California voters made marijuana legal to purchase and consume, but that hasn’t stopped state and local law enforcement from seizing tons of it from black market growers and retailers. By the end of 2019, agents at the California Bureau of Cannabis Control alone had seized nearly 24 tons of illicit cannabis, valued at nearly $133 […]
California Marijuana
Gov. Newsom wants to simplify California’s marijuana rules: ‘The devil is always in the details’
California Gov. Gavin Newsom wants to bring all of the state’s cannabis licensing programs under one roof, aiming to better coordinate a complicated mix of regulators. In his 2020-21 budget plan, Newsom is proposing to create a Department of Cannabis Control. It would assume licensing authority from the three existing agencies, the Bureau of Cannabis […]
The stronger the joint, the higher the tax? Report weighs California marijuana tax change
Should that marijuana joint cost more because it is higher in THC content? That’s the argument put forth in a new report by the California Legislative Analyst’s Office. Currently, the state taxes cannabis at two points in the production cycle; cannabis is taxed by weight after it is harvested, and then taxed again as an […]
‘Epidemic’ of layoffs in California marijuana industry — CEO faults state for inaction
Flow Kana isn’t the only cannabis company forced to make cuts. In recent weeks, companies like Eaze and Weedmaps have also laid off part of their workforce. “It almost feels like an epidemic of companies of similar size going through similar processes,” Steinmetz said. The layoffs reflect challenges in California’s fledgling recreational cannabis industry. Voters legalized recreational marijuana in […]
Will Neil Young’s Marijuana Use Keep Him From Becoming a U.S. Citizen?
Neil Young had a certain birthday present in mind this year: United States citizenship. Everything seemed to be in place for him to take his oath on Tuesday, his 74th birthday, the Canadian singer told The Los Angeles Times last month. Amid what he called a “climate emergency,” he was looking forward to voting in the 2020 […]
California Suspends Hundreds of Marijuana Supply Businesses
California has suspended 394 marijuana business permits in a move that critics say will temporarily reduce the number of legal cannabis shops in the state. The suspension affecting about 5% of California’s legal cannabis supply chain comes after the businesses failed to complete mandatory training and credentialing, Marijuana Business Daily in Colorado reported Wednesday. The […]
The push to unionize cannabis workers in California
Weed workers across the country are unionizing, and California just made it easier for them. On Friday, Gov. Gavin Newsom signed into law a requirement that all cannabis stores enter into so-called “labor peace agreements” as soon as they have 20 or more employees. California is now one of two states — New York is the other […]
Most Californians want marijuana stores in their communities, new poll shows
Three years after California voters legalized the sale of recreational marijuana, 68% say it has been a “good thing” and, although the vast majority of cities have outlawed pot shops, most voters want their municipalities to permit the stores, according to a UC Berkeley Institute of Governmental Studies poll conducted for the Los Angeles Times. […]
These California politicians once helped regulate legal marijuana. Now they’re working for the industry
As California’s attorney general from 1999 to 2007, Bill Lockyer was on the inside as the state wrestled with a developing marijuana industry. But these days he’s watching the transformation from the outside, as co-founder of a licensed pot distributor in Lynwood. Lockyer, whose four-decade public career included a stint as the powerful leader of […]
California’s cannabis black market has eclipsed its legal one
Although marijuana has been legal in California for nearly two years, black market weed is still a booming business in the state. Illegal sellers outnumber legal and regulated businesses almost 3-to-1, according to a startling analysis of California cannabis sellers released this month. Some critics blame the website Weedmaps for letting thousands of rogue stores […]
California has the biggest legal marijuana market in the world, despite black market
California is on track to post a record $3.1 billion in licensed cannabis sales this year, solidifying its status as the largest legal marijuana market in the world, according to a study released Thursday by financial analysts who advise the industry. Legal sales are up significantly from an approximate $2.5 billion in 2018, the first […]
Marijuana industry wants L.A. to crack down on illegal pot shops
The legal marijuana industry urged Los Angeles City Hall on Monday to get tougher with illegal shops that are gouging their businesses in open sight. Illegal pot shops are widespread throughout Los Angeles and typically look like the real thing. And they’re thriving — they sell cheaper products than their legal rivals because they don’t […]
How Legal Weed Is Killing America’s Most Famous Marijuana Farmers
On a sunny day in the spring, Thomas Mulder walked through his greenhouse, down a narrow path between two long, knee-high, wooden planters. In a few weeks, the greenhouse would be full of marijuana plants a foot or two high—indica-sativa hybrid strain Sour G, or White Tahoe Cookies with its characteristic golden hairs around the […]
Merlot versus marijuana: California’s Wine Country feuds over measure to grow pot
The Napa Valley has become synonymous with wine, as grapevines cover the flatlands and creep up the hillsides. Now some entrepreneurs hope a new crop will take root: marijuana. Last week, a group called the Napa Valley Cannabis Association submitted what they believe are enough signatures to put the question of cannabis cultivation on the […]
Some California cities would be forced to allow marijuana sales under bill to triple pot shops in state
Escalating a feud with cities over marijuana, state lawmakers are pushing to require municipalities to lift bans on cannabis stores if voters there supported Proposition 64, the 2016 initiative that legalized sale of the drug for recreational use in California. A bill moving through the Legislature would require those cities to permit at least one […]
$350,000 in cash? California marijuana taxes still make growers – and tax collectors – nervous
On tax days, it’s not hard to spot marijuana growers waiting to exhale in downtown Eureka. They haul cash in grocery bags and boxes, making their way to a state office where they can pay their taxes. One grower “holds his breath as he walks into the building,” said Terra Carver, executive director of the […]
Illegal marijuana growers poison forests—these people fight back
Deep inside Northern California’s Shasta-Trinity National Forest, wildlife ecologist Mourad Gabriel is dressed in camouflage, waiting for the raid. He’s accompanied by more than a dozen armed officers with the U.S. Forest Service, local sheriff’s office, and other agencies on a hot August afternoon. Their plan: to seize and dismantle a nearby illegal marijuana grow site, hundreds […]
Los Angeles Set to Reduce or Expunge 50,000 Marijuana Convictions
Nearly 50,000 people who have been convicted of marijuana-related offenses will have their convictions erased or reduced, according to a statement on Monday from the district attorney of Los Angeles County. In partnership with Code for America, a nonprofit tech organization, Los Angeles County will identify decades-old court cases that it would otherwise have been unable […]
