Why California?
California became the first state to legalize medical marijuana with the passage of Proposition 215 in 1996. While the bill legalized the consumption of marijuana, it didn’t establish a state-wide licensing and regulatory structure to guide the cultivation, production and sale of the plant.
Instead, the bill left regulation in the hands of local governments, most of which had neither the resources nor expertise to implement and manage a proper medical marijuana oversight system. As a result, many California medical marijuana markets have become unregulated and unsuitable for medical patients.
Finally, after almost 20 years, in October 2015 the California state legislature passed three bills creating a statewide medical marijuana licensing program called the Medical Marijuana Regulation and Safety Act (MMRSA). The bills create a comprehensive state licensing system for the commercial cultivation, manufacture, retail sale, transport, distribution, delivery, and testing of medical cannabis. All state licenses must be approved by local governments.
The passage of MMRSA has opened up an enormous opportunity for acquiring local cannabis licenses and real estate across California. Many counties and cities across California that have banned or severely limited the production and sale of medical marijuana are expected to reverse and implement expanded medical marijuana laws. With the passage of MMRSA, licenses have become the currency of marijuana investment in California. There’s a limited window of time to act as municipalities are experiencing pressure from operators and activists to issue licenses before California residents vote to fully legalize cannabis later this year.
In addition, Californians will have the opportunity to fully legalize the production, sale and consumption of cannabis when the Adult Use of Marijuana Act (AUMA) goes to a vote in 2016. If AUMA passes in 2016, as many industry insiders expect, it will catapult cannabis into the national conversation, further cementing California’s status as the world’s largest cannabis market.
California Market Size
With $980 million in 2013 retail sales growing to $1.3 billion by 2015, California represents currently 68 percent of the national cannabis economy. California also accounts for 73 percent of the dispensaries nationwide. California’s population of 38.8 million is more than double the 17.2 million combined population of the four states — Alaska, Colorado, Oregon, and Washington— that have already made it legal for adult use. If California legalizes in 2016, the size of the legal marijuana market would double overnight.
Identifying and acquiring new licenses requires a strong knowledge of local government politics and the cannabis industry. Our team at CalCann Holdings has the political relationships and proven industry expertise in California to capitalize on these opportunities.