At the Los Angeles event, hundreds of people showed up to the point where most did not even get inside the building.The workshop focused on licensing information and resources available for people planning on applying for California state cannabis licenses. The BCC staff passed out flyers with the information required for temporary license applications. Temporary licenses will be effective starting January 1, 2018, and will allow businesses to engage in commercial cannabis activity for a period of 120 days.
Local jurisdiction authorization is still paramount to receiving a temporary license. If your business has not yet received this, it will delay your ability to receive a state temporary license. A license or permit issued by the local jurisdiction will be sufficient to show the applicant is allowed to conduct commercial cannabis activity at the location.
Other information required are names of the applicant (either individual or entity); license type; license designation; contact information; names of the owners; physical address and authorization to use the location for commercial cannabis activity; and a premises diagram showing the layout of the proposed location.
The last of the public licensing workshops was held in Sacramento this past Tuesday before a packed house at the Convention Center. Representatives from all of the state’s cannabis licensing agencies – California Department of Public Health (“CDPH”), California Department of Food and Agriculture (“CDFA”), and the BCC – were in attendance to answer the public’s questions. There were also representatives from the following departments:
- California Department of Tax and Fee Administration;
- California Department of Fish and Wildlife;
- California Department of Insurance;
- California Secretary of State;
- California Employment Development Department;
- California Department of Industrial Relations; and
- Sacramento’s Office of Cannabis Policy and Enforcement.
The scene in the Sacramento’s Convention Center can be described as polite chaos as the public made its way through the tables staffed by these departments. Cannabis businesses, advisors, and investors were all hoping to gather as much information and clarification as possible in what is still an evolving California cannabis regulatory landscape. The lack of clarity is a source of consternation for many cannabis businesses worried about their business model going forward and I highly recommend California cannabis business owners (and all interested stakeholders) review the proposed medical regulations released in April of this year; you can find the BCC’s here, the CDPH’s here and the CDFA’s here. I then recommend you review how each department summarized and responded to public comments when the proposed medical regulations were withdrawn. You can find the BCC’s response here and here (the latter on testing facilities), the CDPH’s here, and the CDFA’s here. Get a pot of coffee brewing and delve into those weeds (too many puns I know but I just couldn’t help myself).
Lori Ajax, the Chief of the BBC, did speak briefly and reiterated that the state will issue emergency regulations in mid to late November and that the state’s licensing agencies will accept temporary license applications online in early December. Ms. Ajax was not able to say what the cost of the temporary permit would be (the fees will be released with the emergency regulations) but did stress that the temporary permit fee will be separate from the annual license application fee.
When the emergency regulations are released in November, our California cannabis attorneys expect a flurry of activity as cannabis businesses seek to gain temporary licensure and an early foothold in what will be the new California cannabis landscape. However, current cannabis businesses and new entrants should take this time to review their business model and entity structure. We’ll be sure to stay on top of this for you and we’ll continue with our popular California cannabis webinar series when the emergency regulations are released.
Stay tuned!
source http://www.cannalawblog.com/california-cannabis-licensing-workshops/
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