For prospective owners, investors, and employees, the long-awaited date to begin applying for marijuana business licenses is about to arrive. The newly dubbed Alcohol & Marijuana Control Office (formerly the Alcoholic Beverage Control Board) is scheduled to start accepting applications online on Wednesday, February 24.
Resources — including a FAQ, schedule, regulations, and other key information — are posted on the state’s website, available here. The page will be updated throughout the process, so be sure to revisit it regularly.
Meanwhile, legislators are expected to address the state’s inability to perform necessary background checks in HB 75. Also, we hope the state can establish an alternative to the current testing requirement, which could create a huge burden for businesses located in remote areas.
The Alcohol & Marijuana Control Office’s priority early this year will be processing cultivation and testing license applications, since both types of businesses need to be operational before retailers and manufacturers. The Marijuana Control Board is scheduled to meet on June 9 to issue the first of these licenses, followed by retail and manufacturing in September. Proposed rules for cannabis cafés are still pending, but we expect those will be available before such businesses would need to apply.
Stay tuned — we may yet see legislation related to the new industry in the coming weeks, and of course the process of rolling out the industry will be ongoing throughout the year.
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Source: Campaign to Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol
