Paperwork is holding up California’s marijuana industry. Will $100 million fix it?

As thousands of provisional marijuana license holders in California struggle to secure a full annual license, the state is kicking in $100 million to help cities and counties to address the backlog.

California voters in 2016 voted to legalize the sale of adult-use cannabis, opening the door for a legal recreational cannabis market in the state. The state began issuing licenses in 2018, including provisional licenses.

Provisional licenses were intended by the state to be a stepping stone to help marijuana cultivators, retailers and distributors enter the legal cannabis marketplace. They are intended to be replaced by full annual licenses.

The state’s provisional license program was set to expire in January, however Assembly Bill 141, which was passed into law last summer, created rolling sunset dates for provisional licenses based on license and applicant type, and also established specific benchmarks for the renewal of provisional licenses.

Seventeen California cities and counties are eligible for the Local Jurisdiction Assistance Grant Program funding, which is administered by the newly created Department of Cannabis Control. The eligible jurisdictions were selected because they have the highest numbers of provisional licensees, representing approximately two-thirds of California’s provisional license holders, according to the Department of Cannabis Control. [Read more at The Sacramento Bee]