California’s $100M Cannabis Grant Program To Help New Businesses Was Mismanaged, Audit Reveals
California’s Department of Cannabis Control (DCC) faces scrutiny after a state audit revealed significant mismanagement of a $100 million grant program intended to streamline cannabis business licensing across 17 jurisdictions.
Established in 2021, this program was meant to assist cannabis companies in transitioning from provisional to annual licenses – a process that has proven complex and slow-moving. With the program set to expire in June 2025, concerns are mounting about whether the funds will effectively achieve this goal.
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Troubling Report
According to Green Market Report, State Auditor Grant Parks‘ report, released the week before Labor Day, highlights numerous deficiencies in the program’s oversight.
By January 2023, nearly a year after the state disbursed the initial $100 million, the audit found that many cities and counties had mismanaged the funds. This mismanagement potentially hindered thousands of cannabis businesses from transitioning from provisional to full annual licenses, which they must complete by January 2026.
According to the audit, only 535 businesses out of the thousands still awaiting licensing had successfully obtained their annual permits by 2022, despite the DCC distributing approximately $80 million to the participating jurisdictions.
“DCC’s …