Yvonne DeLaRosa Green was awarded the first cannabis business license for Los Angeles County for her dispensary 99 High Tide Collective in Malibu. The city and county of Los Angeles are expected to become the capital of cannabis once the state of California’s regulated adult-use market is up and running. While Denver, Colorado, may have grabbed all of the early attention, California’s market numbers will be hard to top.
There is a great deal of confusion over the cannabis licenses in the city versus the county. Los Angeles, the city, hasn’t issued any licenses, and it is rumored that existing dispensaries will have to close until they receive the new 2018 license under the new regulations. This could greatly affect existing businesses that would be forced to close with no idea of when or if they could open again.
STATE BY STATE: California Cannabis News
Green said she was able to get her license from the county because in a small historical footnote, when Malibu became a city, it chose not to take over business licensing and left that up to the county. “Once I got my permit in Malibu, I had to explain to the county that they had to provide my business license,” she said. “They had to create the first license. I am the only person to have an LA County business license for cannabis.”
Keith Knox, chief deputy treasurer and tax collector for the county, confirmed that Los Angeles County administers some functions like business permits for three cities and Malibu is one of those three. However, Los Angeles County is banning marijuana for now, which makes the licensing in Malibu even more unique. Joseph Nicchitta, county coordinator for the Office of Marijuana Management, acknowledged the confusion. He said that under state law marijuana businesses need two licenses, one from the state and one for the local jurisdiction.
