By HILARY BRICKEN
LA County has long banned commercial cannabis activity of any kind. However, back in February 2017, the County decided it would flirt with cannabis regulations. The Interim Director of the Department of Consumer and Business Affairs then released its report on options for regulation (or continued prohibition) of cannabis:
Permit caps in a county that boasts over 10 million residents are not likely to go over well with those looking for meaningful access to cannabis, especially since most LA County cities have banned cannabis or (like the City of Los Angeles) been slow to write cannabis regulations.
Proposed County Option 2 would limit the types of businesses that could engage in a cannabis business in the County. It might do this by, for example, allowing only medical cannabis but no adult use cannabis, or just by allowing retail and delivery in an effort to curb the gray and black market shops that continue popping up.
County Option 3 would continue the ban on commercial cannabis activity in all portions of unincorporated LA County. Without exception, all of my firm’s California cannabis lawyers see this as unlikely to happen given the time and money the County has already spent analyzing its options and givn how many tax dollars it will lose by not going forward. LA County need only look at its inability to shut down illegal operators to know that its implementing comprehensive (or even limited) regulation will likely help with identifying good versus bad actors. If Los Angeles County wants to succeed with its cannabis regulations it will go with Option 1 and that is exactly what I see it doing.
Hilary Bricken is a partner with the law firm Husch Blackwell, where she advises clients in the cannabis, healthcare, and life sciences spaces on transactions, regulatory compliance, governance matters, and other corporate needs. Hilary may be reached at [email protected].
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