California: Licensing platform opens for new cannabis industry

California opened its online platform last Friday to collect license applications from businesses that will want to work in cannabis from January 1, 2018, the start of cannabis legalization in the state.

The platform, managed by California's Bureau of Cannabis Control (BCC), allows applicants to apply for temporary or annual licenses, pay their fees and track the status of their applications. The Bureau then allocates licenses to vendors, distributors, micro-businesses, testing labs and cannabis-related events.

«The launch of our online licensing system is the culmination of months of hard work by our team.» said Lori Ajax, Bureau Chief. «Now that applications are coming in, we can officially move closer to California's first permits for commercial cannabis activity.».

People who process cannabis, for example into edibles, in concentrates, cosmetics, vaper cartridges, tinctures.... must apply on another site, under the aegis of the Ministry of Public Health.

For growers, the Ministry of Agriculture will shortly be announcing how to apply.

The BCC will issue both temporary and permanent licenses. The former will last 120 days, with the possibility of two 90-day extensions if the holder has applied for a permanent license. The permanent license process is more comprehensive, and is responsible for examining all information relating to the applicant company: owners' financial interests, company real estate, waste management, quality control, safety...

These licenses will need to be accompanied by a local authorization before the business can finally open. They will be valid at best from January 1, 2018.

California hopes to eventually reap over a billion dollars in taxes from legal cannabis sales. With 40 million inhabitants, the state should be a good example of what can be done to regulate cannabis in such a large and populous territory. By comparison, Uruguay, the first country to legalize cannabis in 2013, has just 3.4 million inhabitants.