The state Department of Consumer Protection announced Tuesday that the first application period for retail cannabis licenses is set to open in February.
The DCP will begin accepting applications for prospective retailers on Feb. 3. On Tuesday, the Social Equity Council approved technical assistance and business accelerator plans that aim to help applicants with the process.
Applications for eight license types will open on a staggered basis, beginning with retailers on Feb. 3; the application period for the first round of licenses will remain open for 90 days.
Licensing for other business categories will begin on the following dates:
Micro-cultivators, Feb. 10
Delivery service, Feb. 17
Hybrid retailer, Feb. 24
Food and beverage, March 3
Product manufacturer, March 10
Product packager, March 17
Transporter, March 24
Further, the DCP also announced the number of licenses that will be available for each adult-use cannabis establishment in the first lottery round, with an equal number of licenses available to social equity and general applicants in each category.
12 retailers
Four micro-cultivators
10 delivery services
Four hybrid retailers
10 food and beverage businesses
Six product packagers
Six product manufacturers
Four transporter licenses
The DCP will hold two lotteries — one for social equity applicants, the other for general applicants — for each license type. Applicants selected in the social equity lottery are subject to review by the Social Equity Council to confirm their status, which SEC Chair Andréa Comer said will be a huge task.
The DCP will hold multiple lotteries on an ongoing basis and will announce the number of available licenses before each application round. DCP officials said they expect to open a second lottery application period for most license types in the second half of 2022.
Social equity applicants pursuing a cultivator don’t have to go through a lottery process and will have a one-time 90-day application period beginning Feb. 3 and ending May 4.
“The initial number of available licenses is not a cap, but a starting point for opening the adult-use cannabis market in an effective, measured and thoughtful way,” DCP Commissioner Michelle H. Seagull said in a statement. “We know people are anxious to apply and see this market open, and we are hopeful that making this information available will help applicants as they begin to prepare for the lottery process.”
