Some California dispensaries are skirting the law and selling recreational cannabis to nonmedical customers, according to the Orange County Register.
The newspaper reports that since voters legalized adult use last November, dozens of retail outlets throughout the state are allowing customers to purchase cannabis with little more than a driver’s license – versus a doctor’s recommendation, which California’s medical marijuana law has long required.
The stores are deeming themselves “Proposition 64 friendly,” according to the Register.
However, the regulations for California’s recreational cannabis market have not been issued and no retail marijuana stores can legally operate until the state develops a licensing system, which is expected to take until next January, the Register noted.
The legal, state-sanctioned marijuana industry in California could face a tough road ahead when it comes to competing with a well-established marijuana black market.
Industry watchers say businesses that operate outside the law do a disservice to the entire industry.
“We’ve got to make it possible for licensed businesses to have a fighting chance or the whole thing’s going to fail,” Aaron Herzberg, a partner in MMJ real estate company Calcann Holdings, told the Register.
