Pending a signature from the governor, California could soon become the seventh state to make sure people won’t lose their jobs if they smoke marijuana when they’re off the clock.
Gov. Newsom and the Legislature cut a California cannabis tax, but not everyone is convinced it’s enough to stabilize the legal market. Social equity operators say the changes don’t do nearly enough to help them.
The business owner, Jorge Larios, denied that he was operating any illegal business at his office building located at 216 Atlantic Ave.
City inspectors said they caught workers in the act of removing cannabis from a commercial building at 216 Atlantic Ave., and later found an estimated 2,000 packaged and jarred cannabis products in two vans parked behind the building being used to transport the drug.
Industry insiders say the practice of working simultaneously in the legal and illicit markets is all too commonplace, a financial reality brought on by the difficulties and costs of doing business with a product they call the most heavily regulated in America.
Nearly 500 applicants are waiting for approval to open cannabis-related businesses in Long Beach. The city says a $3.9 million state grant will help work through that backlog.
Long Beach has tried giving away aquarium tickets, cheeseburgers and gaming systems to entice more residents to get vaccinated, but now a community group is taking a new approach by offering free joints for people who may still be holding out on getting a COVID-19 vaccine.
The change will allow businesses that infuse concentrates into products, extract cannabis oils using butter or oils or just package and label products to use the same space, similar to a commercial kitchen, but the law will require common-use space to be used at scheduled times by individual operators.
The original mural, approved but the city’s Cultural Heritage Commission in February, showed a large female figure with a butterfly on her finger, but some residents were concerned with the amount of female’s cleavage shown in the rendering.
Future Long Beach cannabis operators received a boost this month after the city received over $1.2 million in grants to help people open up businesses through the city’s social equity program.
