The city of Los Angeles’ new Dept. of Cannabis Regulation, which has taken in far more revenue than was anticipated since marijuana became legal for recreational purposes in January, got the OK from the Los Angeles City Council to add 21 positions to its current staff of five.
“That is a huge jump from our current capacity,” said Cat Packer, head of the department. “As a new department, we are participating in the city’s normal budget process, but this is going to allow us to allocate resources a little bit quicker and make sure that we have the capacity we need to move forward with the next steps.”
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From the beginning of January through mid-February, the city issued 101 temporary authorizations to cannabis businesses, according to Packer.
The department was formed in 2017 and given a budget of $1.3 million for the fiscal year. As of mid-February it had collected more than$2.2 million in licensing fees, with around $800,000 in outstanding invoices, making it likely the department’s revenue projections through June will be $3.5 million, Packer said.
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