The California Senate on Thursday moved to close a licensing gap for state marijuana growers, the latest problem to bedevil the shaky legal marketplace.
Scores of cannabis cultivators have seen their temporary licenses expire before the state has been able to replace them. Companies caught in that backlog have been stranded in a legal lurch – technically unable to do business in the legal marijuana economy.
The bill now goes to the Assembly, where it is expected to pass.
Lindsay Robinson, executive director of the California Cannabis Industry Association, said in a statement that the bill is “critical … for stabilizing the regulated cannabis industry.”
The bill’s sponsor, Democratic Sen. Mike McGuire of Healdsburg, warned that growers marooned without valid licenses could fall into the illicit market – through no fault of their own.
He says the proposal will create a short-term bridge “to avoid an impending crisis.”
Meanwhile, state regulators have also taken steps to ease the problem, authorizing the issuance of provisional licenses in certain cases to close the gap.
Initially, marijuana businesses were issued only temporary licenses. Those are now being replaced with annual licenses, but the transition has been slow and created bottlenecks that left some growers without valid licenses.
The state, meanwhile, has been sending menacing letters to businesses whose temporary licenses expire, warning them to cease activity “immediately.”
Without a fix, McGuire said 6,900 temporary growing licenses would expire by July 2019. In March alone, over 1,000 of those licenses will expire, he said.
– Associated Press
