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California will mark the sixth anniversary of Saturday's recreational marijuana sales, with consumers and the cannabis industry complaining about everything from high prices to high taxes, to the scarcity of licensed pottery stores. 19659002] Although they know the deadline for months, many marijuana companies have been slow in submitting their products to laboratories to see if they meet the quality standards imposed by the state that will come into force in July. 1.
Industry officials say this creates a bottleneck that could lead to occasional shortages of cannabis, particularly in San Diego where consumer demand is expected to skyrocket during the tourist season d & # 39; summer. Comic-Con alone will attract at least 135,000 visitors in mid-July.
The shortage would be a disadvantage for consumers. But "this could be an extinction event for companies whose products do not comply," said Pamela Epstein, managing director of Green Wise Consulting, a Los Angeles-based company that serves the industry. cannabis.
"They may not have enough money to recover."
The situation led the United Cannabis Business Association to send a letter to Governor Jerry Brown on Friday asking him to delay the start date of the new test rules and product packaging. The group, speaking on behalf of nearly 150 companies, said there were not enough laboratories to perform the tests. The association also said that companies would have to destroy nearly $ 400 million in existing products that do not meet new standards, according to the Associated Press.
Consumers would also feel the tightening.
"Prices will pull through the roof if there is a shortage, people have already rolled over, seeing prices go up, then lower prices, followed by flash sales, or taxes that they did not expect, "said Epstein," I'm optimistic that things will be better, but there are many problems to solve first. "
The issues raised many questions, including several have been discussed here with the participation of government regulators and the marijuana industry.
one of the largest marijuana growers in the world.How could he be confronted to a possible shortage of commercial cannabis?
A: California legalized the sale of medical cannabis in 1996. But the industry was very weakly regulated and the quality of the pot that arrived on the market varied a lot.
Everything changed in late 2016 when California voters approved Proposition 64, which legalized the possession and cultivation of small amounts of marijuana. The law also paved the way for the sale of recreational cannabis in licensed stores. And we needed test standards for commercial weeds. The state is trying to protect consumers from pesticides and solvents.
The state and the cannabis industry spent a lot of time debating standards. It seemed that things were going well; the state initially said that uniform purity and power tests would begin on January 1, 2018.
Then things got bogged down and the date was postponed to July 1.
"We really thought the tests would start in January," said Greg Magdoff, general manager of PharmLabs, a San Diego-based company that is allowed to do such work.
"We hired state drivers because we were told that we had to have our own employees the samples.
" We are restarting. It's long nights and weekends. There is a lot of stress.
Q: Is it true that there are not enough laboratories to perform the tests?
A: The answer is not clear.
There are 31 statewide laboratories, including three in San Diego. The Union-Tribune visited PharmLabs on Friday and found workers struggling to cope with a crush of businesses
Some companies have already become compliant, including OutCo, a farmer, distributor and retailer near El Cajon
. ready to go, "said Virginia Falces, OutCo's director of communications." But we'll have to see what next week brings. "
Q: In many parts of California, there's no reason why. There are no licensed recreational marijuana stores.Why? The public said yes to the grass when it approved the 64 proposal.
A: Proposition 64 also says that the counties, city and cities have the option of banning the sale of recreational marijuana, which is also known as an adult jar.The provision was added to the initiative to make it more acceptable to voters. [19659003Thestigmaassociatedwithmarijuanafadesbutatthestatelevelabout70%ofcommunitiessaidnotorecreationalsales
San Diego was a notable exception. There are more than a dozen licensed stores here, and others are expected. It's the only place in the county where these stores exist.
"Many cities do not want to be the first to jump in, they want to see how things are going," said Dallin Young, executive director of the Association of Cannabis Professionals, a San-based trade group. Diego
Q: Will things change?
A: It's possible, if not probable.
In March 2017, the County Supervisory Council of San Diego has voted 3 to 2 to ban the opening of new marijuana production facilities and has decided to eliminate existing facilities, but that could change in November if voters choose pro-marijuana candidates. At the same time, Chula Vista voters could approve a plan that would allow local businesses to grow, manufacture and sell marijuana.
Public acceptance of marijuana increased rapidly. June 26, Oklahoma approved the sale of medical marijuana, making cannabis legal, to varying degrees, in more than 30 states. Michigan, which has about 10 million people, will vote on a leisure pot in November. But there are a lot of frayed nerves in the cannabis industry, in part because US Attorney General Jeff Sessions said in January that he would not respect the decision of the United States. Obama administration not to sue companies that sell cannabis. in states where it is legal to do so.
Sessions was overthrown by President Trump in April. But this whole thing has given investors a reason to be very cautious about injecting money into cannabis.
Marijuana is also listed as a Schedule I drug at the federal level, which places it in the same category as heroin. This has largely shut down the cannabis industry out of the banking system. Banks do not want to upset the government by accepting money from marijuana.
Much has been said about the creation of a special bank in California to meet the needs of the cannabis industry. But for the moment, it's just that – talk.
Journalists from the Union-Tribune Gustavo Solis, David Garrick and Merrie Monteagudo contributed to this story. The Associated Press also contributed to this report.
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