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California officials have announced that they\u2019re awarding $18.4 million in marijuana tax-funded grants to cities and counties across the state to support equity programs and help remove barriers to entry in the cannabis industry.<\/p>\n
This is the latest round of funds that the Governor\u2019s Office of Business and Economic Development (GO-Biz) is providing under its\u00a0Cannabis Equity Grants Program for Local Jurisdictions<\/a>.<\/p>\n The purpose of the program is to \u201caid local efforts to support applicants and licensees by offering technical support, regulatory compliance assistance, and assistance with securing the capital necessary to begin a business,\u201d GO-Biz said in a press release on Tuesday.<\/p>\n \u201cOffering these types of assistance also supports statewide efforts to reduce and eliminate the illicit cannabis market by bringing more people into the legal marketplace,\u201d it said.<\/p>\n The grant funds will go toward \u201ca range of activities, including the support of program applicants and licensees who face financial barriers to entry into the cannabis industry by providing low\/no-interest loans or grants, reduced licensing fees or waived fees and technical assistance, including one-on-one consulting and training, and navigation assistance with cannabis licensing and regulatory requirements.\u201d<\/p>\n The office said that, with this latest funding round, the program has provided\u00a0$123.4 million to 34 local jurisdictions across the state. And as of last December, \u201cthe cities and counties that have received these grants have licensed 1,446 Californians who faced barriers to the industry across California.\u201d<\/p>\n Here\u2019s a list<\/a> of the grant<\/a> awardees:<\/p>\n Last year, GO-Biz awarded $12 million in marijuana tax-funded grants to cities across the state to support equity programs for people disproportionately impacted by the war on drugs.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, on Monday California officials unveiled a new report on the current status and future of the state\u2019s marijuana market<\/a>\u2014with independent analysts hired by regulators concluding that the federal prohibition on cannabis that prevents interstate commerce is meaningfully bolstering the illicit market.<\/p>\n \u2014 Separately, state officials are now accepting public comment through mid-March on a plan that would remove medical marijuana as an accepted treatment for injured employees in workers\u2019 compensation cases<\/a>. The change would effectively prevent doctors in such cases from recommending marijuana and end any compensation to pay for cannabis medications.<\/p>\n Also, a new California law allowing marijuana cafes officially took effect at the beginning of January, authorizing local governments throughout the state to\u00a0allow cannabis cafes to open<\/a>.<\/p>\n Last September the governor also signed a series of modest reform proposals, including a bill to make it so medical marijuana donated to low-income patients is tax-exempt and another measure to\u00a0prevent what advocates call the \u201cdouble taxation\u201d of marijuana<\/a>\u00a0by restricting the ability of local governments to calculate their cannabis levies after state taxes are already applied.<\/p>\n While the governor supports cannabis legalization, he\u2019s been notably reserved about various drug policy proposals in recent years, for example vetoing legislation to legalize psychedelics and allow safe consumption sites for illegal drugs, in addition to nixing legislation to\u00a0allow small marijuana growers to sell their products directly to consumers<\/a>\u00a0at state-organized farmers markets.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, a recent report released by a panel of experts convened by California\u2019s Department of Public Health (CDPH)\u00a0made a number of major policy recommendations<\/a>\u00a0that would radically alter the landscape of the state\u2019s marijuana market, for example by limiting the THC potency of cannabis flower and concentrates, requiring products be sold in plain packaging and setting up a government-run cannabis monopoly along the lines of how stores work in Quebec, Canada.<\/p>\n Separately, in October, an industry effort to halt California\u2019s enforcement of new emergency regulations banning consumable hemp products fell short, with a state judge\u00a0denying a request for a temporary restraining order<\/a>.<\/p>\n As Nebraska Lawmakers Take Up Medical Marijuana Implementation Bills, AG\u2019s Office Threatens Lawsuit Over Licensing<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n Photo courtesy of Chris Wallis \/\/ Side Pocket Images.<\/em><\/p>\n The post California Officials Award $18.4 Million In Marijuana Tax-Funded Grants To Support Local Equity Efforts<\/a> appeared first on Marijuana Moment<\/a>.<\/p>\n
California officials have announced that they\u2019re awarding $18.4 million in marijuana tax-funded grants to cities and counties across the state to support equity programs and help remove barriers to entry in the cannabis industry. This is the latest round of funds that the Governor\u2019s Office of Business and Economic DevelopmentContinue Reading<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":458,"featured_media":80452,"comment_status":"false","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[81],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/80451"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/458"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=80451"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/80451\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":80453,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/80451\/revisions\/80453"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/80452"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=80451"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=80451"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=80451"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\n
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\nRead More: California Officials Award .4 Million In Marijuana Tax-Funded Grants To Support Local Equity Efforts<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"