Arriving in our inbox over the last 24 hours have been email after email, after alert about California’s big day.
And it’s the same old issue.Hardly any licenses have been issued under the slew of regulations that the politicians want.
And we aren’t just talking about the lack of licenses to retail the product but also issues like this.
CBS News San Francisco report on the following silliness
A licensed marijuana company in Ukiah wants law enforcement authorities to return the marijuana they seized.
“The idea that this industry starts on January 1 is just absurd,” said Lucas Seymour, the co-founder and CEO of Old Kai.
Last Friday, California Highway Patrol officers pulled over one of the logistics company’s delivery trucks, arrested two employees and seized 1,875 pounds of pot, along with the van.
The weed distributor has a local pot license.
But the CHP says the company needed a state license to transport marijuana. The state licensing takes effect Monday.
The driver and another employee in the van were cited for possession of cannabis for sale and unlawful transportation of cannabis even though the company has a business license and medical pot permits.
Read More: California Authorities Seize 1,900 Pounds Of Pot From Licensed Company
The company’s attorney, Joe Rogoway, said the company has a license from Mendocino County and was told it could operate legally. He is demanding the charges be dropped and the cannabis and vehicle returned.
It’s busy time for Seymour.
“Opening your doors on January 1 is great but you wouldn’t have any product. There are so many steps in order for whatever cannabis product it is to actually be on the shelf.”
Harvesting, testing, measuring, and moving cannabis are all part of the rush to have products ready to sell on January 1.
But the California Highway Patrol says there should be no activity before January 1.
Last week, two of old kai’s drivers were arrested when they were pulled over in Ukiah in truck carrying nearly a ton of cannabis.
“They were pulled over for a minor, correctable offense, I believe it was a running light on the truck,” said Seymour. “The driver was pulled out to do a field sobriety test and that’s when we realized it might be an issue and called our lawyers in.”
Source: http://sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com/2017/12/29/northern-california-pot-distributor-seized-marijuana/
Meanwhile if you live in San Luis Obispo and want to celebrate the day you’ll need to drive 140 miles to the closest dispensary as no retail licenses have yet been issued.
No governing body in the area has issued any permit for shops or delivery services to sell non-medical cannabis. The only local permit issued so far is out of Arroyo Grande to a medical cannabis delivery service called Elite Care California.
Source: http://www.sanluisobispo.com/news/local/article192244264.html
California will legalize recreational marijuana on Jan. 1, but consumers hoping to score some weed that day in two of its biggest cities are in for a bummer.
Los Angeles and San Francisco are among many municipalities that won’t have their licenses ready by the time marijuana sales become legal on New Year’s Day. Dispensaries are required to have local authorization before they can receive state permission to operate under a law approved by voters in a November 2016 referendum.
“If people are looking to go out on Jan. 1 and purchase adult-use cannabis, I think we would preach patience, because not everybody is going to be ready,” said Alex Traverso, a spokesman for California’s Bureau of Cannabis Control.
Source: http://fortune.com/2017/12/29/when-is-marijuana-legal-in-california/
