$140 million to rescue legal cannabis industry
The California Legislature yesterday approved a US$100 million (NZ$140m) plan to bolster California’s legal marijuana industry, which continues to struggle to compete with the large illicit pot market nearly five years after voters approved sales for recreational use.
Los Angeles will be the biggest beneficiary of the money, which was proposed by Governor Gavin Newsom to be provided as grants to cities and counties to help cannabis businesses transition from provisional to regular licences.
‘‘California voters approved Proposition 64 five years ago and entrusted the Legislature with creating a legal, well-regulated cannabis market,’’ said Democratic Assemblyman Phil Ting of San Francisco, chairman of the Assembly Budget Committee. ‘‘We have yet to reach that goal.’’
Many cannabis growers, retailers and manufacturers have struggled to make the transition from a provisional, temporary licence to a permanent one renewed on an annual basis – a process that requires a costly, complicated and time-consuming review of the negative environmental effects involved in a businesses and a plan for reducing those harms.
As a result, about 82 per cent of the state’s cannabis licensees still held provisional licences as of April, according to the governor’s office.
The funds, including US$22m earmarked for Los Angeles, would help cities hire experts and staff to assist businesses in completing the environmental studies and transitioning the licences to ‘‘help legitimate businesses succeed,’’ Ting said.
The grant programme is endorsed by Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti, who said in a letter to legislators that the money is ‘‘essential in supporting a well-regulated, equitable, and sustainable cannabis market’’.
Separately, the governor wants to give cannabis businesses a six-month extension beyond a January 1 deadline to transition from provisional licences by complying with mandates of the California Environmental Quality Act, or CEQA.
That extension, which is opposed by groups for delaying promised environmental safeguards, was not included in the state budget bill approved yesterday and is still being negotiated with lawmakers. – LA Times