On November 2, the California Bureau of Cannabis Control (BCC) declared that a dozen annual cannabis business permits in California had been approved in 10 separate locations. In addition to this, one distributor received a license, as did one event organizer.

The news of BCC approving those annual cannabis business permits in California succeeded an announcement from the Department of Public Health (CDPH) and the Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA). Both regulatory agencies started distributing annual permits to Humboldt County-based Forbidden Fruit Farms and Bay Area-based Om Edibles.

Cannabis business permits in California were approved by the BCC for the following:

• Creekside Wellness in Boulder Creek Dank Depot (Cathedral City)
• Dutchman’s Flat (San Francisco)
• No Wait Meds (Cathedral City)
• Horizon Nonprofit Collective (Sacramento)
• Leef Industries (Palm Springs)
• Atomic Budz (Cathedral City)
• Monterey County Patients Group (Vallejo)
• Skunkmasters (Port Hueneme)
• Blue Mountain Collective (San Andreas)

A distribution permit was also awarded to Budchnology in California City, while a Los Angeles-based business called the “High End Society” received an event license. BCC published a news release, stating how the applicants are restricted from running their cannabis businesses until they pay a final fee. Once they pay that fee, the licenses will be issued.

Thousands of cannabis business permits in California awaiting approval

So far, 1,053 applications for complete annual cannabis business permits in California have been submitted to the BCC, inclusive of distributors, retailers, microbusinesses and testing laboratories. This is according to BCC spokesman Alex Traverso, who disclosed the information to Marijuana Business Daily. To this date, almost 4,000 temporary BCC license applications have been received by the agency.

Contrastingly, the California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) is on the receiving end of 2,547 applications for annual cultivation licenses in California. Meanwhile, the California Department of Public Health (CDPH) has received 373 applications for manufacturing.

If all applications are accepted, 3,973 applicants will receive a commercial cannabis business license in California. All annual licensees are required to utilize California’s track-and-trace program, which goes into action at the beginning of the annual license period.

Facts about California’s cannabis industry

As of January 1, 2018, complete cannabis legalization was enacted across the entire state of California. “The Golden State” passed a medical cannabis law more than two decades before its adult-use market went into full effect.

Home to some 40 million residents, California constitutes a sizeable portion of the North American cannabis market; about two-thirds to be exact. Over a million state residents are medical cannabis patients, with more expected to enroll in the program as new medical cannabis discoveries surface.

BDS Analytics predicted that California’s recreational cannabis sales would hit $3.7 billion by the close of 2018 and creep up to $5.1 billion by next year. Industry analysts at Cowen & Co. feel confident that the nation’s legal cannabis industry will pull in $50 billion over the next eight years and California is believed to compose as much as $25 billion of that figure.