For those of you who think you’ll be able to afford to live in Colorado again once the “green wave” (and the population boom that goes with it) moves on to California, prepare to be poor disappointed. Like other industries, regulatory nonsense is driving out the newly-legalized marijuana industry, according to Marijuana Business Daily.
“Industry executives blame city officials and their inability to approve business licenses in a timely manner.
“Just ask Kenny Morrison. A decade after founding his cannabis edibles business and finding success in the iconic Venice Beach area of Los Angeles, Morrison recently moved his VCC Brands to Northern California.
“He quit the City of Angels at the start of 2018, he told Marijuana Business Daily, for the same reason “dozens” of other edibles makers, growers and other cannabis businesses have fled: They haven’t been able to get municipal licenses to operate in the fully legal California market.”
Some purveyors are moving out of Los Angeles, others are moving out of state. One city regulatory highlighted a challenge with getting a permit in LA:
“She also acknowledged that, because the social equity program hasn’t been finalized, a lot of uncertainty remains as to how many companies may ultimately receive business permits in Los Angeles.”
Social equity program? Government picking which companies will receive business licenses? Sounds like a recipe for economic disaster. Sounds about like California all right.