Last week saw the first cannabis dispensary open in the city of Santa Monica, more than a year and a half after the permit was granted in October 2021, six years after the application was requested in December 2017 and over 26 years since medical marijuana was made legal in the state of California.
The dispensary is a branch of the Local Cannabis Company, which is owned by Massachusetts-based Calyx Peak and marks the first time the organization has opened an outlet west of Kansas City. Per the Santa Monica municipal code, the dispensary will be limited to medical use only, which means that customers will be required to have a doctor’s recommendation to purchase products.
The request for applications ran from December 2017 through to February 2018 and saw over 21 different requests. A second dispensary, Harvest of Santa Monica, which was set to be situated at 1416 Wilshire Blvd was also approved, in January 2022, but that hasn’t materialized yet.
According to Erin Carachilo, CEO of Calyx Peak, since it opened a week or so ago, over three-quarters of the number of customers who come into the store, upon hearing they have to fill in an application for a medical card, then simply leave without purchasing anything.
"It’s six years on from when they decided to do this and look where the market for cannabis is right now," Carachilo says. "And not a lot of people have medical cards, because they don’t need them anymore. Since we’ve opened, we’ve only had about a 20 percent conversion rate. I think it’s closer to 10 percent, but you can see how far off that is, it’s people just not wanting to wait."
Coincidentally, the issue of non-medical cannabis retail business — or "adult use" — in Santa Monica is on the agenda for Tuesday’s Council meeting. During the Item 7 study session, staff will recommend that, upon viewing the presentation on key policy considerations, the Council discuss options for allowing adult-use cannabis sales and associated regulatory restrictions as may be appropriate. In addition, staff will also recommend that Council provide direction on whether to bring back changes to the Municipal Code to allow for adult-use cannabis retail businesses and non-retail cannabis business types within the City.
"We’ve got the doors open, so that’s a start, then we’ll look at how to change this thing. We should be able to do both medical and regular sales. Medical customers should have access to medicine and shouldn’t have to pay the same taxes, I 100 percent believe that," Carachilo says.
"Most stores should be doing five to nine million a year, that’s normal. This area should easily make 10 million, especially given how many visitors come to Santa Monica," Carachilo says, adding, "And that's the other thing because a medical card is needed, it's restricted to only residents in California. I can't shop here, right, because I don't have a California license or ID."
"Santa Monica is still working off the antiquated medical only rules … This is something new, so they're going to tread slowly and carefully. I believe the residents would prefer to see a change and the reason is that you don’t have to file your name in a system, you don’t have to go through the cost of applying for a card and you don’t have to go through all that time," Howard Keum, Chief Corporate Development Officer, Calyx Peak says. "It's quite time consuming when most adults in California can already self-dose and manage."
The Local Cannabis Company is at 925 Wilshire Blvd and is open every day from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. and the official grand opening will be held on Saturday, June 24.
