Top Cannabis Organizations Declare War with Los Angeles City Council

 

Special to California Black Media by Lukas Lucas

 

The UCBA, UFCW 770 and LA Cannabis Task Force (and their association leaders in Los Angeles) organized a call to arms Monday June 19. The revolution was destined to start at the Los Angeles Athletic Club because rush hour traffic and expensive parking makes the venue the most inaccessible part of downtown for the public. The purpose of the workshop was to create a new “hostile” coalition to speak out against the city council’s new proposed cannabis regulations.

 

Michael Chernis is hailed as one of California’s foremost experts in both federal and California laws relating to cannabis and the growing legal cannabis industry. As Lead counsel for the LA Cannabis Task Force, he sent out a warning to the city council.

 

Chernis said when wanting millions in tax revenue, member stakeholders bring to the cannabis industry to remain in Los Angeles city coffers. The city council will have to buckle to demands, or the businesses will move outside of Los Angeles.

 

Chernis maintains that the majority of the regulations are “ridiculous” and that the city council is treating stakeholders like “children and second-class citizens.” He repeatedly said that he was just outright “angry,” sentiments in which the association leaders were laying on thick to the stakeholders in attendance. At one point, Chernis even dipped into the realm of propaganda by saying that Los Angeles city council is more vested in preserving policies to protect the cities controversial sanctuary city status—as opposed to creating policies to protect the well-being of cannabis stakeholders in the same town.

 

All the leaders express extreme disdain and mistrust of the proposed Non-Retail Registry Program. It simply says, if there is involvement in the commercial medical cannabis industry in Los Angeles as a small or medium grower, or a person who makes cannabis edibles for sick people, notify the city and they will give special consideration and license priority.

 

Jerrod and the new coalition declared war against the proposed Social Equity program, a program in development by the City Council. He whined about how the implementation will “bottleneck” the licensing process. Jerrod, the UCBA, and their private stakeholders believe the program could impede their opportunity to be first movers in the Los Angeles retail market. He made it clear that he and many of the members of the UCBA are tired of the cannabis business and want to cash out now; but the new proposed regulations would make their golden parachutes impossible.

Ariel Clark, chair of the LA Cannabis Taskforce, shared that building a business on these new rules would be akin to using quicksand for the foundation of that building.

 

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