The Adult Use of Marijuana Act, which legalizes the use of recreational marijuana in California, will go into effect Monday. The law was introduced as Proposition 64 and approved in November 2016. Berkeley Patients Group, or BPG, one of the first California dispensaries to receive its retail license for adult-use marijuana, will open its doors Monday. The Daily Californian sat down with Sean Luse, BPG’s chief operating officer, to talk about the end of marijuana prohibition.
The Daily Californian: Can you explain what BPG is doing Monday?
Sean Luse: Yes, absolutely. Jan. 1 will mark the first day of legal recreational marijuana sales in California. On the first, we’re going to have a big celebration. It’s going to be a very festive event — we’re going to have a ribbon-cutting with the mayor at 6 a.m. and a little press conference and photo op. Ultimately, it’s going to be a celebration … that legal marijuana is finally here in California.
DC: Why is BPG one of the first dispensaries receiving a license for recreational cannabis?
SL: Berkeley Patients Group is the oldest continually operating dispensary in the country, founded in 1999, so it’s only fitting that we’re one of the first medical dispensaries and now … one of the first adult-use stores in California.
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DC: Why has it taken so long for dispensaries to receive licenses after Proposition 64 was passed?
SL: Jan. 1 was always the expected start date for legal sales. That was written into Prop. 64, but the reason it’s been 14 months since the vote to the actual beginning of adult-use sales is because the state of California has work to do in finalizing the laws and regulations. There were a couple of bills passed this summer to merge the medical marijuana market with the adult-use market, and then there was a whole rule-making process that had to happen over the last year.
