Illicit sales continue to thrive. A shaky supply chain has customers looking at barren shelves in some shops. There are testing problems. And a proposal to allow home marijuana deliveries in cities that have banned pot sales could lead to a courtroom fight.
A Los Angeles hearing Tuesday provided a window into the state’s emerging cannabis economy, in which early enthusiasm for broad legal sales has been followed by anxiety and frustration across a swath of the industry.
The state’s top marijuana regulator, Lori Ajax, said after the hearing that the state remains in a challenging transition period as it attempts to transform what was once a largely illegal market into a multibillion-dollar, regulated economy.
“Unfortunately, there is confusion out there,” Ajax said.
California kicked off broad legal sales on Jan. 1, and since then temporary rules have governed sales, growing and manufacturing of everything from pot-spiked munchies to infused lotions and balms. The state is now considering changes to those rules, though it’s likely to take months before any revisions go into effect.
Read more