The chief of California’s Bureau of Medical Cannabis Regulation Lori Ajax was clearly in no mood to mince her words when she spoke at a business forum earlier. She does not have the time to. She has to have a working model in place for managing marijuana by the close of 2017. And the federal maneuvers in Washington are not helping either. Just like a California big dipper, we believe.
Fortunately for Lori, she has a strong enforcement background. She previously served in the California Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control as Deputy Division Chief, District Administrator and Supervising Investigator. She listed a number of challenges she faces when speaking to the business forum. We thought it would be helpful to summarize the lengthy San Diego Union Tribune report in bullet form. So the main challenges Lori Ajax faces are as follows:
- Finding the best carrot and stick approach to convince loose cannon in the industry to participate in the debate, and comply with the result
- Working with federal law enforcement agents, following recent remarks by the Trump administration that they could resume enforcing the federal ban
- Having to wait patiently at the starting gate while the state legislature decides what to do with almost forty related bills currently on its desk for attention
- Meantime, wondering whether there will be enough quality control labs in place on Day 1, and whether they will be certified per state requirements
- Finding an effective route forward to combining recreational and medical legislation, while all the time watching her back for federal interference
- Being agile and nimble enough to cope effectively with gremlins that will inevitably creep into the new regulations, and managing the transition
- Negotiating a working relationship with the Food and Agriculture, Public Health, Fish and Wildlife, and Pesticide Control Departments
This is certainly a lot tougher than the Alcoholic Beverage Control Department where we were the sole authority, she admits. “We have so little time to wring our hands about that,” she continues. “We have to get this done so I’m focusing on what’s in my control.” Lori Ajax was at pains to explain to the business forum that the initial regulation would be a stopgap for refining later.
The possibility of lowering taxes is also on her agenda to encourage participation. We wish her every success in her endeavors and reiterate the need for cool heads during this exciting phase. We heartily recommend industry attorneys, cultivators, dispensers, and delivery operators attend her consultative sessions. We cannot afford a large opt-out because they fail to agree later.