California’s First Temporary Recreational Cannabis Licenses Issued

Today, The Bureau of Cannabis Control issued California’s first temporary recreational licenses for retailers, distributors, microbusinesses and testing laboratories. Temporary licenses last 120 days and become effective on January 1, as long as the applicant has a valid permit or license from their jurisdiction. Businesses can then obtain permanent licenses.

“Last week, we officially launched our online licensing system, and today we’re pleased to issue the first group of temporary licenses to cannabis businesses that fall under the Bureau’s jurisdiction,” Bureau of Cannabis Control Chief Lori Ajax stated in a press release. “We plan to issue many more before January 1.”

As of December 14, over 1,900 users have registered with the bureau’s online system and over 200 license applications have been submitted. Before applying for any type of license, applicants must register with the bureau.

The first 20 licenses include the licensees Pure CA, LLC,  Buddy’s Cannabis, HERBL Distribution Solutions, Golden State Sciences, Torrey Holistics, KindPeoples (formerly KindPeoples Collective), Hueneme Patient Consumer Coop and 530 Cannabis. Several of those companies have been approved for multiple license types. The first licenses include both adult-use and medicinal business license types.

To view a complete list, with all types of licenses listed, click here, and use the search between the dates 12/15/2015 and 1/2/2018.

Those interested in manufacturing licenses should revert to the California Department of Public Health and those interested in cultivation licenses should revert to the California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA), although cultivation licenses aren’t expected to become available until late December.

For an overview of all license types, go to the California Cannabis Portal. With recreational cannabis sales right around the corner, this is an exciting step for California.