The division has a lot on its plate as we near the April 1 deadline to open the doors on the state’s adult-use cannabis market.
It will primarily be used to fund 35 additional staff members who will oversee compliance, streamline licensing, uphold the division’s commitment to social equity—all of the day-to-day stuff that needs to be done in order to ensure public safety and consumer safety as the industry moves forward.
But honestly—and this number I’m going to give you is an approximate number, because there are hires made from day-to-day, so things do change—but we have between 8 and 10 people who are working full-time for the Cannabis Control Division.
We just need more staffing, moving forward to ensure that things continue to go well and that the industry starts strong and makes good on our expectations that will provide $300 million dollars in revenue in the first year, 11,000 jobs and up to $50 million in state revenue.
The good news is that we are very optimistic that the legislature and the executive will reach an agreement and we will be able to get the needed funding and we won’t have to see what things might look like without a dramatically increased number of staff.
But the superintendent and the deputy superintendent have been in ongoing contact with legislators—with the chairs of both the House Appropriations Committee and Senate Finance as well as with the Governor’s Office—so conversations are ongoing above and beyond formal hearings in order to ensure that everybody has the information they need to understand the importance of this funding to the industry, to consumers and to state revenue.
There are wonderful advocacy groups in the industry like the Cannabis Chamber of Commerce that are always looking for ways to advocate for the industry and to make sure that needs are met.