The California Department of Cannabis Control (DCC) announced June 20 that it has provided $4 million in grants to 18 local jurisdictions to help them license cannabis retailers.
The move, Phase I of the DCC’s Local Jurisdiction Retail Access Grant (LJRAG) program, aims to improve consumer access to cannabis in California, where nearly two-thirds of the state’s cities and counties still prohibit dispensaries despite statewide adult-use legalization taking effect in 2018.
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The following jurisdictions received funding, according to the DCC:
Fourteen of the 18 jurisdictions chosen for the grant funding—representing $870,000 of the total $4 million in awards—were municipalities with proposed equity programs meant to support and assist the licensure of social equity cannabis retail businesses.
“The Local Jurisdictional Retail Access Grant program will help provide access to regulated cannabis retail for over 2 million Californians that currently live in an area where access to licensed cannabis retail businesses is insufficient,” DCC Acting Director Rasha Salama said in a public statement. “In addition to improving access to existing customers, these grants are another important step towards establishing legal pathways for legacy and social equity operators.”
The Phase I grant awards prioritized areas where national surveys revealed high cannabis consumption but where there is little to no access to legal cannabis retailers. The first round of funding also aimed to incentivize local best practices by prioritizing local licensing programs that both support social equity cannabis businesses and use existing licensing and permitting practices.
Grant recipients can use the funding to develop cannabis retail licensing programs, including drafting ordinances, hiring staff and contractors, holding community outreach events, establishing stakeholder workgroups or technical advisory committees, conducting economic studies and environmental reviews, creating application forms or online application portals, and reviewing applications and awarding business licenses.
Phase II of the LJRAG program will allow eligible jurisdictions to apply for additional funding, which will be based on the number of local dispensary licenses they have issued.
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