California Officials Award $18.4 Million In Marijuana Tax-Funded Grants To Support Local Equity Efforts

California officials have announced that they’re awarding $18.4 million in marijuana tax-funded grants to cities and counties across the state to support equity programs and help remove barriers to entry in the cannabis industry.

This is the latest round of funds that the Governor’s Office of Business and Economic Development (GO-Biz) is providing under its Cannabis Equity Grants Program for Local Jurisdictions.

The purpose of the program is to “aid local efforts to support applicants and licensees by offering technical support, regulatory compliance assistance, and assistance with securing the capital necessary to begin a business,” GO-Biz said in a press release on Tuesday.

“Offering these types of assistance also supports statewide efforts to reduce and eliminate the illicit cannabis market by bringing more people into the legal marketplace,” it said.

The grant funds will go toward “a range of activities, including the support of program applicants and licensees who face financial barriers to entry into the cannabis industry by providing low/no-interest loans or grants, reduced licensing fees or waived fees and technical assistance, including one-on-one consulting and training, and navigation assistance with cannabis licensing and regulatory requirements.”

The office said that, with this latest funding round, the program has provided $123.4 million to 34 local jurisdictions across the state. And as of last December, “the cities and counties that have received these grants have licensed 1,446 Californians who faced barriers to the industry across California.”

Here’s a list of the grant awardees:

• City of Los Angeles: $3,500,000.00

• City and County of San Francisco: $3,324,052.50

• City of Oakland: $2,074,369.75

• City of Sacramento: $1,680,777.31

• County of San Diego: $1,413,134.46

• City of Long Beach: $1,198,263.18

• County of Humboldt: $657,436.98

• County of Mendocino: $612,689.88

• City of Richmond: $600,000.00

• County of Sonoma: $558,102.04

• City of Nevada City: $557,845.81

• City of Palm Springs: $538,328.09

• County of Nevada: $500,000.00

• County of Trinity: $500,000.00

• City of Vista: $250,000.00

• City of Watsonville: $250,000.00

• City of Coachella: $200,000.00

Last year, GO-Biz awarded $12 million in marijuana tax-funded grants to cities across the state to support equity programs for people disproportionately impacted by the war on drugs.

Meanwhile, on Monday California officials unveiled a new report on the current status and future of the state’s marijuana market—with independent analysts hired by regulators concluding that the federal prohibition on cannabis that prevents interstate commerce is meaningfully bolstering the illicit market.

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Separately, state officials are now accepting public comment through mid-March on a plan that would remove medical marijuana as an accepted treatment for injured employees in workers’ compensation cases. The change would effectively prevent doctors in such cases from recommending marijuana and end any compensation to pay for cannabis medications.

Also, a new California law allowing marijuana cafes officially took effect at the beginning of January, authorizing local governments throughout the state to allow cannabis cafes to open.

Last September the governor also signed a series of modest reform proposals, including a bill to make it so medical marijuana donated to low-income patients is tax-exempt and another measure to prevent what advocates call the “double taxation” of marijuana by restricting the ability of local governments to calculate their cannabis levies after state taxes are already applied.

While the governor supports cannabis legalization, he’s been notably reserved about various drug policy proposals in recent years, for example vetoing legislation to legalize psychedelics and allow safe consumption sites for illegal drugs, in addition to nixing legislation to allow small marijuana growers to sell their products directly to consumers at state-organized farmers markets.

Meanwhile, a recent report released by a panel of experts convened by California’s Department of Public Health (CDPH) made a number of major policy recommendations that would radically alter the landscape of the state’s marijuana market, for example by limiting the THC potency of cannabis flower and concentrates, requiring products be sold in plain packaging and setting up a government-run cannabis monopoly along the lines of how stores work in Quebec, Canada.

Separately, in October, an industry effort to halt California’s enforcement of new emergency regulations banning consumable hemp products fell short, with a state judge denying a request for a temporary restraining order.

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Photo courtesy of Chris Wallis // Side Pocket Images.