LA is set to lose a vast number of cannabis businesses at the start of the new year. According to Marijuana Business Daily, a record number – 57 businesses spanning the spectrum of the cannabis market will soon shut down. Their licenses, revoked.
The issue comes amid a frantic time in the US. With so many businesses closing their doors due to COVID-19, the results have been putting many out of work. These 57 cannabis businesses add to the growing disparity that that city faces with foreclosures and unemployment.
While the majority of cannabis businesses within the city of Los Angeles were able to hand in their paperwork and payment by November 2nd, many were unable to due to city councils closing. Unfortunately, the results do not seem to be working in those businesses’ favor. As they have not completed the necessary steps (despite the government not allowing them to do so) they must face a harsh circumstance that many throughout the country already face – closures.
As of right now, there does not seem to be anything working to help these businesses stay open to the public as new business codes (which had been put forth in July of 2020) forbids them any leeway for extensions or renewals.
On December 31st these businesses “will be required to cease operations and will not be allowed to engage in commercial cannabis activity until a new application is submitted to DCR and a new temporary approval or license is issued.”
While the year has presented a number of hits on both employees and small businesses, this has allowed for a number of different aspects to come forth. One of these alternatives has been for residents to grow from home. Due to multiple states legalizing cannabis in November, the home-grow industry has seen a drastic improvement for a number of reasons.
The first is the ability to leave the house. For many medical patients, being able to grow from the safety of your own home means more to them than a lot of other things. With dispensaries greatly limited due to the virus on top of what was already considered limited accessibility, the ability to grow from home means that many patients do not need to leave the safety and comfort of their homes in order to provide and have access to the proper medications.
The second is the ability to know what you are getting. While legal dispensaries are closing their doors, the demand has not gone down. Instead, many recreational as well as medical users are switching to backyard or black-market cannabis. The risks involved with purchasing at an unmarked dispensary are drastically high. The black market wasn’t necessarily the ones following the rules in the first place and while regular businesses who have followed the rules and who have provided safe products to the public are closing their doors, the ones who are using harmful methods are the ones receiving more customers.
This is why home grow methods are becoming so popular during this year. The ease of access and accountability as to what is in a person’s cannabis plant is what has been a driving force for shifting trends during this time of uncertainty. For many, purchasing beginner home grow kits have been a savior for those who do not have the ease of getting in their car or need assistance with purchasing their medication.
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