Cannabis Economy

Cat Packer, Executive Director of the Los Angeles Department of Cannabis Regulation, is working to transition medical cannabis operators over to California's new commercial framework. Although the state has had medical cannabis for years, it has not been regulated by the city of Los Angeles until this point, so a lot of catch up is required to make sure the industry is unified and regulated. Packer also discusses the risks that still persist when entering the market, as well as the city's steps toward addressing social equity: "The city of Los Angeles passed a social equity program back in 2017 in an attempt to try and acknowledge and address some of the harms of the drug war that particularly low income and minority communities had experienced." Soon, Packer tells us, Los Angeles will have more social equity licensees than anywhere else.