The Golden State of California has suspended nearly 400 marijuana business licenses recently.
The move has affected about 5% of the state’s legal supply change that ranges from retailers to distributors.
The Bureau of Cannabis Control (BCC) issued notices to 394 retailers, delivery services, distributors, and microbusiness on November 1st.
According to a spokesperson for the bureau, the notices warn that they won’t be legally able to conduct business until they’ve undergone mandatory track-and-trace system training and credentialing.
As of Wednesday, the suspended licenses have reached 385 and included 63 retailers, 61 delivery services, 47 microbusinesses, 185 distributors, and 29 distributors that are for transport only.
The BCC oversees 2,630 marijuana companies that hold either provisional or annual licenses, while the California Department of Public Health (CDPH) oversees an additional 932 manufacturers, and the state Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) oversees 3,830 MJ farmers.
California has a total of 7,392 licensed cannabis businesses.
According to BCC spokesman Alex Traverso, all the 394 affected businesses were given enough time to complete the required track-and-trace steps and to begin uploading their inventory data so state regulators can keep tabs on the cannabis supply chain via Florida-based Metrc’s software.
Any business that was given a provisional business permit was also given five days to sign up for Metrc, take required training and begin using the system.
“So, finally, about a week ago, we sent out another note, saying, ‘By this past Friday (Nov. 1), you guys need to be in Metrc, signed up or officially your license is going to be suspended,’” Traverso said. “The gist of it is, now if they go out and they get their credential, the suspension is lifted.”
2,236 licensed businesses completed the Metrc credentialing process and are uploading their inventory data.
“These were just the stragglers,” he said. “It turned out to be a couple extra months that we gave them. It’s just a matter of getting a password, getting a login and doing the training.”
“People have already done it. We’ve already seen people do that and get their suspensions lifted,” Traverso said this Tuesday. “I think there were about 80, since Friday afternoon, that had already gone in and got their credential.”
