Cat Packer, Executive Director of the Los Angeles Department of Cannabis Regulation, is working to transition medical cannabis operators over to California’s new commercial framework. Although the state has had medical cannabis for years, it has not been regulated by the city of Los Angeles until this point, so a lot of catch up is required to make sure the industry is unified and regulated. Packer also discusses the risks that still persist when entering the market, as well as the city’s steps toward addressing social equity: “The city of Los Angeles passed a social equity program back in 2017 in an attempt to try and acknowledge and address some of the harms of the drug war that particularly low income and minority communities had experienced.” Soon, Packer tells us, Los Angeles will have more social equity licensees than anywhere else.
Seth Adler: Cat Packer joins us. Welcome to Cannabis Economy. I'm your host Seth Adler. Download episodes on canneconomy.com, that's two Ns in the word economy, or wherever you currently get your podcasts. I am very excited about this conversation, been waiting to have it for a very long time. Cat is one of the important policy folks that we have spoken to at this point. So please go to canneconomy.com to check out all of the regulators that we've spoken to, as well as legislators and policy experts and luminaries. We also have business insight and science insight. We also have insight from KannaSwiss, our partner, first a word from them and then Cat Packer.
Seth Adler: KannaSwiss has built a team of experts focused on quality and care above all else. Customers are partners on the path to greater health, and the KannaSwiss team is dedicated to providing top of the line hemp products. The entire KannaSwiss offering is created from organic cannabis from the Swiss Highlands, ecologically farmed, lab processed and purified in their own facilities, which adhere to the strictest safety and quality standards, all while utilizing the latest in pharmaceutical science and equipment. Working out of their brand new facility in Kölliken, Switzerland, KannaSwiss uses the most advanced indoor growth science known to date, and they're constantly working to push the boundaries of cultivation knowledge forward. KannaSwiss already has partners all over the globe. Go to KannaSwiss.com to learn more.
Seth Adler: Okay, so we've got Cat Packer. Cat, thanks so much. As I just told you before we started recording, I've been really waiting to do this interview, so thanks for giving us some time.
Cat Packer: Absolutely.
Seth Adler: All right, so you have been doing this job for at least a little bit now, please, in your own words, set the table for us. What are you working on? What is most important on your desk?
Cat Packer: Absolutely. It's good that we're connecting now, tomorrow will mark the second year that I've been in this role as the executive director of the department of cannabis regulation for the city of Los Angeles. And within this role, I have led the city as we've tried to transition our medical cannabis operators into this commercial framework that the state of California set up, but I've learned a lot of lessons along the way. We still have a lot of work to do here in the city of Los Angeles. But part of my responsibility as the general manager, as the executive director of this department is to administer the city's cannabis related laws and policies.
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