Los Angeles has finally begun awarding its second round of cannabis business permits, with those licenses going to growers, edibles makers and other nonretail companies that have long been part of the city’s marijuana supply chain.
The L.A. Department of Cannabis Regulation (DCR) on Jan. 24 “began to issue Temporary Approval to Phase 2 Priority Processing applicants and so far has authorized 34 applicants to engage in nonretail commercial cannabis activities,” the agency’s spokeswoman, Michelle Garakian, wrote in an email to Marijuana Business Daily.
The office received nearly 600 applications during the application window last year, which ran from August until mid-September, but took until the past few weeks to fully process any of those.
The agency “continues to process about 400 other Phase 2 applications, although most of those applicants have informed DCR they are still not ready for an on-site inspection that is a prerequisite,” Garakian wrote, and added that it’s not clear yet just how many licenses will ultimately be issued under the Phase 2 timeline.
The next licensing window, Phase 3 – which doesn’t require any past business history in the city and is open to all comers – has yet to be scheduled by the DCR.
But Garakian said that process is expected to begin sometime this spring.
“DCR continues to move forward with preparations for the expected start of Phase 3 in spring 2019 and it will provide a further update later this month,” Garakian wrote.
John Schroyer can be reached at johns@mjbizdaily.com
