Through March 12, the state’s new Cal Cannabis licensing bureau had issued fewer than 3,000 marijuana cultivation permits. Without a state permit, growers are locked out of participation in California’s new $7 billion legal commercial marijuana industry. Since many entities have nabbed multiple permits—in some cases grabbing 30 or more in order to take advantage of a loophole in the law and open cannabis plantations of near-unlimited size—roughly one percent of California’s marijuana growers are currently legitimate in the eyes of the state, according to a worrisome report released by CalGrowers. ++++++++++++
A better question to ask is who such a situation benefits. Like most “crises” in capitalism, any constriction of cannabis will make a few people fabulously wealthy. And a sudden shortage of weed is fantastic news if you’re one of the few with access to the commodity. ++++++++
Since California has had a heretofore semi-regulated (at best) market, the imposition of rules meant some disruption was inevitable. In California, one worry is that come July 1, when new regulations around pesticide use kick in—until then, almost all pot in the state is smoke at your own risk—almost all of those 13.5 million pounds will fail required lab tests. ++++++++
There’s time to pivot, and straightening out kinks in the cannabis industry will occupy much of this year’s session in the state Legislature. But a die’s been cast. The state is well on its way to a world in which retailers will be able to present mediocre product at eye-popping prices, prices that tourists or wealthy neophytes will happily shell out, for a while at least. This is terrific news for the one percent of growers that are licensed. When you have the commodity, a “crisis”-level shortage is the best possible scenario.
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