There’s a lot of movement happening within the city of Los Angeles when it comes to cannabis. Recently, the head of LA's Department of Cannabis Regulation stepped down. And this week, City Council introduced a new motion that would give licensed cannabis businesses a placard to prove their legitimacy.
But some business owners, like Virgil Grant, say the progress isn't happening quick enough. Production at his business, California Cannabis, is a well-oiled machine. But with manufacturing, distribution, cultivation, and retail, Grant says his success didn’t come overnight. "It’s been a long journey to go from selling on the street to the entire operation that I’ve built,” he said.
In many ways, it's been a very difficult journey, he adds, but Grant has always lifted as he climbed. In fact, he's a known pioneer, leading the charge to get Measure M passed in LA, allowing the commercial sale of cannabis.
Grant also helped to create a social equity program that allows low-income minorities with a cannabis-related misdemeanor or felony to own a cannabis business. But he says the way it’s operating now under LA's Department of Cannabis Regulation is nothing like his vision. "Being the person who brought social equity to the city of Los Angeles, it’s been very frustrating to watch the process move forward or not move forward," he said.
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