California Launches Online Portal for Cannabis Businesses

Alex Padilla, the Secretary of State of California, just made an important announcement in advance of the closely-approaching January 1st embarkation date for legal adult-use cannabis in California.

The Secretary of State launched a new website called Cannabizfile, in order to help streamline the process for cannabis business licensing in the country’s biggest economy for what promises to be an onslaught of eager entrepreneurs.

The State agency already hosts a similar website for persons looking to launch every other kind of business, called Bizfile. But as we all know, the cannabis industry is not like any other. Add that to the mad rush of a new industry, add that to an industry that has been producing the country’s leading (underground) cash crop for years, and it’s probably a good idea to have a uniquely-tailored, online presence.

From the OC Register:

“Many of the steps are the same ones every new venture in California faces, Padilla said, from determining what type of business they want to be to registering their unique name. But they decided they needed a cannabis-specific portal because there are some particular considerations for cannabis businesses, he said, such as the ability to form cannabis cooperative associations. Also, Padilla said there was concern that aspiring cannabis entrepreneurs could bog down or crash the regular Secretary of State’s site come Jan. 1.

“‘I can’t recall – not only in recent memory, but in a recent decade — any industry of this magnitude that became legal from one day to the next and triggered the number of new businesses expected to start up in a very short time frame,’ he said.

“…The Bureau of Cannabis Control won’t verify business registration before it hands out temporary licenses, according to agency spokesman Alex Traverso. But before businesses can get full annual licenses, Traverso said his staff will check to be sure they’ve filed proper paperwork with the Secretary of State.”

The online business portal just launched, with a short instruction video including an extremely familiar face to the cannabis community-Cheech Marin.

While administrators are working as quickly as they can to get information about the process in view of the public eye, the Secretary of State’s office reminds interested parties that registration with the State won’t begin until January 1st, 2018.

Stay in touch with the latest information for California’s cannabis market at the next International Cannabis Business Conference! Join the ICBC on February 1st & 2nd, 2018 in San Francisco, California! Speakers will include Cannabis Czar Lori Ajax and Alex Traverso of the Bureau of Cannabis Control. Get your tickets today!