Dear Angelenos:
On Sunday, July 30, 2023, the City of Los Angeles Department of Cannabis Regulation (DCR) celebrated its 6th anniversary. During these past six years, DCR and its stakeholders have experienced a shared journey to develop and administer an equitable and efficient regulatory system to positively impact the lives of licensees, applicants and the cannabis community as a whole.
In this issue, we’ll feature some of the names and faces of the Los Angeles cannabis business community. They share their personal stories: growing pains, successes, their work with DCR, what it means to them to be a cannabis business owner, and what this opportunity means to their families and community. While the cannabis industry creates jobs, provides entrepreneurial opportunities and supports the City’s overall financial health, it’s these individual stories that illustrate the true impact of commercial cannabis legalization in Los Angeles.
As this industry continues to expand, DCR will continue to seek ways to streamline regulations and processes, and develop best practices to promote further equitable and economic development.
Thank you for your time and please reach out to our Department should you have any questions about our services and programs at (213) 978-0738 or cannabis@lacity.org
Sincerely,
Michelle Garakian
Interim Executive Director
Department of Cannabis Regulation
In 2017, the Department of Cannabis Regulation was a department of one employee - then-Executive Director Cat Packer - and through most of 2019, DCR had four employees tasked with developing from scratch a regulatory program for the largest legal cannabis market in the country. This was a new frontier for the City of LA and cannabis stakeholders.
Since then, DCR has grown to more than 55 staff members who have issued 1,421 cannabis licenses to 773 businesses which have generated over $4.5 billion in local economic activity. Today, DCR’s Social Equity Program is the largest in the country: it boasts more than 1,900 verified Social Equity Individual Applicants who have access to hundreds of hours of training, webinars, online resources, workforce development opportunities, and one-on-one business coaching.
These are important numbers and facts to share, but these numbers don’t paint a whole picture. Please take a moment to view these testimonials to hear their unique and inspiring stories. DCR cannot be more proud of our applicants and licensees. DCR’s 6th anniversary is a celebration of our stakeholders and their commitment to an equitable and robust cannabis industry in LA.
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General License Statistics
773 businesses with 1,421 licenses are allowed to operate in the City of Los Angeles. A business may have more than one license.
Social Equity License Statistics
To date, DCR has awarded 413 Social Equity Licenses split between 5 activities.
The Cannabis Regulation Commission welcomed its newest member. Born and raised in Chicago, Anton Farmby joined the labor movement during his college days and started his organizing career there in 1998 working with SEIU. After relocating to Los Angeles, he organized security officers and was soon elected president of the newly formed SEIU Local 2006, Security Officers United in Los Angeles (SOULA). In 2010, he helped oversee the merger between janitors, security officers, stadium/arenas and airport workers who formed SEIU United Service Workers West.
Mr. Farmby currently serves as Vice President of SEIU United Service Workers West, which represents over 45,000 janitors, security officers, airport workers, and other property service workers throughout California. He currently resides in Los Angeles with his wife Hope and two children, Kimberly Jordan, and Kaleb Joshua.
Every month DCR highlights the stories of licensed small business owners in the City of Los Angeles. DCR wants to hear from you; what’s your story? Send us your information along with a few photos on this form for a chance to be featured in an upcoming issue. Disclaimer: your submission does not guarantee publication, and anything you submit may be shared publicly. Only those selected will be contacted.
Check out our past stories here: Chonsie Bullock, Green Qween.
Join DCR for the monthly webinar Q&A Virtual Lunch with Assistant Executive Director Jason Killeen at 12:00 PM, August 16, 2023. You can RSVP and pre-submit questions here, and join the webinar here. To view recordings of past webinars, you visit our Events Calendar.
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