Pot commission gives 35 more firms high priority

Pot regulators have given the nod to another 35 marijuana companies that applied to jump to the head of the line for state recreational pot licenses.

This week’s batch of priority applicants included 26 companies that currently hold a license to run a medical marijuana dispensary and seven businesses that qualify for priority under economic empowerment criteria.

Commissioners approving the 35 companies for status continued their much-criticized practice of not naming the applicants during the public meeting. The names were posted online several hours after the meeting.

Cannabis Control Commission Executive Director Shawn Collins said the decision was made to withhold the names so the commission could notify applicants of their approval before the public learned who they were.

“The concern from a staff level as well as my perspective is from a general courtesy,” Collins said.

The priority status puts the businesses’ applications for a license to grow, sell or transport marijuana in front of regulators before others can even start applying. Once all companies can apply for licenses, the priority status gets businesses to the top of the regulators’ review pile.

Another 20 companies were granted priority status last week. Of those, four have started their license applications, officials said.

Chairman Steve Hoffman responded to concerns that licensed but as-yet unopened medical marijuana dispensaries getting priority under the recreational system might never open the medicinal operations.

Hoffman declined to say he’d require the licensed medical marijuana dispensaries to open for patients before they could open for recreational customers.

“We’re going to make an individual decision on each license application we get,” Hoffman said. “I’m not going to get ahead of ourselves and say what applications we’re going to approve or not approve.”