On July 1, 2020, the Los Angeles City Council approved an ordinance which comprehensively amends, clarifies and re-organizes portions of Article 4, Chapter X of the Los Angeles Municipal Code. The ordinance will become effective upon publication. The amendments adopted were the culmination of several months of work by the Department of Cannabis Regulation in an effort to incorporate feedback from stakeholders and the Cannabis Regulation Commission to streamline and improve existing procedures for the administration of the Licensing and Social Equity Program.   The Department has a lot of work ahead of it to implement all the changes approved by City Council. An important part of the work necessary for this implementation is communicating information with existing and prospective applicants. Therefore, in the weeks and months ahead, the Department will be updating its website, sharing instructional videos, setting up virtual workshops and providing  other relevant information to applicants with clear instructions and information about the various new and improved processes related to the Licensing and Social Equity Program.

A large portion of the work ahead for the Department is internal. Because applications and applicant interaction is predominantly online, much of the work will involve updating our online portal, creating necessary resources related to the Licensing and Social Equity Program and developing the procedures to administer future application processing as well as application modifications. The Department will continue to share information as soon as it is available.

Later this month, the Cannabis Regulation Commission will hold a meeting where the Department will share additional information related to the Licensing and Social Equity Program for existing applicants. Information regarding the Commission meeting will be posted on the DCR website.

We look forward to continuing to improve our Licensing and Social Equity Program with your support.

Sincerely,

DCR