20 Applicants, Including Rapper, Win Dispensary Licenses in Santa Ana

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The city of Santa Ana, California, has awarded 20 dispensary licenses, including one to Cypress Hill rapper Louis Freese, better known by his stage name B-Real.

The move comes just two months after voters approved a measure legalizing and taxing MMJ, which will make Santa Ana the first city in Orange County to have legal dispensaries, according to the Orange County Register. Most cities in the area have banned MMJ businesses.

More than 600 applications were submitted, each one accompanied by a check for $1,690. Applicants awarded permits will now have to submit to a background check that will cost another $12,000.

City officials decided to use a lottery system to choose winners, despite objections.

Dispensaries will only be allowed in a small industrial zone of the city and cultivation will not be allowed, the Register reported.

Freese, who gained fame as the front man for rap group Cypress Hill in the 1990s, said he will name his dispensary Dr. Greenthumb, after one of the group’s hit songs.

California, the first state to legalize medical marijuana in 1996, does not have comprehensive regulations on the cannabis industry, meaning many cities have forged ahead with their own rules.