Page 6 - aruba-today-20170130

A6 U.S. NEWS
Monday 30 January 2017

American Living:
California looks to build $7 billion legal pot economy

MICHAEL R. BLOOD “It’s going to take us 10 The new law calls for nearly eye toward pot smoking McGuire, however, proj-
DON THOMPSON years to dig out of the mess 20 different types of licens- and local cultivators. ects it could take much
Associated Press we are in,” predicted Mc- es, including permits for Earlier this month, Gov. Jer- of this year for the state to
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) Guire, referring to the un- farmers; delivery services ry Brown proposed spend- evaluate and hire a com-
— The future of California’s ruly market, legal and not. that will take pot to a buy- ing more than $50 million to pany to do the work, mak-
legal marijuana industry is It’s likely that tens of thou- er’s front door; testing labs; establish programs to col- ing it questionable if a func-
being shaped in a warren sands of people and busi- distributors; and dispensary lect taxes and issue licenses tioning system could be in
of cubicles tucked inside nesses will need licensing. operators at the retail level. while hiring dozens of work- place when legal sales
a retired basketball arena, launch in January.
where a garden of paper Attorney Aaron Herzberg, a
cannabis leaves sprouts partner at CalCann Hold-
on file cabinets and a bur- ings, which leases property
lap sack advertising “USA to cannabis operations,
Home Grown” dangles called the governor’s fund-
from a wall. ing only a starting point.
Here, in the outskirts of Sac- He doesn’t believe there’s
ramento, a handful of gov- enough time to get a reg-
ernment workers face a ulatory system in place by
daunting task: By next year, January.
craft regulations and rules “You are always going
that will govern the state’s to have a black market,”
emerging legal pot market, he said. To make the new
from where and how plants economy work, “you have
can be grown to setting to reduce the black market
guidelines to track the buds to tolerable levels.”
from fields to stores. With the rules in develop-
Getting it wrong could ment, there are concerns
mean the robust canna- that cottage-industry grow-
bis black market stays that ers could be driven out by
way — outside the law — corporate-type businesses,
undercutting the attempt much the way large-scale
to create the nation’s larg- Lori Ajax, chief of California’s Bureau of Medical Cannabis Regulation, poses in the bureau’s of- agribusiness doomed fam-
est legal marijuana econ- fice in Sacramento, Calif. Ajax, and her staff are crafting regulations and rules that will govern the ily farms in the Midwest.
omy. The new industry has state’s emerging legal pot market, from where and how plants can be grown to setting guidelines State Treasurer John Chi-
a projected value of $7 to track the buds from fields to storefront. ang, who is running for gov-
billion, and state and local (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli) ernor, has asked President
governments could even- Donald Trump for guidance
tually collect $1 billion a The job of overseeing the Part of the job heading to- ers to regulate the industry, on how the state’s marijua-
year in taxes. industry touches on issues ward the start of next year a figure some say is too low. na industry can participate
California is “building the from protecting water qual- falls to other agencies, in- His office stresses that one in the nation’s banking sys-
airplane while it’s being ity for fish in streams near cluding the Food and Agri- regulatory framework is tem, while pot remains ille-
flown,” lamented state Sen. pot grows, to safely collect- culture Department, which needed, not separate ones gal under U.S. law.
Mike McGuire, a Democrat ing hundreds of millions of will issue licenses for cultiva- for recreational and medi- Legislators will hold a hear-
whose sprawling Northern dollars in taxes from busi- tors. cal cannabis, even though ing Monday on whether
California district includes nesses that often operate In November, California there are laws for each the state can meet the
some of the world’s most in cash. joined a growing number that could duplicate costs January deadline.
prized pot fields. Inside the former arena, of states in legalizing rec- and confuse businesses. Ajax, whose agency is an
He questions if the state Lori Ajax, the state’s top pot reational marijuana use for One of the new law’s re- arm of the California De-
can meet January dead- regulator, acknowledged adults. In general, the state quirements calls for the partment of Consumer
lines to create a coherent the challenges but said the will treat cannabis like al- state to develop a comput- Affairs, is well-versed in
system that accounts for state can, indeed must, be cohol, allowing people 21 erized system to track can- controlled substances. Six
the loosely regulated medi- ready on Jan. 1 when Cali- and older to legally possess nabis, sometimes called badges she carried while
cal marijuana industry, now fornia is required to issue li- up to an ounce of pot and “seed-to-sale” monitoring. rising through the ranks as
two decades old and de- censes. grow six marijuana plants It’s envisioned that scan- an agent with the state
veloping its own rules, while “We’re small but mighty,” at home. ners will be used to keep Department of Alcoholic
transforming the enormous she said of her staff of 11 The law kicks in Jan. 1, 2018, tabs on pot as it moves Beverage Control are on
illegal market into a legal, full-time workers spear- but many communities al- from the leafy raw product display in her sunny, corner
licensed one. heading the project. ready turn an indifferent to street-level sales. office.q