Following closely on recent issuance of emergency regulations, on December 8, 2017, California’s Bureau of Cannabis Control (BCC) and the Department of Public Health (CDPH) announced they were now accepting applications for temporary commercial cannabis licenses.  The BCC online application portal covers commercial cannabis licenses for retailers, microbusinesses, testing laboratories and cannabis events.    http://online.bcc.ca.gov/  The CDPH application covers commercial cannabis licenses for manufacturing.   www.cdph.ca.gov/mcsb.  It is expected that applications for commercial licenses for cultivation under the California Department of Food And Agriculture will be accepted beginning in late December.

For both the BCC and CDPH applications, temporary licenses will not be effective prior to January 1, 2018 and will be conditionally valid for 120 days upon issuance, although both licenses could be extended for additional 90-day periods if a complete application for an annual license has been submitted prior to the expiration date of the temporary license.  For both licenses, authorization by the local jurisdiction in which the business will operate is required before temporary licenses will be issued.  Some of the additional BCC application requirements include: (i) information regarding the business and its ownership, (ii) the license type applied for and (iii) the physical address of the premises to be licensed and a premises diagram.   

The CDPH cannabis manufacturing temporary license application is shorter:  a one page form asking for basic business and premises identity and location information, as well as identification of all operational activities to be conducted for both medicinal and adult-use products.  Again, evidence of authorization by the applicable local jurisdiction is required.

More detailed information will be required for submissions annual licenses prior to the expiration of any issued temporary license.