More than three months after the legalization of commercial marijuana, hundreds of dispensaries have received licenses to operate in the City of Los Angeles. But for the industry’s manufacturers and growers — an integral part of the distribution process — little has changed in L.A.
The city hasn’t even begun accepting the paperwork for cultivation and manufacturing permits, the Los Angeles Times reports. And there is no official word on when it will do so. A previous deadline (by April) has already come and gone.
"It's an unsettling feeling," said Ryan Jennemann, manager of cannabis cultivation company THC Design. "We're in a state where cannabis is legal. The 4/20 holiday used to be an underground thing — now they're talking about it on MSNBC. And we don't have permits."
The city blames staffing shortages for the problem. Officials are also preoccupied with discussions over how to ensure “social equity” in the city’s pot industry. That issue also weighed San Francisco's process down.
"The shift from cannabis prohibition to regulation — in the largest cannabis market in the world — is complex, and involves a broad range of stakeholders," said Cat Packer, head of L.A.'s Department of Cannabis Regulation. "Getting it right will take time."