Medical marijuana sales have lagged below expectations in Long Beach. File photo.
Medical marijuana sales have lagged below expectations in California and Long Beach. The city is looking at lowering tax rates for non-retail locations. File photo.

A public lottery will be held at City Hall Thursday morning to determine which business, out of those who have already submitted applications, will be eligible to receive one of the 10 remaining medical marijuana dispensary licenses available in Long Beach, city officials announced today.

The lucky 10, considered “non-priority medical marijuana dispensary applicants,” to get the licenses will be joining 22 other businesses given priority for licenses based on these factors. 

A total of 77 applications are being considered for those 10 spots, said marijuana program specialist Emily Armstrong.

According to the city’s business license website, the non-priority applicants are awarded licenses based on a priority point ranking system, in descending order from highest to lowest points.

“If there are multiple applicants with the same number of points, and the number of applications exceeds the remaining number of available dispensary business licenses, the City of Long Beach shall utilize a public lottery to determine which applicants are awarded a license,” according to the website.


 

While these available slots are only for dispensary licenses, the city also issues medical marijuana business licenses for: medical marijuana cultivation facilities, medical marijuana manufacturing facilities, medical marijuana distribution facilities and medical marijuana testing laboratories.

The lottery will be held inside the City Council Chamber at 9:00AM Thursday, September 28 at City Hall, located at 333 West Ocean Boulevard.

A public lottery instructions packet has been posted on the Medical Marijuana Information site under the “Public Lottery” section. Click here for more information.

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Editor’s note: this story was updated at 4:05PM with information on how many applications are being considered.

Stephanie Rivera is the community engagement editor. Reach her at [email protected] or on Twitter at @StephRivera88.