California Cannabis Licensing to Slow as Temporary Program Ends

Hundreds of California cannabis businesses received the last batch of temporary licenses the state will grant before the end of June. The end of the interim licensing program is expected to raise barriers to entry into the state's cannabis market, especially for newcomers, as annual licenses will be more difficult to obtain than interim licenses. The California Department of Cannabis Control (DCC) approved 529 temporary licenses in June, covering retailers, distributors, manufacturers, distribution operators and most growers. That number represents about a quarter of the nearly 2,300 temporary licenses issued by the DCC for the entire fiscal year ending June 30. Looking ahead, state regulators must now convert nearly 8,300 temporary permit holders to annual permit holders by January 2026. From March through June, the DCC issued a total of 1,574 permits, including both temporary and annual permits - an 89 percent increase over the previous four months. annual permit approvals (the final seal of state compliance) also increased significantly in June, reaching 306, or 21 percent of the total 1,465 for the entire fiscal year.

Information source: mjbizdaily.com/