Today’s episode of The CAP•impact Podcast takes a look at the impacts of changes at the federal level on the regulated cannabis market in California and looks at how that new market is doing.
For the analysis of federal policy changes, primarily the decision in January by US Attorney General Jeff Sessions to rescind the Cole Memorandum, you might recognize the comments from McGeorge School of Law Professor Mike Vitiello. He talks about what the Cole Memo did, the immediate impact of it being rescinded by US Attorney General Jeff Sessions, and what the longer term impact of it has looked like. He also gives his thoughts as to the real impact the decision to rescind the Cole Memo will have in California, and on the cannabis industry nationwide.
We then chat with Dustin Moore, a Principal at Main Street Strategies and the Deputy Campaign Manager for 2016’s Yes on Prop 64 campaign, to talk about how the roll out of the legalized adult use of recreational cannabis is going in California, the challenges new businesses are facing, and some of the solutions being discussed to address those challenges. The Cole Memo comes up briefly here as well, but we focus primarily on the hurdles the have emerged in the process of creating a regulated market for recreation adult use of cannabis in California and how the market in California differs from the markets in other states that legalized cannabis before California did.
If you found our conversation about the role of local governments in the new regulated cannabis markets interesting, you should also look into this series the Orange County Register on cannabis laws in cities and counties across California.
You can find the full interview with Dustin, and the rest of this week’s episode on iTunes, Apple Podcasts, Stitcher Radio, or wherever you find your podcasts.