By City of Los Angeles Bureau of Cannabis Control announced last week “Successfully conducted a Retail Application Lottery, also known as the Phase 3 Retail Round 2 Lottery,” in which “100 verified social justice individuals were selected for the opportunity to apply for a cannabis retail license in the City. I have selected the Applicant (SEIA) of Los Angeles.”
“The lottery was the culmination of nine months of planning, including a verification process where individuals could request verification as a Social Equity Individual Applicant (SEIA). Over 1,000 individuals requested verification and over 500 SEIA have met the entry criteria and have been registered in the lottery in a timely manner.Additional information on the SEIA criteria and process can be found here,” the city said. statement on thursday.
“The SEIA Verification Standards are consistent with the mission of the Social Equity Program (SEP) to promote equitable ownership and employment opportunities in the cannabis industry. We will provide economic opportunities for those most affected,” the statement said. continuation.
The application process ran into legal trouble last month when a Michigan man named Kenneth Gay sued the city.
Per MJBizDaily, Gay filed a California lawsuit “a month after filing a similar lawsuit in New York. A federal judge ruled that state regulators could stop adult-use marijuana from being legalized until the legal action is resolved.” We determined that we couldn’t issue dozens of retail licenses,” he said, adding, “Applicants had ‘arrested or convicted of cannabis in California,’ had low incomes, or had excessive police influence.” You did not meet the eligibility criteria under LA law that requires you to live in the area identified as receiving.”
in his lawsuit, gay claim “He met all three requirements, ‘except that the relevant events occurred in Michigan and not in California,'” his lawsuit argued, adding that “Los Angeles The city’s social equity program violates the dormant commerce clause of the U.S. Constitution because it enacted laws and regulations that favor California residents over “state residents for the lottery,” which it also claimed.
The city’s Bureau of Cannabis Control explained that the latest lottery, which took place on Dec. 8, was part of a “triple-blind random selection process.”
“A blind selection process means that the agency that selects an applicant does not know their identity. It meant that no one knew who was chosen until the selection process was completed and the data from each party were reconciled.Regulatory authority explained in a press release.
The city said it “contracted a third-party global business advisory firm called FTI Consulting Inc. (FTI) to manage the selection process.”
Social equity provisions have become a hallmark of cannabis reform efforts in states and cities across the country, and elected officials and policy makers recognize the importance of redressing the previous harms of the war on drugs. increase.
California, which legalized recreation pots in 2016, is no exception.
In September, state Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom said: announced According to a release from his office at the time, he “signed several measures to strengthen California’s cannabis laws, expand the legal cannabis market, and remedy the harm of cannabis prohibition.”
In addition to signing the measure, Newsom called on “legislators and other policymakers to redouble their efforts to address and eliminate these barriers.”
“For too many Californians, the promise of cannabis legalization remains out of reach,” Newsom said at the time. “These steps build on the significant progress our state has made toward this goal, but much work remains to build a fair, safe, sustainable and legal cannabis industry. We look forward to working with the state legislature and policymakers to bring full legalization of cannabis to communities across California.”
