Cannabis Licensing

California and Washington State Cannabis Licensing

Ringgenberg Law Firm provides clients with full-service assistance through the state and local licensing processes. Working with city and county governments throughout the states of California and Washington, our firm has successfully helped our clients obtain and maintain over 150 provisional and annual licenses for operators throughout the supply chain. Whether you’re interested in becoming a cultivator, distributor, manufacturer, retailer, or all four, we have experience in every step of the process. This includes assistance at the local level, where we have deep relationships with local authorities around the state.

Our success hinges on our hands-on experience with every component of local and state application and licensing processes. This spans corporate formation/structuring and cannabis tax permits to assistance with site diagrams and compliant operating procedures. No operation is too small and no expansion is too large for us to successfully gain and maintain licensure.

California State Regulators

The Bureau of Cannabis Control issues licenses for retailers, distributors, microbusinesses, testing laboratories, and cannabis events. 

  • Retailer licenses are designated as Storefront, which includes brick and mortar dispensaries with delivery services, or Non-Storefront, which is limited to delivery-only operations.
  • Distribution licenses are split between Distributor and Distributor Transport Only. 
    • General Distributor license holders transport cannabis goods between licensees and arrange lab testing along with ensuring compliant packaging and labeling. Licensed Distributors are also allowed to roll pre-rolls as long as they only contain flower, shake, leaf, or kief.
    • The Transport Only license limits the distributor to transport goods between other licensed manufacturers, cultivators, or distributors along with ensuring compliant packaging and labeling.
  • Microbusiness license holders engage in three or more of the BCC’s listed qualified activities: cultivation, manufacturing, distribution, and retail sale. These licenses are allowed to add or remove other commercial cannabis activities as long as they continue at least three qualified activities.
  • Testing laboratories are accredited labs responsible for testing cannabis flower and products. The required tests include THC and CBD percentages, heavy metals, pesticides, and residual solvents. These license holders are not allowed to hold a license in another category.
  • Licensed Cannabis Event Organizers are able to apply for Temporary Event Licenses that authorize the sale and onsite consumption of cannabis at a specific location for up to four days. Educational events that do not include the sale or consumption of cannabis are not required to be licensed by the BCC.
The Manufactured Cannabis Safety Branch of the California Department of Public Health issues licenses for manufacturing cannabis products using volatile and nonvolatile solvents. They oversee the production of vaporizer cartridges, edibles, infused pre-rolls, and other manufactured goods. 
  • Type 6 licenses are for extractions using mechanical methods, like shaking or pressing, or nonvolatile solvents, like ice-water. These licenses are also used to do infusions.
  • Type 7 licenses are for extractions using mechanical methods or volatile solvents like ethanol, CO2, or butane. There are very specific safety regulations for these types of extraction.They are also able to do infusions.
  • Type N licenses are for manufacturers that produce edibles, topicals, or products other than extracts or concentrates. 
  • Type P licenses are only for packaging, repackaging, labeling, or relabeling cannabis product containers or wrappers.
  • Type S licenses allow small operations to share the facility of another manufacturing license holder and are allowed to do infusions and extractions with butter or oils to be used only in the Type S License holder’s infused products.
All CDPH license holders are allowed to package and label cannabis products.

The California Department of Food & Agriculture oversees the CalCannabis Cultivation Licensing branch which issues licenses for cultivation operations, nurseries, and processing.

  • Cultivation license types correspond to the number of plants or the total size of the plants’ canopy, this ranges from Specialty Cottage licenses with up to 25 mature plants or 500 square feet of canopy to Medium licenses that have up to an acre of canopy outdoors or up to 22,000 square feet of canopy indoors. 
  • Nursery licenses are limited to the cultivation of clones, immature plants, and seeds, these licenses are intended to focus on the propagation of cannabis plants. 
  • Processing licenses allow for activities such as trimming, curing, and packaging of non-manufactured cannabis. 

Combining these licenses could allow for vertical integration; propagating, growing, and processing all under one company.

Local Jurisdiction

While the state licensing process is the same throughout California, individual cities or counties may have stricter regulations. Local governments have the ability to ban or limit the number and location of cannabis companies as well as create their own application requirements. Often, these include plans on bettering the community, preventing crime, and providing a means for the public to communicate concerns about noise or odor. These local laws take precedence over state laws, and local authorization is required for state licensing.

 

Ringgenberg Law Firm has adeptly navigated clients through local government licensing processes and has advised city and county governing boards on best practices concerning the cannabis community. Our clients are our family and as such, we advocate passionately for your best interests.

Looking for links to useful regulatory resources?

Find guidance here

Social Equity Programs

Several cities throughout California and Washington promote and prioritize social equity programs that reduce barriers to entry into the legally-regulated cannabis market. These equity programs serve as restorative justice campaigns for people that have been disproportionately negatively impacted by the War on Drugs. While each jurisdiction has different Equity eligibility requirements, common criteria include previous cannabis-related convictions, long-term residence in specific police beats, and a low income threshold. Benefits for equity licensees include priority processing, ownership protection, guaranteed operational space, and business mentorship.