The City Council of Los Angeles, California has approved the creation of a Cannabis Licensing Commission which will be tasked with regulating the city’s legal adult-use cannabis industry, according to an LAist report. The approval comes after voters passed Measure M during the primary election earlier this month which gives the city the power to establish regulations for the medical and recreational cannabis markets.
The five-member commission will be comprised of Los Angeles residents, two appointed by the City Council and three by the mayor – one of which must be an elected neighborhood council member. No member is allowed to have been a registered lobbyist with the city for any cannabis-related activities in the year preceding the appointment.
According to the report, yesterday’s vote directs the City Attorney to draft an ordinance outlining the committee’s creation, which will need to be approved by the City Council.
“We’re really pleased that they’ve created the commission,” Sarah Armstrong, director of industry affairs for Americans for Safe Access, said in the report. “I think it will work better for the city to have this distinct commission, rather than tasking already overburdened agencies with a huge new program.”
The voter-approved initiative passed last November takes effect Jan. 1, 2018.
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