LOS ANGELES (AP) – The Latest on recreational marijuana sales in California (all times local):
7:00 a.m.
Attorneys advising a group of Los Angeles dispensaries have concluded that those businesses can continue to legally sell medicinal marijuana as “collectives,” until they obtain local and state licenses under California’s new system of legal pot.
In this Dec. 29, 2017, photo, Khalil Moutawakkil, co-founder and CEO of KindPeoples, a marijuana dispensary, looks at different marijuana plants on display in his store in Santa Cruz, Calif. Californians may awake on New Year’s Day to a stronger-than-normal whiff of marijuana as America’s cannabis king lights up to celebrate the state’s first legal retail pot sales. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)
Los Angeles officials announced late last month that the city will not begin accepting license applications until Jan. 3 – and it might take weeks before any are issued. That led to widespread concern that long-established businesses would have to shut down during the interim.
Jerred Kiloh of the United Cannabis Business Association says his group hopes to continue to provide patient access to medicinal marijuana.
The status of the Los Angeles shops highlights broad confusion over the new state law, which went into effect at 12:01 a.m. Monday.
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6:45 a.m.
Berkeley Mayor Jesse Arreguin was on hand for a ribbon-cutting ceremony as his city began selling marijuana legally on New Year’s Day.
The mayor was joined by state Sen. Nancy Skinner as pot sales began early Monday at Berkeley Patients Group, one of the oldest dispensaries in the nation.
Customers began lining up before dawn to be among the first to purchase legal marijuana in state.
A law allowing California’s first legal retail pot sales went into effect at 12:01 a.m.
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5:45 a.m.
About 100 people are lined up in the parking lot of the Harborside marijuana dispensary in Oakland, California.
They’re waiting for the doors to open at 6 a.m. Monday so that they can be among the first customers to buy legal pot in the state.
The crowd sipped coffee and munched doughnuts, braving overnight temperatures in the mid-40s (around 6 degrees Celsius).
The dispensary says the first customers will receive special gifts. Harborside is one of about 90 California businesses that received state licenses to open on New Year’s Day.
A law allowing the state’s first legal retail pot sales went into effect at 12:01 a.m.
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12:40 a.m.
Some Californians are raising blunts instead of glasses as they usher in the new year.
A law allowing the state’s first legal retail pot sales went into effect at 12:01 a.m. Monday.
Johnny Hernandez, a tattoo artist from Modesto, was celebrating New Year’s Eve by smoking “Happy New Year blunts” with his cousins.
Hernandez, who is a medical marijuana user, says legalizing recreational pot is “something we’ve all been waiting for.”
The 29-year-old says he also hoped that the legalization of recreational, adult-use marijuana will help alleviate a stigma some believe still surrounds marijuana use.
About 90 businesses received state licenses to open on New Year’s Day. They are concentrated in San Diego, Santa Cruz, the San Francisco Bay Area and the Palm Springs area.
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12 a.m.
The arrival of the new year in California brings with it broad legalization of marijuana.
The law comes two decades after California became the first state to legalize medical marijuana.
So-called recreational pot is now legal for adults 21 and older. Individuals can grow up to six plants and possess as much as an ounce.
Finding a retail outlet to buy non-medical pot in California won’t be easy, at least initially. Only about 90 businesses received state licenses to open on New Year’s Day. They are concentrated in San Diego, Santa Cruz, the San Francisco Bay Area and the Palm Springs area.
Los Angeles and San Francisco are among the many cities where recreational pot won’t be available right away. Other places, including Fresno, Bakersfield and Kern County, outlawed recreational marijuana sales.
In this Dec. 29, 2017, photo, Khalil Moutawakkil, co-founder and CEO of KindPeoples, poses for a portrait with some marijuana plants in his dispensary in Santa Cruz, Calif. Californians may awake on New Year’s Day to a stronger-than-normal whiff of marijuana as America’s cannabis king lights up to celebrate the state’s first legal retail pot sales. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)
In this Dec. 29, 2017, photo, Khalil Moutawakkil, co-founder and CEO of KindPeoples, arranges a clothing line for sale in his marijuana dispensary store in Santa Cruz, Calif. Californians may awake on New Year’s Day to a stronger-than-normal whiff of marijuana as America’s cannabis king lights up to celebrate the state’s first legal retail pot sales. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)
In this Dec. 29, 2017, photo, various kinds of marijuana strains are displayed at the KindPeoples dispensary in Santa Cruz, Calif. Californians may awake on New Year’s Day to a stronger-than-normal whiff of marijuana as America’s cannabis king lights up to celebrate the state’s first legal retail pot sales. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)
In this Dec. 29, 2017, photo, marijuana plants are shown at the KindPeoples dispensary in Santa Cruz, Calif. Californians may awake on New Year’s Day to a stronger-than-normal whiff of marijuana as America’s cannabis king lights up to celebrate the state’s first legal retail pot sales. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)
This Thursday, Dec. 21, 2017 photo Triple J’s mini cannabis cigarettes in decorative metal containers are displayed at MedMen a marijuana dispensary in Los Angeles. Californians may awake on New Year’s Day to a familiar scent in greater-than-normal concentrations. A whiff of marijuana will likely be in the air as the nation’s cannabis king lights up to celebrate the first legal retail sales of pot in the state. The historic day comes more than two decades after California paved the way for legal weed by passing the first medical marijuana law in the U.S., though other states were quicker to allow recreational use of the drug. (AP Photo/Richard Vogel)
In this Dec. 22, 2017 photo, Dale Gieringer of NORML (National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws) poses for photos at his house in Berkeley, Calif. Californians may awake on New Year’s Day to a familiar scent in greater-than-normal concentrations. A whiff of marijuana will likely be in the air as the nation’s cannabis king lights up to celebrate the first legal retail sales of pot in the state. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)
FILE – In this Thursday, Dec. 21, 2017, file photo pedestrians walk past MedMen a marijuana dispensary in Los Angeles. Californians may awake on New Year’s Day to a familiar scent in greater-than-normal concentrations. A whiff of marijuana will likely be in the air as the nation’s cannabis king lights up to celebrate the first legal retail sales of pot in the state. The historic day comes more than two decades after California paved the way for legal weed by passing the first medical marijuana law in the U.S., though other states were quicker to allow recreational use of the drug. (AP Photo/Richard Vogel, File)
In this Dec. 22, 2017 photo, Dale Gieringer of NORML (National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws) poses for photos at his house in Berkeley, Calif.. Californians may awake on New Year’s Day to a familiar scent in greater-than-normal concentrations. A whiff of marijuana will likely be in the air as the nation’s cannabis king lights up to celebrate the first legal retail sales of pot in the state. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)
FILE – In this Dec. 21, 2017, file photo, a customer browses a selection of marijuana products displayed at MedMen a marijuana dispensary in Los Angeles . Californians may awake on New Year’s Day to a familiar scent in greater-than-normal concentrations. A whiff of marijuana will likely be in the air as the nation’s cannabis king lights up to celebrate the first legal retail sales of pot in the state. The historic day comes more than two decades after California paved the way for legal weed by passing the first medical marijuana law in the U.S., though other states were quicker to allow recreational use of the drug. (AP Photo/Richard Vogel, File)
In this Thursday, Dec. 21, 2017 photo sample containers of marijuana are on display at MedMen a medical marijuana dispensary in Los Angeles. California’s legal pot market opens for business on Jan. 1. The day will be a milestone, but what exactly will happen then and, especially, in the weeks and months to come is unclear. (AP Photo/Richard Vogel)
In this Dec. 22, 2017 photo, Dale Gieringer of NORML (National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws) poses for photos at his house in Berkeley, Calif. Californians may awake on New Year’s Day to a familiar scent in greater-than-normal concentrations. A whiff of marijuana will likely be in the air as the nation’s cannabis king lights up to celebrate the first legal retail sales of pot in the state. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)
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