2018 has been a roller coaster for California cannabis businesses. The cannabis laws and regulations in California have made life difficult, to say the least, for anyone wishing to obtain licensure. This isn’t necessarily the fault of any single legislature, municipality, or agency, but instead was the result of a perfect storm of legal and non-legal issues.

The beginning of the year saw the opening of adult use licensing under the Medicinal and Adult Use Cannabis Regulatory and Safety Act (or “MAUCRSA”). Businesses that sought licensure could apply as of January 1, 2018 for an annual application. In theory, this could have been simple, but it turned out to be far more complex than anyone probably intended.

One provision in MAUCRSA that has been the bane of any applicant’s existence is the requirement to have local approval when applying for an annual (or temporary) license. What this means is that applicants couldn’t apply for state and local licenses concurrently; instead, they had to apply for and obtain full local approval first, and then move onto the statewide licensing. Localities have been all over the map in terms of how they process applications, which means that it could take months between finding an eligible parcel of land and even starting the process of applying for state licensing. [Read More @ Canna Law Blog]