California regulators are moving ahead with a second round of nonpermanent licensing to allow marijuana companies to continue operating without a permanent license while state and local officials process a backlog of permit applications.
The move is intended to help California’s MJ industry avoid supply disruptions, The Orange County Register reported.
The provisional licenses, which are good for a year, will buy state and local regulators time to process the glut of applications and give the state time to a roll out a full annual licensing system, the newspaper noted.
Here’s what you need to know:
- Applicants will need a temporary cannabis business license to receive a provisional permit and must have submitted an application for an annual license.
- Businesses will be required to adhere to the state’s traceability system, Metrc.
- Humboldt County officials issued a statement in support of the provisional licensing plan, saying that letting licenses expire would be a mistake for reasons related to the environment and the black market.
- The state has yet to issue any annual permits.
- Roughly 6,500 businesses across the state have temporary licenses; about 75% of those are grower permits.
- The last temporary licenses will expire at the end of March 2019, and once that happens, any business without a provisional or annual license must cease operations.