, super specific transfer protocols, widespread packaging changes, new cannabinoid limits, and 200-plus-pages of other regulations, and January 1st is all but guaranteed to be a shock date for the industry.

“Between now and Christmas is going to be a freaking marathon,” David said. In order to get licensed, he’s moving his lab from Carlsbad to San Diego. “It almost seems intentional,” David said of the short timeline, which he calls “brutal.” But he also concedes that while he’s putting in a ton of work and money on the front end, it’s likely to pay off. “The same people I’m complaining about are the reason labs are going to make money,” he said.

“We feel confident we can do all the tests, but I will say it is a lot to put on labs six weeks before the date,” Glauser said. “If Oregon now has 20 labs, you’ll need more than 100 labs in California to get this to work at the same scale.” EVIO is currently opening a location in Costa Mesa and eyeing a number of others in the Inland Empire, the Emerald Triangle, the Bay Area, and the Sacramento Valley. Glauser opened their first seven labs in a year and a half. “We’ve got the system down,” she said.

Meanwhile, Miller is preparing her lab not to grow or shrink, but to ride the immediate wave of changes. How the market will react to legalization, Miller said, is anybody’s guess.

“My head’s full, calculating all the different permutations,” she said, no longer emphatic or unsettled, simply curious. “I’m getting ready to do it all the different ways.”

 

[Baron23]

California’s top marijuana regulator talks legalization

LOS ANGELES — California’s legal pot market opens for business on Jan. 1. The day will be a milestone, but what exactly will happen then and, especially, in the weeks and months to come is unclear.

Lori Ajax is the state’s top pot regulator and has been at the center of the effort to establish rules for a legal pot economy valued at $7 billion.

Here’s her thoughts on what to expect:


Q. It’s a question many people are asking: Can I buy legal pot on Jan. 1?

A. Well, maybe.

“You will, in certain areas of the state,” Ajax says.

Businesses are required to have a local permit and a state license to open their doors for recreational sales, and that process has moved slowly.

So far, there is not a consistent pattern in the geography of legal pot.

Kern County, for example, has banned all commercial cannabis activity. But Oakland, Santa Cruz, Shasta Lake and San Diego are among the cities that have embraced it and have licensed operators that will open Jan. 1.

San Francisco is running late getting licenses out, so legal sales there are not expected to start until later that week. In Los Angeles, the city will begin accepting applications to sell recreational pot on Jan. 3, but it could be weeks before any of those shops open for legal sales.

Q. If you can get legal pot on Jan. 1, where can you smoke it?

A. First rule, not in public, Ajax says.

Another general guideline: Don’t smoke anywhere where tobacco is prohibited.

State law has specific guidelines for where not to light up, and they include being within 1,000 feet (300 meters) of a school or a daycare center when kids are around, or smoking while driving.

However, the state has left it up to local governments to determine if they want to permit onsite consumption at retailers. So it will be city-by-city whether you can buy and light up on the spot.

Q. This is going to be a big transition, transforming the lightly regulated medical industry and the vast illegal market into a legal pot economy. How will it roll out?

A. With ups and downs.

“That transition period is going to be an adjustment for a lot of folks,” Ajax says.

The industry — medical and illegal — has existed for years with little or no regulation. Now, growers and sellers are facing a range of new state and local rules, including hefty new taxes.

Consumers who want to make a purchase will have to check their local rules, which can vary.

The state expects to be visiting businesses, perhaps repeatedly, to help them meet the regulations.

“We have to really work with them,” Ajax says.

Q. Her biggest worry?

A. The pace and extent of licensing, because lots of players are needed to make the supply chain work across the state. Cultivators. Distributors. Manufacturers. Testing companies. Retailers.

State licensing only started in December.

Ajax worries if California has “licensed enough people throughout the supply chain, and geographically across the state, so people can continue to do business,” which includes medical and recreational pot. “That’s something I think about all the time.”

Take distributors that transport cannabis.

“If you don’t have enough distributors, if they are the only ones that can transport the cannabis, that would be an issue ... on Day One,” Ajax says.

Q. How tough is enforcement going to be, if you intend to entice businesses into the market?

A. For now, more carrot than stick.

“We can’t just hit them over the head,” Ajax says. “You work toward educating them and, I think, you go from there.”

“If we have somebody that is causing a public nuisance or a public safety problem, then I do think strong enforcement is necessary. But if you just got somebody trying to comply, and they are completely overwhelmed because they just don’t know what to do, then I think that’s our job to then break it down for people.”

She acknowledges the dense regulations can be intimidating.

“A lot of them have never dealt with the state before,” she says. “We want to encourage people that this is the best way for California, to come out of the shadows and be licensed.”

Q. Experts say the new legal economy will struggle if the black market continues to thrive. How does the state intend to persuade illegal operators to come out of the shadows?

A. In a word, education.

Ajax says businesses need to know how to get licensed — an online application site opened this month — and the state should encourage them to do so.

The state also needs to be flexible at first with compliance, she said, as businesses become accustomed to the new system.

“We, as a state, have to show them that this is where you need to be,” she says.

 

[Baron23]

California’s Lt. Gov. Calls Legal Weed “Criminal Justice Reform”

Gavin Newsom, California’s Democratic Lt. Gov. for the past six years, was an early supporter of marijuana legalization. A candidate for governor in 2018, Newsom took to social media Thursday to express his support for ending marijuana prohibition as a means of “fixing a broken system.”

According to The Washington Post, California’s elected officials are “offering a second chance to people convicted of almost any marijuana crimes, from serious felonies to small infractions, with the opportunity to have their criminal records cleared or the charges sharply reduced.”

And that’s something Gavin Newsom strongly supports.

An August 2016 report generated by the Drug Policy Alliance indicates nearly half a million Californians were arrested for marijuana-related crimes between 2006 and 2015 – despite the state’s progressive marijuana laws.

These arrests created economic strife for many solid, hard-working Americans and left those with weed-related convictions to struggle with restricted access to educational, employment, and housing opportunities.

But with the passage of Proposition 64, some lucky Californians will benefit from the opportunity to have their past convictions “reclassified” under the state’s current law, according to the Post.

“Those who want their marijuana convictions lessened must present their cases in court. Prosecutors can decide not to support a reduction should someone have a major felony, such as murder, on their record. Old convictions will be reclassified under the law as it reads now. For example, if someone had been convicted of possessing an ounce or less of marijuana, that conviction would be tossed out because that is now legal in California.”

California’s Lt. Gov. smokes the competition in campaign contributions from the marijuana industry

A front-runner to become California’s next governor on Nov. 6, 2018, Newsom has long embraced reforming the state’s antiquated marijuana laws and has actively lobbied for support from the industry’s stakeholders. As of July 2017, Newsom had collected over $317,000 in “cannabis-connected donations,” which was approximately $312,000 more than gubernatorial candidate Antonio Villaraigosa.

 

[Baron23]

California Goes Legal: These Stores and Cities Are Set to Open Jan. 1, 2018

San Francisco probably won't have retail cannabis stores open on Jan. 1, but Oakland, Berkeley, and San Jose will. (Nicolas McComber/iStock)


California’s adult-use cannabis retail stores are set to open on Jan. 1, 2018, ushering in a new era of regulated legalization in America’s most populous state. How to find a cannabis store open on New Year’s Day? That may be tougher than you think.


Temporary licenses from California’s Bureau of Cannabis Control, which take effect Jan. 1, have already gone out to a handful of stores. The bureau is updating that list of retailers almost daily. The licenses aren’t absolute guarantees that those stores will be open on New Year’s Day, but it’s the best information we have at the moment.

Leafly will continue to update this list as the BCC rolls out more pre-qualified licensees, right up through January 1.

Licensed Adult-Use Retail Stores

City Store Name Address Phone Expected Opening Day
Berkeley Berkeley Patients Group 2366 San Pablo Ave (510) 540-6013 Jan 1
Cathedral City Cathedral City Care Collective 36633 Cathedral Canyon Drive (760) 832-6417 Jan 1
Cathedral City Cathedral City Care Collective North 28201 Date Palm Drive (760) 832-6417 Jan 1
Cathedral City Green Cross Pharma 68730 Summit Drive (760) 832-7194 Jan 1
Cathedral City Mother Earth's Farmacy 36633 Cathedral Canyon Drive (760) 832-8348 Jan 1
Cathedral City West Coast Cannabis Club 68828 Ramon Road (760) 689-2582 Jan 1
Del Rey Oaks (Monterey) Monterey Bay Alternative Medicine 800 Portola Drive (831) 393-2500 Jan 1
Delivery (Statewide) Big Moon Sky See website for delivery areas
Jan 1
Desert Hot Springs Green Pearl 64949 Mission Lakes Boulevard (760) 894-3146 Jan 1
Eureka Ecocann 306 F Street (707) 572-0850 Jan 1
Mount Shasta The Cypress Group 407 Berry Street
Jan 1
Mount Shasta Elevate Shasta Wellness 401 Berry Street (949) 212-0055 Jan 1
Mount Shasta Mount Shasta Patients Collective 408 South Mt. Shasta Blvd. (530) 926-6337 Jan 1
Oakland Purple Heart 415 4th Street (510) 625-7877 Jan 1
Rio Vista Rio Vista Farms 11 Richard Brann Drive (833) 424-4283 Unknown
Rio Vista Rio Vista Organics 11 Richard Brann Dr. (833) 424-4283 Jan 1
San Diego A Green Alternative Cooperative 2335 Roll Drive (844) 665-0420 Jan 1
San Diego Mankind Cooperative 7128 Miramar Road (858) 247-0953 Jan 1
San Diego Torrey Holistics 10671 Roselle St (858) 558-1420 Jan 1
San Diego Urbn Leaf 1028 Buenos Ave (619) 275-2235 Jan 1
San Diego THCSD 3703 Camino Del Rio Street (858) 324-2420 Jan 1
San Jose Buddy's Cannabis 1075 N. 10th Street (408) 298-8837 Jan 1
San Jose Caliva 1695 South 7th St (408) 297-2615 Jan 1
Santa Cruz CannaCruz 115 Limekiln St (831-420-DABS Jan 1
Santa Cruz Capitola Healing Association 3088 Winkle Ave (831) 475-5506 Jan 1
Santa Cruz KindPeoples 140 Dubois (831) 824-6200 Jan 1
Santa Cruz KindPeoples 3600 Soquel Ave (831) 471-8562 Jan 1
Santa Cruz Santa Cruz Veterans Alliance 2827 Rodeo Gulch Rd (831) 431-6347 Jan 1
San Jose Harborside Health Center 1365 North 10th St (888) 994-2726 Jan 1
San Jose Purple Lotus 752 Commercial St (408) 456-0420 Jan 1
San Jose Airfield Supply Co. 1190 Coleman Ave (408) 320-0230 Jan 1
San Jose White Fire 111 Old Tully Road (408) 564-4512 Jan 1
Shasta Lake 530 Cannabis 1550 Locust Ave (530) 275-0420 Jan 1
Ukiah Kure Wellness 800 Lake Mendocino (707) 621-5390 Jan 1
West Hollywood (Los Angeles) AHHS 7828 Santa Monica Blvd (323) 654-8792 Jan 2
West Hollywood (Los Angeles) LAPCG 7213 Santa Monica Blvd (323) 882-6033 Jan 2
West Hollywood (Los Angeles) MadMen WeHo 8208 Santa Monica Blvd (323) 848-7981 Jan 2
West Hollywood (Los Angeles) Zen Healing West Hollywood 8464 Santa Monica Blvd (323) 656-6666 Jan 2
We’re also tracking California’s major cities and noting how they’re handling retail cannabis. Some major cities and counties are allowing and licensing retail stores; others are banning all cannabis companies outright. Our list of major cities starts below the table of pre-licensed retail stores.


Top 15 California Cities and Their Laws
Here’s a list of the largest California cities and a few other notable locations.

1. Los Angeles: Allowing retail cannabis stores, but they won’t be licensed by Jan. 1. The first shops are expected to open shortly thereafter.

2. San Diego: Retail stores are expected to be open on Jan. 1.

3. San Jose: Retail stores are expected to be open on Jan. 1.

4. San Francisco: Allowing retail cannabis stores, but they won’t be licensed by Jan. 1. Look for the first openings by Jan 5-6 or so.

5. Fresno: No retail cannabis stores allowed in the city.

6. Sacramento: Retail stores are expected to be open on Jan. 1. Joe Devlin, the city’s head of cannabis regulation, said he expects a few existing medical cannabis dispensaries to be open for adult-use sales on New Year’s Day.

7. Long Beach: Long Beach is currently licensing medical cannabis dispensaries but not adult-use retail stores. The city is drafting an ordinance that could license and regulate adult-use retail stores by June 2018.

8. Oakland: Retail stores are expected to be open on Jan. 1.

9. Bakersfield: No retail cannabis stores allowed in the city.

10. Anaheim: No retail cannabis stores allowed in the city.

11. Santa Ana: Allowing retail cannabis stores, but they won’t be licensed by Jan. 1. Look for the first openings by Jan 5-6 or so.

12. Riverside: Currently prohibits all cannabis business.

13. Stockton: The city has approved four medical cannabis dispensaries within the city but is not yet allowing retail adult-use stores. City officials will study the issue and tailor ordinances and regulations in later 2018.

14. San Bernardino: Measure O, which passed in November 2016, authorized the city to regulate both medical and adult-use cannabis. But lawsuits have delayed implementation. Retail stores are likely in the future but probably won’t be open on Jan. 1.

15. Modesto: The Modesto City Council recently voted to allow as many as 10 retail cannabis stores, but it’s unclear whether any will be ready to open on Jan. 1.

Other Municipalities:
Arcata: The city is finalizing its retail cannabis regulations and expects to approved operating permits for two adult-use retail stores–Humboldt Patient Resource Center and Heart of Humboldt–in downtown Arcata, but it’s unclear if those stores will be open to non-medical customers on Jan. 1.

Berkeley: Retail stores are expected to be open on Jan. 1.

Cathedral City: Many retail stores are expected to be open on Jan. 1. Cathedral City may have the most licensed adult-use retail stores per capita in the entire state.

Crescent City: The city prohibits all cannabis businesses, but is part of a county working group considering new regulations that may allow some form of cannabis commerce in the near future. Look for a proposed new ordinance sometime in 2018.

Eureka: Retail stores are expected to be open on Jan. 1.

Los Angeles County: Retail cannabis stores are banned in the unincorporated sections of the county, but one Malibu-based shop, 99 High Tide Collective, has secured a license due to an odd historical footnote.

Orange County: Retail cannabis stores are banned in the unincorporated sections of the county.

Orange County (cities within): Retail stores banned in all OC counties except Santa Ana.

Redding: All cannabis businesses are banned in the city, but nearby Shasta Lake and Mount Shasta both have at least one adult use store licensed and expected to be open on Jan. 1.

Santa Barbara: The city has zoned certain districts OK for cannabis retail. No pre-licensed retail businesses yet. It’s uncertain if one will open on Jan. 1.

Santa Cruz: Many retail stores are expected to be open on Jan. 1.

Santa Monica: The city will license two medical dispensaries but no adult-use retail stores.

Ventura County: Some Ventura County towns (Oxnard, Ojai, Port Hueneme) are allowing new medical cannabis dispensaries to open, but most have prohibited adult-use retail stores.

West Hollywood: The city will issue eight licenses for adult-use retail stores. We’ve heard that four adult-use retailers have obtained their state licenses, but it’s unclear if they’ll open on Jan. 1 or have to wait until Jan 2. Stay tuned.

 

[Baron23]

"enforcement needs to be flexible" I guess that memo never made it to that fascist District Attorney lady from San Diego, yeah?

Top marijuana regulator says California’s enforcement needs to be flexible at first
Lori Ajax also said the state expects to be visiting businesses, perhaps repeatedly, to help them meet the regulations


By Michael R. Blood, The Associated Press

LOS ANGELES — California’s legal cannabis market opens for business on Jan. 1. The day will be a milestone, but what exactly will happen then and, especially, in the weeks and months to come is unclear.

Lori Ajax is the state’s top cannabis regulator and has been at the center of the effort to establish rules for a legal pot economy valued at $7 billion.

Here’s her thoughts on what to expect:

Q. It’s a question many people are asking: Can I buy legal pot on Jan. 1?

A. Well, maybe.

“You will, in certain areas of the state,” Ajax says.

Businesses are required to have a local permit and a state license to open their doors for recreational sales, and that process has moved slowly.

So far, there is not a consistent pattern in the geography of legal pot.

Kern County, for example, has banned all commercial cannabis activity. But Oakland, Santa Cruz, Shasta Lake and San Diego are among the cities that have embraced it and have licensed operators that will open Jan. 1.

San Francisco is running late getting licenses out, so legal sales there are not expected to start until later that week. In Los Angeles, the city will begin accepting applications to sell recreational pot on Jan. 3, but it could be weeks before any of those shops open for legal sales.

Q. If you can get legal pot on Jan. 1, where can you smoke it?

A. First rule, not in public, Ajax says.

Another general guideline: Don’t smoke anywhere where tobacco is prohibited.

State law has specific guidelines for where not to light up, and they include being within 1,000 feet (300 meters) of a school or a daycare center when kids are around, or smoking while driving.

However, the state has left it up to local governments to determine if they want to permit onsite consumption at retailers. So it will be city-by-city whether you can buy and light up on the spot.

Q. This is going to be a big transition, transforming the lightly regulated medical industry and the vast illegal market into a legal pot economy. How will it roll out?

A. With ups and downs.

“That transition period is going to be an adjustment for a lot of folks,” Ajax says.

The industry — medical and illegal — has existed for years with little or no regulation. Now, growers and sellers are facing a range of new state and local rules, including hefty new taxes.

Consumers who want to make a purchase will have to check their local rules, which can vary.

The state expects to be visiting businesses, perhaps repeatedly, to help them meet the regulations.

“We have to really work with them,” Ajax says.

Q. What is her biggest worry?

A. The pace and extent of licensing, because lots of players are needed to make the supply chain work across the state. Cultivators. Distributors. Manufacturers. Testing companies. Retailers.

State licensing only started in December.

Ajax worries if California has “licensed enough people throughout the supply chain, and geographically across the state, so people can continue to do business,” which includes medical and recreational pot. “That’s something I think about all the time.”

Take distributors that transport cannabis.

“If you don’t have enough distributors, if they are the only ones that can transport the cannabis, that would be an issue … on Day One,” Ajax says.

Q. How tough is enforcement going to be, if you intend to entice businesses into the market?

A. For now, more carrot than stick.

“We can’t just hit them over the head,” Ajax says. “You work toward educating them and, I think, you go from there.”

“If we have somebody that is causing a public nuisance or a public safety problem, then I do think strong enforcement is necessary. But if you just got somebody trying to comply, and they are completely overwhelmed because they just don’t know what to do, then I think that’s our job to then break it down for people.”

She acknowledges the dense regulations can be intimidating.

“A lot of them have never dealt with the state before,” she says. “We want to encourage people that this is the best way for California, to come out of the shadows and be licensed.”

Q. Experts say the new legal economy will struggle if the black market continues to thrive. How does the state intend to persuade illegal operators to come out of the shadows?

A. In a word, education.

Ajax says businesses need to know how to get licensed — an online application site opened this month — and the state should encourage them to do so.

The state also needs to be flexible at first with compliance, she said, as businesses become accustomed to the new system.

“We, as a state, have to show them that this is where you need to be,” she says.

 

[Baron23]

This is too fucked up for words. Has California taken to heart the snide sobriquet of it being the land of fruit and nuts because this is nuts.

California Highway Patrol arrests drivers of licensed cannabis company van
The workers were cited for unlawful transportation of marijuana and unlawful possession for sale


By Michael Balsamo and Don Thompson, The Associated Press

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — The confusing rollout of marijuana regulations in California has been underscored in Mendocino County, where local authorities licensed a company to deliver marijuana only to have state police arrest two employees who were trying to do just that with nearly a ton of weed.

The workers for Old Kai Distribution were transporting the marijuana from a farm when they were pulled over Friday afternoon by a California Highway Patrol officer on Highway 101 near Ukiah, according to Joe Rogoway, an attorney for the company. They were driving an unmarked van and were stopped for a traffic violation.

The workers showed the officer the company’s county license and a manifest for the marijuana, but the officer insisted it was illegal, called for backup and arrested the men.

The company argues it can transport marijuana within the county with its local license, and county spokeswoman Sarah Dukett backed that interpretation. She said Old Kai was issued a distribution license last week that allows it to legally transport marijuana under two local ordinances passed earlier this year.

The workers were cited for unlawful transportation of marijuana and unlawful possession for sale. Investigators also seized all of the marijuana and the company’s van.

“It is incomprehensible that this has occurred,” said Rogoway, who sent a letter to CHP demanding that the charges be dropped and the marijuana returned to Old Kai.

Acting California Highway Patrol Commissioner Warren Stanley said the arrest was appropriate because a state license also is required for legal transport and those permits don’t take effect until Monday, when broad legalization arrives in California.

“They are following the laws that are in place now,” Stanley said Wednesday, referring to his officers. “And when Jan. 1, 2018, comes they’ll start following the laws that come into effect on that date.”

Related stories

• Top marijuana regulator says California’s enforcement needs to be flexible at first
• Buyers beware: California cannabis sold Jan. 1 could be tainted
• California issues first licenses to get new era of cannabis market off the ground
• A Bay Area community will require home growers to register with police
• Cheech Marin will help you register a California marijuana business

The officer who made the Ukiah stop was not targeting the business, said Stanley, who is not aware of any other arrests of a locally licensed marijuana operation. CHP primarily is concerned with drivers who could be high behind the wheel and the agency has trained 97 percent of its officers and sergeants in advanced drugged driving recognition skills, he said.

Stanley commented after a ceremony for CHP Officer Andrew Camilleri, who was killed on Christmas Eve by a driver believed to be drunk and high.

California has had legal medical marijuana for two decades. In 2016, voters approved broad legalization and the state and communities that want such “adult use” marijuana businesses spent the last year writing complex regulations.

Some didn’t get their regulations finalized in time to start issuing local licenses by Jan. 1 while others decided to outlaw recreational pot altogether. Meantime, all forms of pot remain illegal under federal law.

The marijuana that was seized in Mendocino County, about 115 miles (185 kilometers) north of San Francisco, had been collected from a family-owned farm and was being brought to a distribution center to be sorted and tested.

“This was basically their entire harvest,” Rogoway said. “Their entire year was in the back of this vehicle. If that cannabis is destroyed, it really puts at risk the safety and well-being of their family.”

He worried the arrest could have a chilling effect as the state and local governments encourage marijuana businesses to come out of the shadows and adhere to regulations to ensure a level playing field for all.

“This incident highlights the fear that many people have,” he said. “It takes a lot to be a compliant operator. Even if they follow through with the whole process, something bad can happen. This is a perfect example.”

 

[ataxian]

This is too fucked up for words. Has California taken to heart the snide sobriquet of it being the land of fruit and nuts because this is nuts.

California Highway Patrol arrests drivers of licensed cannabis company van
The workers were cited for unlawful transportation of marijuana and unlawful possession for sale


By Michael Balsamo and Don Thompson, The Associated Press

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — The confusing rollout of marijuana regulations in California has been underscored in Mendocino County, where local authorities licensed a company to deliver marijuana only to have state police arrest two employees who were trying to do just that with nearly a ton of weed.

The workers for Old Kai Distribution were transporting the marijuana from a farm when they were pulled over Friday afternoon by a California Highway Patrol officer on Highway 101 near Ukiah, according to Joe Rogoway, an attorney for the company. They were driving an unmarked van and were stopped for a traffic violation.

The workers showed the officer the company’s county license and a manifest for the marijuana, but the officer insisted it was illegal, called for backup and arrested the men.

The company argues it can transport marijuana within the county with its local license, and county spokeswoman Sarah Dukett backed that interpretation. She said Old Kai was issued a distribution license last week that allows it to legally transport marijuana under two local ordinances passed earlier this year.

The workers were cited for unlawful transportation of marijuana and unlawful possession for sale. Investigators also seized all of the marijuana and the company’s van.

“It is incomprehensible that this has occurred,” said Rogoway, who sent a letter to CHP demanding that the charges be dropped and the marijuana returned to Old Kai.

Acting California Highway Patrol Commissioner Warren Stanley said the arrest was appropriate because a state license also is required for legal transport and those permits don’t take effect until Monday, when broad legalization arrives in California.

“They are following the laws that are in place now,” Stanley said Wednesday, referring to his officers. “And when Jan. 1, 2018, comes they’ll start following the laws that come into effect on that date.”

Related stories

• Top marijuana regulator says California’s enforcement needs to be flexible at first
• Buyers beware: California cannabis sold Jan. 1 could be tainted
• California issues first licenses to get new era of cannabis market off the ground
• A Bay Area community will require home growers to register with police
• Cheech Marin will help you register a California marijuana business

The officer who made the Ukiah stop was not targeting the business, said Stanley, who is not aware of any other arrests of a locally licensed marijuana operation. CHP primarily is concerned with drivers who could be high behind the wheel and the agency has trained 97 percent of its officers and sergeants in advanced drugged driving recognition skills, he said.

Stanley commented after a ceremony for CHP Officer Andrew Camilleri, who was killed on Christmas Eve by a driver believed to be drunk and high.

California has had legal medical marijuana for two decades. In 2016, voters approved broad legalization and the state and communities that want such “adult use” marijuana businesses spent the last year writing complex regulations.

Some didn’t get their regulations finalized in time to start issuing local licenses by Jan. 1 while others decided to outlaw recreational pot altogether. Meantime, all forms of pot remain illegal under federal law.

The marijuana that was seized in Mendocino County, about 115 miles (185 kilometers) north of San Francisco, had been collected from a family-owned farm and was being brought to a distribution center to be sorted and tested.

“This was basically their entire harvest,” Rogoway said. “Their entire year was in the back of this vehicle. If that cannabis is destroyed, it really puts at risk the safety and well-being of their family.”

He worried the arrest could have a chilling effect as the state and local governments encourage marijuana businesses to come out of the shadows and adhere to regulations to ensure a level playing field for all.

“This incident highlights the fear that many people have,” he said. “It takes a lot to be a compliant operator. Even if they follow through with the whole process, something bad can happen. This is a perfect example.”

It's going to take some energy to transition the laws.
For now have it delivered.

 

[momofthegoons]

Investigators also seized all of the marijuana and the company’s van.

Of course they did....

I hope like hell that this arrest is deemed bogus. And that the cannabis is returned to the grower at the very least. It's beyond ridiculous.

 

[Baron23]

I'm four square an advocate for full and open legalization. On the other hand, I'm not so supportive of people fraudulently playing the medical MJ system as this just gives support to asshats who believe that MMJ programs are just a cover for recreational use.

In MD, we now have MMJ but it will cost around $200-$250 for an annual medical certification (this may come down a good bit) and another $50 for a card (which you don't need but is very handy). With about 13K patients registered in the state, it appears that this cost is keeping the rec users away a bit (I mean, there are lots of other ways/places to procure it).

That and our MMJ is very expensive still and the quality is not yet there (well, this is like the first, rushed harvest and I expect to see much better flower in 3-4 months) These prices will come down, and quality go up, or we will all be back at pop-up MJ events in DC or soon traveling to NJ or DE for full rec sales.



How big of a hit will California’s medical marijuana market take from adult-use sales?
Legal sales of recreational marijuana are estimated to capture about 62 percent of sales, with the black market retaining about 30 percent


By John Rogers, The Associated Press

LOS ANGELES — When Elias Zaldivar was an 18-year-old college freshman and decided he was in the market for marijuana, he knew just how to get it, and it didn’t involve canvassing the corridors of his campus in search of that stoned-out dude who sold pot from his dorm room. Instead, he went straight to a doctor.

On a busy Hollywood street, Zaldivar quickly located a clinic specializing in medicinal pot referrals. He video-conferenced with a doctor from the waiting room and, following their 10-minute chat, a receptionist handed him an official-looking letter with an embossed gold seal that allowed him to buy medical marijuana at any California dispensary.

Related: Fears mount for California MMJ patients over “cannabis deserts”

Zaldivar, now a 21-year-old mixed martial arts coach, has renewed his medical marijuana recommendation each year since, always using the same health claim. He still chuckles while recalling what he explained to the doctor to get him to issue him that first prescription: “I told him I had anxiety.”

In the two decades since California became the first state to allow cannabis for medicinal use, it’s been an open secret that pretty much anyone who wants marijuana at just about any time can find a doctor who will recommend it for almost any reason.

Technically, the doctor doesn’t provide a prescription but a “letter of recommendation,” because it’s illegal for a physician to prescribe a substance banned by the federal government, no matter what state law says.

Once that recommendation is secured, a person can also apply for a state-issued medical marijuana card that, although not required, is more convenient to carry to a dispensary and, in the eyes of some holders, gets them taken more seriously as people who need pot to stay healthy.

Although some doctors who take the examination process seriously charge far more, the fees at most of the in-and-out-the-door-in-10-minutes places is about $40.

Now, with recreational marijuana set to become legal Monday in California for anyone 21 and over, some people will be tossing their state-issued cards.

Revenue from the sale of medical marijuana is expected to drop from an estimated $2 billion in 2016 to about $1.4 billion next year, according to a study published this year by the University of California Agricultural Issues Center. At the same time, according to the study, the legal sale of recreational marijuana should bring in more than $5 billion as recreational pot captures about 62 percent of sales, while the black market retains about 30 percent.

Already Zaldivar and others say they see the market forces at work. In the months leading up to legal recreational pot sales, they’ve noticed many of the heavily guarded medical dispensaries they frequent are letting them stroll in without their state-issued IDs.

“As they’ve gotten closer and closer to being legalized, they are not even asking for the recommendation letters anymore,” said 22-year-old Adam Salcido, who works for a company that helps put on popular events like Hempfest and Cannabis Cup. He got his medical marijuana card to treat stomach problems he said he’s suffered since childhood, and plans to keep it for now.

More California

• I grow pot in California for a living. I’m worried about legalization.
• Caution and confidence in smaller California towns as recreational marijuana goes legal
• California marijuana stores prepare parties, stock shelves for start of sales
• California Highway Patrol arrests drivers of licensed cannabis company van
• Tahoe ski resorts ask guests to leave their weed at home

Like Salcido, many people do use marijuana to treat serious medical problems.

“Some physicians, like myself, who see mostly very ill patients — such as those with epilepsy, cancer and other serious conditions — will likely not see a drop-off as we are involved in managing the cannabis treatment, not only providing a letter for access,” said Dr. Bonni Goldstein, a pediatrician who began treating both children and adults with cannabis 10 years ago after she saw its medical benefits.

One age group caught between medical and recreational marijuana are those 18 to 20. Medical is legal for anyone 18 and older, so some in that range are likely to continue providing fictitious health conditions so they can get a state medical card and “legally” buy pot.

There also could be a financial incentive for some to seek a medical card even if they don’t have a health problem because medical marijuana will be taxed at a lower rate than recreational marijuana. However, for a casual user, the cost and effort needed to get the card probably won’t be worth the savings.

But as the movement away from dispensaries continues, and as some dispensaries simply morph into full-service pot stores, selling things like candy bars, cannabis-infused wine, pre-rolled joints for the on-the-go crowd, and munchies for the stoned set, some physicians say it’s likely to put the squeeze on those pot doctors who have grown accustomed to just skyping their patient-physician consultations and emailing their prescriptions, er, recommendations.

“You really have physicians following two paths here. On one path are those physicians who continue to practice quality medicine, and on the other are those who just see this as a way of making a lot of money,” said Dr. David Bearman, who has been prescribing medicinal marijuana almost since California legalized it in 1996.

He was inspired in part to co-found the American Academy of Cannabinoid Medicine to separate doctors like himself from the guy he saw put a girl in a bikini outside his clinic with a sign announcing medical marijuana cards were available there for only $39.99.

“This is why the legalization of cannabis for recreational use is so important,” said Goldstein, who like Bearman consults with patients face-to-face for an hour or more and only after they’ve provided medical records proving they have a serious condition she believes cannabis can help alleviate.

“Let the medical patients be medical,” she added, “and let the recreational users use it recreationally.”

 

[ataxian]

I'm four square an advocate for full and open legalization. On the other hand, I'm not so supportive of people fraudulently playing the medical MJ system as this just gives support to asshats who believe that MMJ programs are just a cover for recreational use.

In MD, we now have MMJ but it will cost around $200-$250 for an annual medical certification (this may come down a good bit) and another $50 for a card (which you don't need but is very handy). With about 13K patients registered in the state, it appears that this cost is keeping the rec users away a bit (I mean, there are lots of other ways/places to procure it).

That and our MMJ is very expensive still and the quality is not yet there (well, this is like the first, rushed harvest and I expect to see much better flower in 3-4 months) These prices will come down, and quality go up, or we will all be back at pop-up MJ events in DC or soon traveling to NJ or DE for full rec sales.



How big of a hit will California’s medical marijuana market take from adult-use sales?
Legal sales of recreational marijuana are estimated to capture about 62 percent of sales, with the black market retaining about 30 percent


By John Rogers, The Associated Press

LOS ANGELES — When Elias Zaldivar was an 18-year-old college freshman and decided he was in the market for marijuana, he knew just how to get it, and it didn’t involve canvassing the corridors of his campus in search of that stoned-out dude who sold pot from his dorm room. Instead, he went straight to a doctor.

On a busy Hollywood street, Zaldivar quickly located a clinic specializing in medicinal pot referrals. He video-conferenced with a doctor from the waiting room and, following their 10-minute chat, a receptionist handed him an official-looking letter with an embossed gold seal that allowed him to buy medical marijuana at any California dispensary.

Related: Fears mount for California MMJ patients over “cannabis deserts”

Zaldivar, now a 21-year-old mixed martial arts coach, has renewed his medical marijuana recommendation each year since, always using the same health claim. He still chuckles while recalling what he explained to the doctor to get him to issue him that first prescription: “I told him I had anxiety.”

In the two decades since California became the first state to allow cannabis for medicinal use, it’s been an open secret that pretty much anyone who wants marijuana at just about any time can find a doctor who will recommend it for almost any reason.

Technically, the doctor doesn’t provide a prescription but a “letter of recommendation,” because it’s illegal for a physician to prescribe a substance banned by the federal government, no matter what state law says.

Once that recommendation is secured, a person can also apply for a state-issued medical marijuana card that, although not required, is more convenient to carry to a dispensary and, in the eyes of some holders, gets them taken more seriously as people who need pot to stay healthy.

Although some doctors who take the examination process seriously charge far more, the fees at most of the in-and-out-the-door-in-10-minutes places is about $40.

Now, with recreational marijuana set to become legal Monday in California for anyone 21 and over, some people will be tossing their state-issued cards.

Revenue from the sale of medical marijuana is expected to drop from an estimated $2 billion in 2016 to about $1.4 billion next year, according to a study published this year by the University of California Agricultural Issues Center. At the same time, according to the study, the legal sale of recreational marijuana should bring in more than $5 billion as recreational pot captures about 62 percent of sales, while the black market retains about 30 percent.

Already Zaldivar and others say they see the market forces at work. In the months leading up to legal recreational pot sales, they’ve noticed many of the heavily guarded medical dispensaries they frequent are letting them stroll in without their state-issued IDs.

“As they’ve gotten closer and closer to being legalized, they are not even asking for the recommendation letters anymore,” said 22-year-old Adam Salcido, who works for a company that helps put on popular events like Hempfest and Cannabis Cup. He got his medical marijuana card to treat stomach problems he said he’s suffered since childhood, and plans to keep it for now.

More California

• I grow pot in California for a living. I’m worried about legalization.
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• California marijuana stores prepare parties, stock shelves for start of sales
• California Highway Patrol arrests drivers of licensed cannabis company van
• Tahoe ski resorts ask guests to leave their weed at home

Like Salcido, many people do use marijuana to treat serious medical problems.

“Some physicians, like myself, who see mostly very ill patients — such as those with epilepsy, cancer and other serious conditions — will likely not see a drop-off as we are involved in managing the cannabis treatment, not only providing a letter for access,” said Dr. Bonni Goldstein, a pediatrician who began treating both children and adults with cannabis 10 years ago after she saw its medical benefits.

One age group caught between medical and recreational marijuana are those 18 to 20. Medical is legal for anyone 18 and older, so some in that range are likely to continue providing fictitious health conditions so they can get a state medical card and “legally” buy pot.

There also could be a financial incentive for some to seek a medical card even if they don’t have a health problem because medical marijuana will be taxed at a lower rate than recreational marijuana. However, for a casual user, the cost and effort needed to get the card probably won’t be worth the savings.

But as the movement away from dispensaries continues, and as some dispensaries simply morph into full-service pot stores, selling things like candy bars, cannabis-infused wine, pre-rolled joints for the on-the-go crowd, and munchies for the stoned set, some physicians say it’s likely to put the squeeze on those pot doctors who have grown accustomed to just skyping their patient-physician consultations and emailing their prescriptions, er, recommendations.

“You really have physicians following two paths here. On one path are those physicians who continue to practice quality medicine, and on the other are those who just see this as a way of making a lot of money,” said Dr. David Bearman, who has been prescribing medicinal marijuana almost since California legalized it in 1996.

He was inspired in part to co-found the American Academy of Cannabinoid Medicine to separate doctors like himself from the guy he saw put a girl in a bikini outside his clinic with a sign announcing medical marijuana cards were available there for only $39.99.

“This is why the legalization of cannabis for recreational use is so important,” said Goldstein, who like Bearman consults with patients face-to-face for an hour or more and only after they’ve provided medical records proving they have a serious condition she believes cannabis can help alleviate.

“Let the medical patients be medical,” she added, “and let the recreational users use it recreationally.”

DISPENSARIES R offering free 1/8th on YEAR YEAR'S! $200 per OZ about! TOP SHELF HQ!
Many are abusing the MEDICAL PERMIT?
SOME need it 4 real.

 

[Baron23]

Many are abusing the MEDICAL PERMIT?
SOME need it 4 real.

Indeed they do.

 

[Baron23]

100 stores for a state that's basically half of the west coast of the country?? Wow.

Chart: California recreational marijuana sales set to begin in limited number of stores

Recreational cannabis sales officially begin in California today, but fewer than 100 adult-use retail licenses have been issued throughout the state – which may lead to long lines and out-of-stock issues for the rec stores able to open their doors on New Year’s Day.

California’s Bureau of Cannabis Control – the agency overseeing the licensing process for retailers, distributors, microbusinesses and testing labs in the state – began issuing temporary licenses to adult-use companies in mid-December.

Eighty-eight temporary rec store licenses had been issued as of Dec. 31.

Here’s what you need to know about the situation:

• Temporary licenses are issued only to applicants with a valid license, permit or authorization from their local jurisdictions. So businesses located in a municipality that has either banned adult-use cannabis or has not finalized rules to govern and license local marijuana companies are ineligible to receive a temporary license from the state.

• Temporary licenses are good for 120 days, after which a permanent license must be obtained.

• Even though a retailer has been granted a temporary adult-use license, it doesn’t necessarily mean the store will be open New Year’s Day – that’s up to the business owner(s) to decide.

• San Diego, San Jose and Sacramento are the largest cities in the state where rec stores are expected to be open on New Year’s Day. Los Angeles and San Francisco are expected to begin rec sales sometime in early January.

• Temporary adult-use retail licenses have currently been granted in 34 cities, representing 12% of California’s total population.

 

[ataxian]

100 stores for a state that's basically half of the west coast of the country?? Wow.

Chart: California recreational marijuana sales set to begin in limited number of stores

Recreational cannabis sales officially begin in California today, but fewer than 100 adult-use retail licenses have been issued throughout the state – which may lead to long lines and out-of-stock issues for the rec stores able to open their doors on New Year’s Day.

California’s Bureau of Cannabis Control – the agency overseeing the licensing process for retailers, distributors, microbusinesses and testing labs in the state – began issuing temporary licenses to adult-use companies in mid-December.

Eighty-eight temporary rec store licenses had been issued as of Dec. 31.

Here’s what you need to know about the situation:

• Temporary licenses are issued only to applicants with a valid license, permit or authorization from their local jurisdictions. So businesses located in a municipality that has either banned adult-use cannabis or has not finalized rules to govern and license local marijuana companies are ineligible to receive a temporary license from the state.

• Temporary licenses are good for 120 days, after which a permanent license must be obtained.

• Even though a retailer has been granted a temporary adult-use license, it doesn’t necessarily mean the store will be open New Year’s Day – that’s up to the business owner(s) to decide.

• San Diego, San Jose and Sacramento are the largest cities in the state where rec stores are expected to be open on New Year’s Day. Los Angeles and San Francisco are expected to begin rec sales sometime in early January.

• Temporary adult-use retail licenses have currently been granted in 34 cities, representing 12% of California’s total population.

I get it now!
1/8 oz are free with every oz? "that is why"!

 

[Baron23]

“Prohibition is Over”: Day one of recreational sales in California


By Brian Melley and Kathleen Ronayne, The Associated Press

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — From a pot shop in Santa Cruz that hung a banner proclaiming “Prohibition is Over!” to one in San Diego handing out T-shirts showing the first moon landing and declaring a “giant leap for mankind,” the Golden State turned a shade greener with its first sales of recreational marijuana.

Ceremonial ribbon cuttings marked the occasion Monday as the nation’s biggest producer of illicit marijuana moved from the shadows toward a regulated market. Freebies and food greeted those who waited in long lines to get their hands on weed with names like “Oh Geezus” and “Banana Breath.”

“I’m scared, I’m excited, I’m relieved,” exclaimed Kimberly Cargile, director of a shop in Sacramento that has sold medical pot since 2009.

Cargile’s shop, A Therapeutic Alternative, opened at 9 a.m. with the celebratory cutting of a red ribbon — a symbolic gesture that could be seen as a nod to those who cut through red tape in time to open the doors to a new era.

First-day sales were brisk in shops lucky enough to score one of the roughly 100 state licenses issued so far, but would-be customers in some of the state’s largest cities encountered reefer sadness.

Riverside and Fresno outlawed sales and Los Angeles and San Francisco didn’t act soon enough to authorize shops to get state licenses by New Year’s Day.

The state and local governments still have a lot of work ahead to get the massive industry running that is projected to bring in $1 billion annually in tax revenue within several years.

Charles Boldwyn, chief compliance officer of ShowGrow in Santa Ana, which opened to retail customers Monday, said he’s concerned that a delay in local and state approvals could create a shortage of products for consumers.

“We’re looking at … hundreds of licensed cultivators and manufacturers coming out of an environment where we literally had thousands of people who were cultivating and manufacturing,” Boldwyn said. “So the red tape is a bit of a bottleneck in the supply chain.”

Regulators at the Bureau of Cannabis Control worked through the holiday to try to process 1,400 pending license applications for retail sales, distribution, testing facilities and other businesses, bureau spokesman Alex Traverso said.

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A flood of applications for shops in LA and San Francisco is expected after being approved locally. Because Los Angeles is the biggest market in the state, some of those shops will be licensed by the state more quickly than others already in line, Traverso said.

The status of Los Angeles shops highlights broad confusion over the new law.

Los Angeles officials said they won’t begin accepting license applications until Wednesday, and it might take weeks before any licenses are issued. That has led to widespread concern that long-established businesses would have to shut down during the interim.

Attorneys advising a group of city dispensaries have concluded those businesses can legally sell medicinal marijuana as “collectives,” until they obtain local and state licenses under the new system, said Jerred Kiloh of the United Cannabis Business Association, an industry group.

It wasn’t immediately clear how many of those shops, if any, opened.

“My patients are scared, my employees are scared,” said Kiloh, who owns a dispensary in the city’s San Fernando Valley area.

With sales lighting up around California, the nation’s most populous state joined a growing list of others, and the nation’s capital, where so-called recreational marijuana is permitted even though the federal government continues to classify pot as a controlled substance, like heroin and LSD.

The state banned what it called “loco-weed” in 1913, though it has eased criminal penalties for use of the drug since the 1970s and was the first state to legalize marijuana for medicinal purposes in 1996.

California voters in 2016 made it legal for adults 21 and older to grow, possess and use limited quantities of marijuana, but it wasn’t legal to sell it for recreational purposes until Monday.

The signs that California was tripping toward legal pot sales were evident well before the stroke of midnight.

California highways flashed signs before New Year’s Eve that said “Drive high, Get a DUI,” reflecting law enforcement concerns about stoned drivers. Weedmaps, the phone app that allows customers to rate shops, delivery services and shows their locations, ran a full-page ad Sunday in the Los Angeles Times that said, “Smile California. It’s Legal.”

In shops where recreational weed was on the menu, former medical marijuana patients got in line with pot-heads and hippies, as well as first-timers willing to give legal weed a chance.

Heather Sposeto, 50, who is not a marijuana user, wanted to see the hype around legal weed, so she went to Northstar Holistic Collective in Sacramento with her boyfriend, who is a daily pot smoker.

She said it felt surreal to be in a shop with options ranging from chocolate edibles to the green flower and said she was considering taking a toke now that it’s not illicit.

“I come from the era where it was super illegal,” Sposeto said.

At San Diego’s Mankind Cooperative, lines were 40 minutes long and buyers from as far away as Iowa, Kansas and Canada waited with their California cannabis brethren to ogle offerings such as “Island Sweet Skunk” and a particularly potent strain called, “The Sheriff.”

“We’re insane down here. And it’s still going on, girlfriend,” said marketing retailer Cathy Bliss said.

Outside KindPeoples dispensary in Santa Cruz, which tacked up the end of prohibition sign, people gathered in shorts and sweatshirts, winter coats and wool hats while waiting to get inside. A gray-bearded professor emeritus at the University of California, Santa Cruz, wearing a blue sport coat was the first customer.

In Orange County, shops in Santa Ana received the green light over the weekend to open and a steady flow showed up at ShowGrow.

Ellen St. Peter, 61, shopped with her son, Bryce St. Peter, 23, both medical marijuana users.

She said she smoked pot until she had kids and fantasized in her teens about pot shops and “couldn’t have dreamed of this place.”

Her son said he hoped legalization would change the image people have of pot users.

“I work hard and I play hard,” Bryce St. Peter said. “There shouldn’t be this stigma of people being lazy stoners.”

 

[Baron23]

There are many issues and problems in our country for which people, somewhat reasonably, look to government to resolve. But my experience is that government is generally extraordinarily incompetent and inefficient and causes more issues that resolved (yes, I'm a libertarian with a small L and individualist).

Here we have the largest city in a state where MJ is fully legal, and nobody knows what the heck to do because.....wait for it....government has done really shitty job of rolling out the program. Chaos and confusion seems to reign right now.


Confusion Reigns in Los Angeles on California’s First Day of Legal Sales

LOS ANGELES — While much of California is aflutter with legal adult-use cannabis today, businesses in the city of Los Angeles are once again holding their collective breath.



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Although the city released final commercial cannabis regulations in December, businesses won’t be able to apply for licenses until Wednesday. Even then, processing will only be open to Proposition D dispensaries; these are the approximately 135, long-standing medical marijuana shops that have been designated as responsible operators and protected with “limited immunity” from law enforcement.

“Right now there’s a risk in every move we make. No one's giving us clarity.”
Jerred Kiloh, president of the UCBA Trade Association that represents about 70 medical dispensaries in Los Angeles, said what happens between Jan. 1 and when these shops receive provisional licenses—which could be weeks—is anybody’s guess.

While state and local officials have indicated that prosecuting medical shops that have otherwise operated in accordance with state law will not be a priority during the interim period, Kiloh said there’s been no definitive statement on the matter and an overall lack of intelligibility.

“Tell us what we’re supposed to do and we’ll do it,” Kiloh said. “They have made this so complicated that no one knows the answer.”

There’s also the added wildcard of the Los Angeles Police Department, which has been known for sporadic crackdowns and raids on local medical marijuana dispensaries. It is unclear how they will handle this legal limbo period.


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So close to legalization, existing medical dispensaries that want to participate in the state-regulated market are desperately seeking direction in order to avoid jeopardizing their long-awaited shot at licenses.

“Right now there’s a risk in every move we make,” said Kiloh. “We’re in a Catch-22 and no one’s giving us clarity.”

Attorneys and industry experts say a Health and Safety Code statute gives some medical shops a “little bit of cover.”
While some shops considered acting out of an abundance of caution and shutting down completely until they received a provisional license, many reconsidered after hearing from concerned employees who said they would be out of a job—and patients who would be cut off from product, said Kiloh.

Kiloh said he’s done his due diligence. He and other attorneys and industry experts say that a Health and Safety Code statute within a governor’s trailer bill gives some medical shops a “little bit of cover” to continue to operate until they secure the necessary permits. The clause, he said, essentially allows dispensaries to remain open until December 2018 under the nonprofit collective model made legal by California’s Compassionate Use Act of 1996.

“Of course, no one on Jan. 1 can sell adult-use marijuana unless and until they have a local permit in hand and a state license,” said Clark Neubert attorney Ariel Clark, who’s also chair of the Los Angeles Cannabis Task Force, a local industry group.


RELATED STORY
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In all likelihood, the first adult-use shops won’t open in LA for at least another few weeks, said Clark, but even that is just an estimate.

Los Angeles launched the website for its Department of Cannabis Regulation over the weekend. On it, the city minces no words as to whether or not residents will be able to buy commercial cannabis on Jan. 1.

“You can’t,” says the website, which goes on to state that it is illegal to “engage in commercial cannabis activity without a local temporary approval or license.”

 

[Baron23]

Get a pencil: California marijuana-tracking system not used

LOS ANGELES — California’s legal pot economy was supposed to operate under the umbrella of a vast computerized system to track marijuana from seed to storefronts, ensuring that plants are followed throughout the supply chain and don’t drift into the black market.

But recreational cannabis sales began this week without the computer system in use for pot businesses. Instead, they are being asked to document sales and transfers of pot manually, using paper invoices or shipping manifests. That raises the potential that an unknown amount of weed will continue slipping into the illicit market, as it has for years.

For the moment, “you are looking at pieces of paper and self-reporting. A lot of these regulations are not being enforced right now,” said Jerred Kiloh, a Los Angeles dispensary owner who heads the United Cannabis Business Association, an industry group.

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The state Department of Food and Agriculture, which is overseeing the tracking system, said in a statement it was “implemented” Tuesday. However, it conceded that growers and sellers are not required to use it yet and training on how to input data will be necessary before it becomes mandatory, apparently later in the year.

The slow rollout of the tracking system is just one sign of the daunting task facing the nation’s most populous state as it attempts to transform its long-standing medicinal and illegal marijuana markets into a multibillion-dollar regulated system. Not since the end of Prohibition in 1933 has such an expansive illegal economy been reshaped into a legal one.

So far, it’s been an unsteady start.

Business licenses issued to growers, distributors and sellers are temporary and will need to be redone or extended later this year. Much of the state is blacked out from recreational sales because of the scarcity of licenses and because some local governments banned commercial pot activity.

“There are a lot of things inside the law that are transitional. I don’t think it’s as rigid as people want it to sound,” Kiloh said.

Another risk is that some consumers might stay in the black market to avoid sticker shock from hefty taxes. And there are concerns that a new distribution system will fail to get cannabis to shelves once current stockpiles run out, possibly in weeks.

Cathy Bliss at Mankind Cooperative in San Diego said the store did not have as much pot in stock as it would have liked.

Charles Boldwyn, chief compliance officer of ShowGrow in Santa Ana, which opened to customers Monday, said the relatively small number of licenses issued so far could create a bottleneck, cutting off pot from stores selling it.

“The biggest hurdle we see, right out of the gate, is that starting today our access to product is limited,” Boldwyn said.

The tracking system is part of the state’s maze of rules and regulations intended to govern the emerging $7 billion pot economy, the nation’s largest. They range from where cannabis can be grown and smoked to environmental safeguards for streams near marijuana fields.

According to state law, the tracking system will provide “data points for the different stages of commercial activity, including, but not limited to, cultivation, harvest, processing, distribution, inventory and sale.”

It’s also intended to help the state keep track of taxes.

According to the state, businesses holding annual licenses will be required use the tracking system, but those issued so far to growers and retailers have been temporary and they “are not required” to use the system.

The expanded legal sales could offer a rich payoff for the state treasury. California expects to pull in $1 billion annually in taxes within several years.

The move into an era of legalization was marked across the state Monday with ceremonial ribbon cuttings and door prizes at dispensaries.

The path to legalization began in 2016 when voters approved Proposition 64, which opened the way for legal pot sales to adults. Medical marijuana has been legal in California for about two decades.

With the 2016 vote, it became legal for adults 21 and older to grow, possess and use limited quantities of marijuana, but it was not legal to sell it for recreational purposes until Monday.

The state did not issue rules for the new marketplace until late last year, and cities and counties have struggled to fashion their own. Los Angeles and San Francisco are among those where recreational pot sales have been delayed.

California joined a growing list of states, and the nation’s capital, where recreational marijuana is permitted, even though the federal government continues to classify pot as a controlled substance, like heroin and LSD.

Meanwhile, Los Angeles officials said they would begin accepting applications Wednesday from medical marijuana shops to expand their sales to recreational pot. Temporary city licenses could go out as soon as Monday, which would then clear the way for the state to issue licenses for recreational sales.

Unlicensed medical marijuana shops in LA that continue to supply customers in the interim would technically be violating state law, but Los Angeles police won’t crack down on those operating in good faith, Assistant Chief Michel Moore said. He said police would focus on pot operations run by felons or that attract gang activity or violence.

 

[Baron23]

What a frakin mess.

How legalization is already hurting California's small pot farmers

Brian Chaplin was dining in town when he received a text from one of his pot trimmers: "We just got fucking robbed 911." Chaplin shoveled down one final bite of his apple crisp and rushed back to the small cottage homestead – a few chicken coops, a vegetable garden, a rustic house and a 2,500-square foot cannabis greenhouse – nestled among silver oaks and Jeffrey pines in the rolling hills of Grass Valley, California.

Several men in tactical gear, posing as authorities and armed with rifles, had ambushed the property, Chaplin tells Rolling Stone. The trimmer told him that the robbers pointed an AR15 at one of the trimmers and asked him to get down on the ground. Then they blindfolded and tied up four employees, he adds, and stole a $10,000 GreenBroz trim machine and nearly 100 pounds of bud.

As founder of Medicine Box, an organic small-batch cannabis brand, Chaplin had been growing the majority of this crop for the Caladrius Network, which provides free medical marijuana to catastrophically ill children.

Of course, Chaplin immediately called the cops. "That's what any normal person would do when their home gets invaded," he says. "I have nothing to hide." But when the real sheriffs finished investigating the crime scene after the robbery, they sent back a narcotics task force with a search warrant.

"That's when the double fuck happened," Chaplin says. They cleaned out the greenhouse and the remaining bud in the drying room. A search warrant is simply "good police work," says Lieutenant Rob Bringolf with the Nevada County Sheriff's Office — it serves to protect evidence that could be included in an investigation. "We have a home invasion robbery and what looked like a criminal marijuana operation," says Bringolf. "We're better off getting a search warrant so we don't lose any evidence."

Legality is more nuanced than it may seem in a state that legalized weed. And California's mom-and-pop growers like Chaplin are up against a confluence of factors pushing them out of the industry: federal prohibition increasingly backed by Attorney General Jeff Sessions, conflicting state and local regulations, big business competition, black market competition and a tricky relationship to the law enforcement they need for protection.

Since California passed Proposition 64 in November 2016, legalizing cannabis for adults 21 and older, policymakers have struggled through the unwieldy process of crafting regulations for the new adult use and medical cannabis market, which launched on January 1st. Late last November, they released emergency regulations, offering cannabis businesses temporary licensing until the regulations are worked out.

However, in order to get a state license, generally a cannabis business must first obtain a local license. The state officially has hundreds of localities, but not every one will set up cannabis regulations; in fact, a handful don't want legal canna-businesses altogether. Like thousands of other cannabis cultivators, Chaplin lives where local law currently undercuts Prop 64's intentions to create a statewide legal cannabis market.

Grass Valley occupies the western region of Nevada County, home to some 10,000 cannabis farms. In June 2016, voters defeated a complete ban on cultivation. But what they got was hardly better: a 12-plant cap for land parcels between five and 10 acres.

"You might as well say there's a ban on cultivation," says Chaplin. "It's basically cutting out everyone, [because] no one is in compliance." No one who wants to participate in the state's legal marketplace has only 12 plants, he says.

Only large-scale farms – 25-acres or more – can have up to 25 plants, which makes it hard for the little guy to compete in the market. Sean Powers, director of Nevada County's Community Development Agency, says the rationale behind the law was to lower the impact on neighboring properties.

"As far as cannabis activity, odor is probably the biggest one," he says. "Some folks really just don't like it. Other folks have concerns with the size of the grow as far as property crime, or simply traffic."

However, these rules are debilitating to many small farmers, who have no choice but to shut down or risk operating in violation of local law. Nonetheless, these are only interim regulations – final rules might allow for more. The hope is to have some new regulations work out within the next few months, but even Powers admits that as the rules undergo development "depending on parcel size, one grower might fall in, one might fall out."

But that's already putting small farmers at a disadvantage — dispensaries can only buy weed from licensed farms; anyone who's not in the system now has less opportunity to stake out market share later.

Though violating local cannabis law is only a civil violation, it's subject to tens of thousands of dollars in fines. According to the California Department of Food and Agriculture, which oversees cannabis cultivation, unlicensed operations can be fined up to three times the amount of a license fee for each day they remain unlicensed. However, growers like Chaplin aren't criminals outright, even though they're in violation of civil code.

Many have been operating for decades under Prop 215, which legalized medical marijuana in 1996, and under SB 420, the 2003 law which set up a nonprofit model for patients to provide patients with cannabis. And they still have some time to use their compliance with these older laws as a defense in court until those laws sunset in December.

In places like Nevada County, cannabis regulatory enforcement is still left up to the sheriffs. "There will be a paradigm shift, since this is more of a code enforcement issue and not necessarily a law enforcement issue," Bringolf says. But there's a line in the sand where civil violations end and criminal violations begin – for example, it's still possible to commit a marijuana crime under Prop 64 if you're dealing with too much weight.

The issue is when you're called to a property like Chaplin's in response to one crime, and sense that another crime might also be in progress, says Bringolf. "If we were there doing a compliance check, we wouldn't be doing a criminal investigation," he says. "But when we get there and identify [certain] elements met for a crime, then we have to switch gears."

Going forward as the law changes, sheriffs will need to compare local statutes with the information they observe at the scene so they can properly distinguish among compliance, noncompliance and criminality. But whether law enforcement will get official training to make those distinctions is another story.

Because of the murky way in which the original laws were set up, cannabis cultivators had little governmental oversight as they developed what became the world's largest cannabis industry. Those who survived prohibition pre-Prop 64 are now vulnerable to extinction.

After years of stigmatization and legal risk, they've finally helped legitimize cannabis cultivation, now attractive to better capitalized players who could weed them out. To make matters worse, after having promised small growers a one-acre cap on farms before Prop 64 even passed, newly released regulations don't have acreage caps, which essentially invites big business. In some places, you need a minimum acreage and a couple hundred thousand in the bank just to qualify for a license.

"It's a continued form of prohibition," says Monica Senter, founding executive board member of the Nevada County Cannabis Alliance. "The NorCal cannabis brand is born on the backs of these farmers [and] now large corporate farmers are coming in and capitalizing on it.

And Prop 64 allows that to happen." In rural jurisdictions like Nevada County, conservative municipalities are often naive to trends in progressive cannabis regulation. "There's a culture clash in rural California," says Senter, "which results in a negative impact on the small farmer."

Cannabis industry players fall into three demographics, explains Tawnie Logan, chair of the California Growers Association, and founder of a new consulting company Canna Code Compliance. "About 10 percent of the industry is 100 percent in.

They have the perfect property secured, they have financing, business acumen and they're sold on the concept that the regulated market is the future," she says. "About 30 percent are in a position of 'black market for life,' they'll never make the transition."

Then there's the remaining 60 percent, who, she says, fall into three factions. The first consists of operators who want to become regulated, but have been disqualified. The second faction is under-resourced – they either have no access to banking or can't get loans.

And the third faction are those who meet local regs and have resources, but they're hedging their bets. "They're not completely sold that the newly regulated market is the future, or can [help them] successfully make a profit," Logan says.

But it's important, she adds, to distinguish between the unregulated market and the clearly defined black market – operators who defy best practices, grow on public lands and traffic human beings. "In the unregulated market, operators have gone above and beyond the call of duty, but still don't have access to licenses," she says. So they're regulating themselves, since they don't officially comply with local regulations. And that's the group who's getting screwed.

"Small farmers, on the one hand, provide irreplaceable value to the economy and culture [of the cannabis industry], and on the other hand they're very vulnerable," says Hezekiah Allen, executive director of the California Growers Association. "The financial sector has a long history of devastating small farms and the culture that surrounds them in the relentless pursuit of profit."

Allen suggests that consumers should buy from dispensaries that support farmers with the best practices. "Know your retailer, know your farmer," Allen says. "I don't like to be negative, but don't buy 'Walmart Weed,' yo." The greatest defense for small farmers in post-prohibition California is an educated consumer: one who buys locally, says Allen, and who cares about the kind of weed they're putting in their body and the care that goes into growing it.

Small-batch cultivators, who often grow outdoors, have the bandwidth to attend individually to their plants, differentiating boutique bud from cannabis cash crop grown large-scale by new Green Rush businesses who meet minimum standards for "organic," and often pay little attention to their environmental impact.

"Amazon didn't buy Whole Foods by mistake. People are interested in craft, well-made healthy products," says Michael Katz, co-founder of the Emerald Exchange cannabis farmers market. "That's what the craft farmers of Northern California have and do better than anyone else when it comes to cannabis. That heritage and legacy is what makes California cannabis special, and without that there's no difference between us and Colorado, Nevada or Arizona."

As for Chaplin, he's remaining optimistic. "The grass isn't always greener in another county," he says, hoping to stick it out in Nevada County. "We're the third-largest producer of craft cannabis in the state, after Humboldt and Mendocino."

As a board member of the Nevada County Cannabis Alliance, he hopes his feedback is finally getting through to the county administration: raise the plant canopy – the maximum plant count for smaller parcels – and keep out non-residents, particularly out-of-town big businesses that could come in and buy up land for large-scale grow operations. "To me, the mega-grows don't have the pulse of cannabis and cannabis culture, and I want to preserve that," says Chaplin.

In the meantime, he's trying to get reimbursed for the value of the cannabis the narcotics task force seized after the robbery. He's also preparing his state license application, so he can apply as soon as Nevada County releases its new regulations. And luckily for him, upon receiving evidence from the sheriffs, the D.A. told Chaplin's lawyer he wouldn't press charges.

"The reason why I called the cops is that I don't want to be underground, I don't want to be black market," says Chaplin. "Here I am at [county] meetings as an Alliance board member, I have a brand, and they know who I am and what I'm doing."

In spite of better-funded competition entering California's Green Rush, the tension between state and local laws and an industry at risk of losing its culture, the established cannabis community is resilient. "We're just going to keep doing what we're doing," Chaplin says.

Now, instead of operating in shadows of the law, Chaplin and those like him are nearly begging for the opportunity to be legal. After all, the state does authorize it. "So if we're moving away from prohibition [toward] legalization, then we're pushing for healthy regulation in the county that everyone should be able to follow," he says. "Reasonable regulation will hopefully mitigate these issues. We're all fighting for change."

 

[Baron23]

CHP Seizure of Legal Cannabis Outrages California Farmers

January 9, 2018

Old Kai Distribution cofounders Matthew Mandelker, right, and Lucas Seymour, who are licensed cannabis distributors, pose for a portrait beside a delivery van loaded with product at their warehouse near Ukiah, California on Tuesday, December 26, 2017. Despite state and county cannabis licenses, a vanload of product from Old Kai Distribution was siezed by CHP during a traffic stop of one of their delivery vehicles. (Alvin Jornada / The Press Democrat)​

On Friday night Dec. 22, three days before Christmas and ten days before California ushered in legal retail sales of marijuana for adult use, California Highway Patrol officers pulled over the truck of a locally-licensed marijuana distributor near North State Street and Pomo Lane, just north of the Mendocino County seat of Ukiah.


The truck for Old Kai Distribution was carrying 1,875 pounds of plant material from three local farms. It was to be sorted and inventoried at the company’s Ukiah factory, given traceable bar codes, sent out for sample testing at cannabis laboratories and, eventually, shipped to licensed concentrate manufacturers.

Old Kai co-founder Lucas Seymour said the CHP officers pulled over his drivers after apparently noticing some malfunctioning running lights on the frame of the truck. Ultimately, the CHP summoned officers from a regional major crimes task force, seized the cannabis, impounded the truck and cited the Old Kai driver and a passenger with misdemeanor counts of possession of marijuana for sale and unlawful transportation.

“They were charged with transportation and possession, which is exactly what our license is for,” Seymour said.

Old Kai’s attorney tried to intervene, and the company provided on-site documentation of having been approved for an adult use and medical marijuana distribution license by Mendocino County on Dec. 19, Lucas said. It also provided documents to show the company was also operating legally as a medical marijuana collective.

Seymour told Leafly that one of the CHP officers scoffed at the documentation, saying, “How do I know you didn’t just print this off the internet?”


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Officer Jake Slates, a spokesman for the CHP’s Ukiah office, later told the Santa Rosa Press-Democrat newspaper that commercial transportation of cannabis wasn’t permitted until retail sales begin for adult use on Jan. 1, 2018. “Let’s say they went through and got all the documentation and it’s 100 percent legal – it’s still illegal because it’s before Jan. 1, 2018,” Slates told the newspaper.

But Old Kai and its attorney, Joe Rogoway, say the Highway Patrol’s interpretation was wrong. They say the company’s local distribution permit was legally valid for transport within the county under Mendocino County ordinances and that Old Kai was also operating lawfully under medical marijuana regulations signed by Gov. Jerry Brown in October, 2015.

A spokesman for the state Bureau of Cannabis Control declined to comment on the matter.

Now Old Kai’s founders and local cannabis farmers, while lacking proof, say they believe law enforcement officials have destroyed the seized cannabis – which, if true, would be a devastating financial loss for the company and local farmers whose product was being shipped.

Farmers Demand Action from Supervisors
Last Tuesday, concerned marijuana farmers crowded into the meeting of the Mendocino County Board of Supervisors, demanding information as well as action by supervisors to protest the CHP seizure.

Rogoway decried “a grave injustice,” saying the incident will frighten regional cannabis farmers and businesses that trusted the regulated marijuana economy would offer protection “to come out of the shadows” without putting livelihoods and liberties at risk.

“What is at issue here,” Rogoway said, “is why bother? Why should I participate in the system and put myself in jeopardy? If this is what happens to Old Kai, what will happen to me?”

Old Kai co-founder Matthew Mandelker told supervisors that the traffic stop stoked fears the Mendocino marijuana community still can’t feel safe from raids and seizure – even as the robust California cannabis economy seeks to roll back generations of prohibition.

“For too long, this industry has treated as if it is outside the social, civil and legal economic fabric of this community,” Mandelker protested. He added: “It is our understanding that the product has been destroyed, which is an outrage, just unfathomable in 2018 that were dealing with this.”

Where’s the Cannabis? CHP: No Comment
Highway Patrol spokesman Sgt. Coady Corrigan in Ukiah declined to respond to inquiries from Leafly on what happened to the seized cannabis. “We’ve been directed to refer all inquiries to the Mendocino County District Attorney’s office,” he said.

'What is the issue? We don't even have it officially under review.'
Mike Geniella, spokesman for Mendocino DA David Eyster
But Mike Geniella, a spokesman for District Attorney David Eyster said the DA still hadn’t received the case file from the CHP to determine whether it would proceed with prosecution.

“We don’t have anything to review,” he said. “What is this about? What is the issue? We don’t even have it officially under review.”

Geniella said Monday he still had no clue on the mystery over the whereabouts, or status, of the seized cannabis. He referred questions to the sheriff’s department, which has declined comment to media outlets, including Leafly.

Before the Board of Supervisors on Tuesday, anguished cannabis farmer Joshua Artman of the Mendocino community of Covelo touched his right hand to his heart and vented.

“Most of that product (seized) was mine,” said Artman, a former federal employee with the U.S. Geological Survey. He had come to the county a decade ago to cultivate cannabis. His farm, Blue Nose Botanicals, was among the first to sign up for the county’s local 9.31 permitting program, placing its trust in the sheriff’s sergeant who came out to inspect and tag his plants – before a 2011 federal raid on another farm killed the program.

Artman and the county embraced local regulation anew after the California Legislature passed a framework for governing the medical marijuana economy and, this year, consolidated those rules with adult use regulations under Proposition 64. Now he was feeling emotionally, and possibly financially, crushed after the Old Kai seizure.

“I had signed up for everything,” Artman told supervisors, noting that he had just walked past the county tax collector’s office before entering the board room. “I don’t know how many times I’ve been in there paying them money” in local taxes and licensing fees. “I don’t know what to tell my family. We believed in you. We believed these regulations would be meaningful. We believed that signing up would amount to something and that there would be smart enforcement.”


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‘Express Your Dismay’
A procession of speakers in the open comment period argued that the county should form a task force to address break downs in communications and understanding with law enforcement.

“This should not be met with silence from the board,” thundered Covelo resident Charles Sargenti. “I urge the board to express in as strong as manner possible your dismay and disappointment in regards to this incident. There should be no uncertainly on where you stand.”

Supervisors in the cannabis-friendly county were trying to catch up with the details of the incident. Beyond public comment, there was nothing on the agenda related the matter. But, without offering specifics, board chairman Dan Hamburg promised supervisors would explore actions to address the situation.

“Obviously, this Old Kai situation has brought up a lot of concern, a lot of anger,” Hamburg said. “The board realizes this is a serious situation that needs to be addressed. I want to assure people of that.”

Has the Cannabis Already Been Destroyed?
Seymour of Old Kai said he fears the seized cannabis was destroyed under state laws that allow destruction of confiscated cannabis in excess of 10 pounds without a court order. The state health and safety statute, amended in June, 2017, specifies that authorities can destroy any amount of medical cannabis above limits set by local ordinances. But Seymour argues that Mendocino County specifies no quantity limits for locally-permitted distribution.

Even though he conceded he has no direct evidence the seized product is gone, Seymour said his is convinced that “all signs point to the cannabis being destroyed.

“At this point, if it wasn’t destroyed we would have heard something through the grapevine,” he said. “And we have not heard much from anybody.”

 

[Baron23]

Updated list


List of open adult-use stores in California
Submitted by Marijuana News on Thu, 01/18/2018 - 09:36

How to find a licensed adult-use cannabis store in California? That may be tougher than you think.

Temporary licenses from California’s Bureau of Cannabis Control, which took effect Jan. 1, have gone out to several dozen stores. The bureau is updating that list of retailers daily, and we’re tracking the list in the table below. The licenses aren’t absolute guarantees that those stores will be open, but it’s the best information we have at the moment. Click through on the live link to find store hours and, in many cases, full menus of the product available.

** PLEASE NOTE ** If you’re going to purchase from an adult-use cannabis store, bring cash. It’s best to assume that most stores cannot take credit cards or other non-cash forms of payment.

City Store Name Address Phone Expected Opening Day
Arcata Humboldt Patient Resource Center 980 6th Street (707) 826-7988 Jan 9, 10am
Ben Lomond Central Coast Wellness Center 7932 Highway 9 (831) 704-7340 Jan 1
Ben Lomond Redwood Coast Collective 10090 Highway 9 (831) 336-8795 Jan 1, 10am
Berkeley Berkeley Patients Group 2366 San Pablo Ave (510) 540-6013 Jan 1, 6am
Berkeley CBCB 3033 Shattuck Ave (510) 849-4201 Jan 1, 9am
Berkeley Patient's Care Collective - Berkeley 2590 Telegraph Ave (510) 540-7878 Jan 5, 10am
Boulder Creek Creekside Wellness 12603 Highway 9 (831) 338-3840 Jan 1
Carmel Big Sur Cannabotanicals 26352 Carmel Rancho Lane
Castroville Higher Level of Care 10665 Merritt Street (831) 453-7180 Jan 1
Cathedral City Atomic Budz 68415 Perez Road, Suite A Jan 2
Cathedral City Cathedral City Care Collective 36633 Cathedral Canyon Drive (760) 832-6417 Jan 1
Cathedral City Cathedral City Care Collective North 28201 Date Palm Drive (760) 832-6417 Jan 1
Cathedral City CC Releaf 68444 Perez Road, Suite H (710) 615-5225 Jan 1
Cathedral City Green Cross Pharma 68730 Summit Drive (760) 832-7194 Jan 1
Cathedral City HOTN Cultivation Co. 68945 Vista Chino (760) 832-7614 Jan 1
Cathedral City Mother Earth's Farmacy 36633 Cathedral Canyon Drive (760) 832-8348 Jan 1
Cathedral City No Wait Meds 68860 Ramon Road (760) 333-1338 Jan 1
Cathedral City Omega Group 6803 Ramod Road #103 (818) 281-7080 Jan 1
Cathedral City P&S Ventures 36380 Bankside Drive Jan 1
Cathedral City West Coast Cannabis Club 68828 Ramon Road (760) 689-2582 Jan 1
Clearlake Triple C Collective 14196 Lakeshore Drive (707) 701-4160 Jan 5
Clearlake Lakeside Herbal Solution 4345 Mullen Ave (707) 994-3721 Jan 12, 10am
Cotati Mercy Wellness 7950 Redwood Drive, Suite 8 (707) 795-1600 Jan 2, 10am
Crows Landing Bynate Cooperative 21931 Highway 33 Unknown Unknown
Del Rey Oaks (Monterey) Monterey Bay Alternative Medicine 800 Portola Drive (831) 393-2500 Jan 1
Desert Hot Springs Brown Dog Health & Wellness 66595 Pierson Blvd (760) 417-4301 Jan 5, 9am
Desert Hot Springs Desert Hot Springs Wellness 66321 Pierson Blvd Jan 16
Desert Hot Springs Deserts Finest 12106 Palm Drive (833) GET-KUSH Jan 1
Desert Hot Springs Green Pearl 64949 Mission Lakes Boulevard (760) 894-3146 Jan 1
Emeryville East Bay Therapeutics 3620 San Pablo Ave
Eureka Ecocann 306 F Street (707) 572-0850 Jan 1
Eureka Humboldt County Collective 1670 Myrtle Ave, Suite B (707) 442-2420 Jan 2
Fort Bragg Herban Legend 17875 N. Highway 1 (707) 961-0113 Jan 12
Hayward Garden of Eden 21227 Foothill Blvd Jan 1
Hayward We Are Hemp 913 East Lewelling Blvd (510) 276-2628 Jan 5
Hopland Emerald Pharms 13771 S. Highway 101 (707) 669-4819 Jan 1, 10am
Laytonville Artifact Nursery 44650 Highway 101, Suite F (707) 984-8482 Jan 5, 10am
Los Angeles (Maywood) Cookies 5815 Maywood Avenue (310) 593-9908 Jan 16
Los Gatos Santa Cruz Mountain Herbs 22990 Highway 17 (408) 353-1717 Jan 1, 11am
Mendocino Sol de Mendocino / Love In It 10470 Lansing Street (707) 937-3123 Jan 1, 11am
Modesto The Genezen Project 485 Bitritto Way Unknown
Modesto The Healing Flower 1060 Reno Ave, Suite D (209) 577-1660 Jan 13
Modesto NRC Holistic 5272 Jerusalem Court, Suite D (209) 322-5129 Jan 5
Modesto The Peoples Remedy 1350 Lone Palm Ave (209) 735-2107 Jan 10
Mount Shasta The Cypress Group 407 Berry Street Jan 1
Mount Shasta Elevate Shasta Wellness 401 Berry Street (949) 212-0055 Jan 1
Mount Shasta Mount Shasta Patients Collective 408 South Mt. Shasta Blvd. (530) 926-6337 Jan 1
Oakland Blum Oakland 578 West Grand Ave (510) 338-3632 Jan 1, 10am
Oakland Harborside Health Center 1840 Embarcadero (888) 994-2726 Jan 1, 6am
Oakland Purple Heart 415 4th Street (510) 625-7877 Jan 1
Palm Springs Desert Organic Solutions 19486 Newhall Street (760) 288-4000 Jan 1, 9am
Palm Springs Palm Springs Safe Access 1247 Gene Autry Trail (760) 322-3314 Jan 1
Palm Springs PSA Organica 400 E. Sunny Dunes Road (760) 778-1053 Jan 12
Richmond 7 Stars Holistic Healing Center 3288 Pierce Street (Pacific East Mall) (510) 527-7827 Jan 9, 10am
Richmond Holistic Healing Collective 155501 San Pablo Ave (510) 275-3365 Jan 1, 10am
Rio Vista Delta Roots Collective 21 Richard Brann Drive Unknown
Rio Vista Rio Vista Farms 11 Richard Brann Drive (833) 424-4283 Unknown
Riverbank Pacafi Cooperative 2213 Patterson Road Unknown
Sacramento 515 Broadway 515 Broadway (844) SAC-WEED Jan 12
Sacramento Abatin Wellness Center 2100 29th Street Jan 1
Sacramento All About Wellness 1900 19th Street (916) 454-4327 Jan 1
Sacramento Alpine Alternative 8112 Alpine Avenue Jan 1
Sacramento Alternative Medical Center 1220 Blumenfeld Drive Jan 1
Sacramento Cloud 9 Alliance 5711 Florin Perkins Road (916) 387-8605 Jan 8
Sacramento Florin Wellness Center 1421 47th Ave (916) 706-0563 Jan 6
Sacramento Golden Health & Wellness 1115 Fee Drive Jan 1
Sacramento Greendoor Metro 6492 Florin Perkins Road (916) 382-9766 Jan 1, 10am
Sacramento CC101 6435 Florin Perkins Road (916) 387-6233 Jan 9
Sacramento Horizon Collective 3600 Power Inn Road (916) 455-1931 Jan 1
Sacramento House of Organics 8848 Fruitridge Road (916) 381-3769 Jan 12
Sacramento Hugs Alternative Care 2035 Stockton Blvd (916) 452-3699 Jan 9, 9am
Sacramento Northstar Holistic 1236 C Street (916) 476-4344 Jan 1
Sacramento River City Phoenix 1508 El Camino Ave Jan 1
Sacramento Sacramento Community Cannabis 2831 Fruitridge Road, Suite E Jan 1
Sacramento South Sacramento Care Center 114 A Otto Circle (916) 393-1820 Jan 12
Sacramento Safe Accessible Solutions 8125 36th Avenue (916) 386-9840 Jan 12
Sacramento THC Sacramento 6666 Fruitridge Road #C (916) 476-4431 Jan 12
Sacramento A Therapeutic Alternative 3015 H Street (916) 400-3095 Jan 1, 9am
Sacramento Valley Health Options 1421 Auburn Blvd Jan 1
Sacramento Zen Garden Wellness 2201 Northgate Blvd, Suite H (916) 292-8120 Jan 12
Salinas East of Eden 514 Work Street
Salinas Emerald Skyway 1610 Moffett Street, Suite A Jan 2
San Bernardino (Unnamed) 100 Hospitality Lane, Suite 2 Unknown Unknown
San Diego Emerald Courtyard 3455 Camino Del Rio S
San Diego Balboa Avenue Cooperative 8863 Balboa Ave, Suite E Jan 5
San Diego SDRC San Diego Recreational Cannabis 1333 Camino Del Rio South, Suite 1299 Unknown
San Diego THCSD 3703 Camino Del Rio Street (858) 324-2420 Jan 1
San Diego A Green Alternative Cooperative 2335 Roll Drive (844) 665-0420 Jan 1
San Diego Mankind Cooperative 7128 Miramar Road (858) 247-0953 Jan 1
San Diego Golden State Greens Point Loma 3452 Hancock (619) 268-8035 Jan 1
San Diego Southwest Patient Group 658 San Ysidro Blvd (619) 663-6337 Jan 3, 8am
San Diego Torrey Holistics 10671 Roselle St (858) 558-1420 Jan 1
San Diego Urbn Leaf 1028 Buenos Ave (619) 275-2235 Jan 1
San Francisco The Apothecarium - Castro 2029 Market Street (415) 500-2620 Jan 6
San Francisco The Apothecarium - SoMa 527 Howard Street (415) 834-5225 Jan 12
San Francisco Barbary Coast 952 Mission Street (415) 243-4400 Jan 12, 8am
San Francisco Grass Roots 1077 Post Street (415) 346-4338 Jan 6, 8am
San Francisco The Green Cross SF 4218 Mission Street (415) 648-4420 Jan 6
San Francisco Harvest off Mission 33 29th Street (415) 814-3273 Jan 12, 11am
San Francisco Harvest on Geary 4811 Geary Blvd (415) 702-6767 Jan 6, 9am
San Francisco Medithrive 1933 Mission Street (415) 562-6334 Jan 6, 10am
San Francisco Pure 710SF 49 Kearny Street, 3rd floor (415) 654-5275 Jan 16
San Francisco Purple Star MD 2520 Mission Street (415) 550-1515 Jan 12, 9:30am
San Francisco Releaf Herbal Cooperative 1284 Mission Street (415) 487-0420 Jan 6
San Francisco Sffogg 211 12th Street (415) 896-4271 Jan 12
San Francisco Shambhala Healing 2441 Mission Street (415) 970-9333 Jan 9, 10am
San Francisco Sparc 473 Haight Street (415) 805-1085 Jan 12
San Jose Airfield Supply Co. 1190 Coleman Ave (408) 320-0230 Jan 1, 9am
San Jose Buddy's Cannabis 1075 N. 10th Street (408) 298-8837 Jan 1, 9am
San Jose CA Collective 210 Phelan Avenue (408) 809-4301 Jan 1, 9am
San Jose Caliva 1695 South 7th St (408) 297-2615 Jan 1, 9am
San Jose Canna Culture Collective 3591 Charter Park Drive (408) 264-7877 Jan 1, 9am
San Jose Elemental Wellness 985 Timothy Drive (408) 433-3344 Jan 1, 9am
San Jose Harborside Health Center 1365 North 10th St (888) 994-2726 Jan 1, 9am
San Jose Natural Herbal Pain Relief 2121 South 10th St (408) 283-9333 Jan 1
San Jose Purple Lotus 752 Commercial St (408) 456-0420 Jan 1, 9am
San Jose Theraleaf 1014 Timothy Drive Jan 1, 9am
San Jose White Fire 111 Old Tully Road (408) 564-4512 Jan 1, 9am
Santa Ana 10 Spot Collective 3242 S. Halladay Street (800) 836-7768 Jan 2
Santa Ana 55 OC Collective 2911 Tech Center Drive
Santa Ana Bud and Bloom 1327 St. Gertrude Place (714) 576-2150 Jan 2
Santa Ana Cookies OC 2400 Pullman Street, Unit B Jan 1
Santa Ana 420 Central 420 Central Avenue (714) 540-4420 Jan 1, 7am
Santa Ana Evergreen Santa Ana 1320 E Edinger Ave (714) 486-1806 Jan 2
Santa Ana From The Earth 3023 South Orange Avenue (657) 444-7336 Jan 1, 7am
Santa Ana Green Rose Green Leaf 1325 St. Andrew Place Jan 1
Santa Ana MedMen OC 2141 Wright Street (714) 515-8506 Jan 1, 7am
Santa Ana New Generation 3700 W. Segerstrom Ave (657) 900-8200 Jan 3, 7am
Santa Ana OC3 3122 Halladay Street (714) 754-1348 Jan 1
Santa Ana People's OC 2721 Grand Avenue (714) 582-3446 Jan 1, 8am
Santa Ana ShowGrow Santa Ana 1625 E St. Gertrude Place (949) 565-4769 Jan 1, 7am
Santa Ana Super Clinik 2525 South Birch Street (714) 557-2050 Jan 3
Santa Cruz CannaCruz 115 Limekiln St (831-420-DABS Jan 1
Santa Cruz KindPeoples 140 Dubois (831) 824-6200 Jan 1, 7am
Santa Cruz Capitola Healing Association 3088 Winkle Ave (831) 475-5506 Jan 1
Santa Cruz KindPeoples 3600 Soquel Ave (831) 471-8562 Jan 1
Santa Cruz Santa Cruz Veterans Alliance 2827 Rodeo Gulch Rd (831) 431-6347 Jan 1
Santa Cruz/Aptos Santa Cruz Naturals 9077 Soquel Drive (831) 688-7266 Jan 1
Santa Cruz/Soquel Therapeutic Healthcare Collective 5011 Soquel Drive (831) 713-5641 Jan 1
Santa Cruz/Soquel Treehouse 3651 Soquel Drive (831) 471-8289 Jan 1
Seaside Higher Level of Care Seaside 310 Amador Avenue Unknown
Sebastopol Solful 785 Gravenstein Hwy S (707) 596-9040 Jan 1
Sebastopol Sparc Sebastopol 6771 Sebastopol Ave (707) 823-4206 Jan 1, 10:30am
Shasta Lake 530 Cannabis 1550 Locust Ave (530) 275-0420 Jan 1
Shasta Lake Leave It To Nature 5340 Shasta Dave Blvd (530) 691-7199
Shasta Lake The Queen of Dragons 5044 Shasta Dam Blvd (530) 276-9771 Jan 1
Ukiah Compassionate Heart 190 Kuki Lane, #2 (707) 462-5100 Jan 12
Ukiah Kure Wellness 800 Lake Mendocino (707) 621-5390 Jan 1
Ukiah Revolution Emporium 3081 North State Street (707) 484-0248 Jan 1
West Hollywood (Los Angeles) AHHS 7828 Santa Monica Blvd (323) 654-8792 Jan 2
West Hollywood (Los Angeles) LAPCG 7213 Santa Monica Blvd (323) 882-6033 Jan 2
West Hollywood (Los Angeles) MedMen WeHo 8208 Santa Monica Blvd (323) 848-7981 Jan 2
West Hollywood (Los Angeles) Zen Healing West Hollywood 8464 Santa Monica Blvd (323) 656-6666 Jan 2
West Hollywood (Los Angeles) Zen Healing Collective 8464 Santa Monica Blvd Jan 2
Woodlake Valley Pure 132 Valencia Blvd Jan 1
We’re also tracking California’s major cities and noting how they’re handling retail cannabis. Some major cities and counties are allowing and licensing retail stores; others are banning all cannabis companies outright. Our list of major cities starts below the table of pre-licensed retail stores.

Note: Local ordinances often determine opening dates and times. Oakland, for instance, allows 6am openings while in San Jose 9am is the earliest opening time. In West Hollywood, adult-use stores opened on Jan. 2 due to local government rules. Our main piece of advice for those who want to enjoy the excitement: Please call ahead, and confirm your local store’s hours of operation.

Top 15 California Cities and Their Laws

Here’s a list of the largest California cities and a few other notable locations.

1. Los Angeles: Allowing retail cannabis stores, but they won’t be licensed by Jan. 1. The first shops are expected to open shortly thereafter. NOTE: Adult-use stores in West Hollywood opened on Jan. 2.

2. San Diego: Retail stores are now open.

3. San Jose: Retail stores are now open.

4. San Francisco: Adult-use stores are expected to be licensed and open around Jan. 5.

5. Fresno: No retail cannabis stores allowed in the city.

6. Sacramento: Retail stores are now open.

7. Long Beach: Long Beach is currently licensing medical cannabis dispensaries but not adult-use retail stores. The city is drafting an ordinance that could license and regulate adult-use retail stores by June 2018.

8. Oakland: Retail stores are open as of Jan. 1.

9. Bakersfield: No retail cannabis stores allowed in the city.

10. Anaheim: No retail cannabis stores allowed in the city.

11. Santa Ana: Retail stores are now open.

12. Riverside: Currently prohibits all cannabis business.

13. Stockton: The city has approved four medical cannabis dispensaries within the city but is not yet allowing retail adult-use stores. City officials will study the issue and tailor ordinances and regulations in later 2018.

14. San Bernardino: Measure O, which passed in November 2016, authorized the city to regulate both medical and adult-use cannabis. But lawsuits have delayed implementation. Retail stores are likely in the future but probably won’t be open on Jan. 1.

15. Modesto: The Modesto City Council recently voted to allow as many as 10 retail cannabis stores, but it’s unclear when they’ll open.

Other Municipalities:

Arcata: The city is finalizing its retail cannabis regulations and expects to approved operating permits for two adult-use retail stores–Humboldt Patient Resource Center and Heart of Humboldt–in downtown Arcata, but it’s unclear when those stores will open.

Berkeley: Retail stores are now open.

Cathedral City: Many retail stores are now open. Cathedral City may have the most licensed adult-use retail stores per capita in the entire state.

Crescent City: The city prohibits all cannabis businesses, but is part of a county working group considering new regulations that may allow some form of cannabis commerce in the near future. Look for a proposed new ordinance sometime in 2018.

Eureka: Retail stores are now open.

Los Angeles County: Retail cannabis stores are banned in the unincorporated sections of the county, but one Malibu-based shop, 99 High Tide Collective, has secured a license due to an odd historical footnote.

Orange County: Retail cannabis stores are banned in the unincorporated sections of the county.

Orange County (cities within): Retail stores banned in all OC counties except Santa Ana.

Pomona: All cannabis businesses are banned in the city.

Redding: All cannabis businesses are banned in the city, but nearby Shasta Lake and Mount Shasta both have at adult use stores that are now open.

Santa Barbara: The city has zoned certain districts OK for cannabis retail. No pre-licensed retail businesses yet. Still waiting to hear when the city’s first store will open to adult use customers.

Santa Cruz: Many retail stores are now open.

Santa Monica: The city will license two medical dispensaries but no adult-use retail stores.

Ventura County: Some Ventura County towns (Oxnard, Ojai, Port Hueneme) are allowing new medical cannabis dispensaries to open, but most have prohibited adult-use retail stores.

West Hollywood: The city will issue eight licenses for adult-use retail stores, and a number of them opened on Jan. 2.