Recreational Rollout

[dropcap class=”kp-dropcap”]L[/dropcap]ong Beach residents had to wait nearly nine months for recreational cannabis sales, after Proposition 64 took effect last January. With nearly half a million residents, Long Beach is the second-largest city in Greater Los Angeles after Los Angeles itself—so creating a recreational market impacts the area greatly.

Long Beach Mayor Robert Garcia approved recreational sales back on July 13. Thirty days later, on Aug. 13, the Long Beach Recreational Cannabis Ordinance took effect, but not a single dispensary was approved to sell recreational cannabis at the time. The first four dispensaries in Long Beach that were finally approved to sell recreational cannabis passed final inspections on Aug. 30. This better-safe-than-sorry approach to recreational cannabis was not unlike the approaches taken by many other Californian cities.

On Aug. 31, recreational sales officially began in Long Beach. On that same day, four dispensaries were approved. At that time, only a handful of large Californian cities such as West Hollywood, Santa Ana and Los Angeles had come up with legislation allowing recreational cannabis sales, with varying success. On Sept. 5, two more dispensaries were added, bringing the total to six approved dispensaries. The dispensaries that are approved to sell recreational cannabis at the time of writing are One Love, Long Beach Green Room, The Station, Connected Cannabis Co., Stone Age Farmacy and LB Collective Inc.

Adam Hijazi, general manager of The Long Beach Green Room and The Station, told local reporters that he is “extremely” happy to begin selling recreational cannabis. Other dispensary chain owners are looking at both medical and recreational opportunities in Long Beach. “We’d planned on opening last month but when we saw how close we were to legal recreational use we decided to wait and open our doors for medical and recreational at the same time,” Steve Ashbel told CULTURE. Steve and Michael Ashbel are co-owners of MMD Inc. with locations in Hollywood and Long Beach. MMD Inc. was the first Hollywood facility to get approval for recreational sales.

“Long Beach decided that the 32 already approved medical dispensaries would get to apply for recreational. We support each local community and how they best decide to roll out recreational use.”

Once everything is said and done, and per Chapter 5.90 of Long Beach’s municipal code, a total of 32 dispensaries will be allowed to open in the city. No new dispensaries can open unless one of the 32 businesses either surrenders their license or if it is revoked. These 32 dispensaries were selected through a complex lottery system—complete with a cage and ping pong balls. Those same businesses will also be the only ones who can apply to sell recreational cannabis. Those businesses must prove that they are “upstanding” as a medical-only establishment for six months.

MMD Inc. is among the relatively short list of dispensaries that have the option of applying to sell recreational cannabis. “Long Beach decided that the 32 already approved medical dispensaries would get to apply for recreational,” Ashbel said. “We support each local community and how they best decide to roll out recreational use. We’ve been in Hollywood since 2006, so we understand how important it is to be part of the community and that things will evolve as needed.”

The city imposes a tax on medical cannabis at six percent. All types of non-medical cannabis businesses are subject to a 10.25 percent sales tax, and recreational cannabis is subject to an additional eight percent tax on top of that. But if patients at a recreational cannabis business present a county health card, the taxes are waived.