No huge rush seen to start pot sales around state.
Despite voters’ support, California is proving to be in no rush to begin legal pot sales.
Though the passage of Proposition 64 green-lights retail sales of cannabis beginning Jan. 1, those sales hinge on local cities and counties permitting such activity. With a little over 90 days until the end of the year, no major city or county in California is on track to do so and begin sales by that date.
On Tuesday, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors introduced legislation confirming that the city — known as the birthplace of the recreational and medical marijuana movement in the U.S. — will not have legal recreational cannabis for sale come January. It could be months or years before anyone can purchase legal cannabis in San Francisco without a medical recommendation.
San Francisco’s delayed recreational launch mirrors the pace of cities statewide. Neither Los Angeles, San Diego, San Jose, Long Beach, Oakland nor any other major California city has created or issued a local license to sell recreational pot. Fresno has banned retail recreational sales.
Pot businesses first need such a local license before the state will grant a state license and allow retail sales to commence.
Unlike Colorado on Jan. 1, 2014, or Nevada in July this year, there will be no fanfare on Jan. 1 in California — no long lines, and no millions of dollars in sales and tax revenue.
“We’re going to slow-walk our way into full adult-use (recreational) sales,” said Sean Donahoe, a cannabis-industry consultant who monitors legalization’s implementation across California. So, where can folks buy legal recreational pot and when?
It’s not clear. Maybe in Berkeley, Humboldt County, Monterey County or Sacramento in early 2018. Officials in those places have at least discussed the idea, Donahoe said.
“Cities and counties just haven’t fleshed out the rules yet,” said Alison Malsbury, a cannabis-specialized attorney monitoring implementation at the firm Harris Bricken.
Before licensing any recreational store, San Francisco intends to first license its entire medical industry and write rules mandating more minority owners and employees. Is there any other way besides a licensed retail store to legally obtain cannabis?
Yes — all adults 21 and over are already allowed to possess, transport and gift up to an ounce of cannabis to other adults 21 and over, as well as 7 grams of hash, and they can grow up to six plants indoors.
Aside from that, folks should get or renew their medical cannabis cards. Such a card grants them access to the state’s robust medical marijuana system.
It’ll be very much “status quo” for medical cardholders in January, said Alex Traverso, director of communications for the California Bureau of Cannabis Control. “If you have a medical need, I certainly wouldn’t wait to address that need. The medical system will be the quickest way to go about it.”
It could be six to 18 months after Jan. 1 before cities begin to work the kinks out of the recreational pot supply chain — or even longer. So, why is all of California missing its start date?
Because Proposition 64 puts local cities and counties in the driver’s seat on implementing adult-use legalization. Most cities and counties have shown they’re in no rush to climb into that seat.
Many cities and counties are awaiting more direction from state regulators in the form of revised state rules, which are due out in November.
“That’s made it tough for local jurisdictions to actually draft ordinances,” Malsbury said.
“They feel like they need more time and don’t want to do something that’s rushed,” Traverso said.
Another reason: California never licensed its medical pot system over the last 21 years. So it’s playing catch-up. But why is San Francisco — where there’s massive support for legalization — failing to implement legalization swiftly?
Part of the reason is because San Francisco — like Los Angeles and Oakland — already has such a large medical cannabis industry, with around 34 operational medical stores.
“The more complicated and sprawling the mess — frankly, the larger authorized industry is — the larger the issues are,” Donahoe said.
San Francisco also has full employment, robust tax revenues and a long list of noncannabis city business to attend to.
It’s tiny California cities with low tax revenue and business activity that may have incentive to begin permitting and taxing recreational sales quickly. Small rural cities like Adelanto (San Bernardino County) in Southern California’s high desert and Cathedral City (Riverside County) in the Coachella Valley, have rushed to license vast recreational cannabis farms.
“They’re extremely gungho,” said Traverso. “They want to know exactly what needs to happen and be ready to go.”