City To Focus On Cannabis Distribution And Cultivation After First Day Of Retail

SACRAMENTO (CBS13) - With day one of legal medical marijuana sales in the books, city officials are making their first day assessments.

"I think overall today went very well," said Joe Devlin Chief of Cannabis Policy Enforcement.

Despite a few long lines to start Sacramento cannabis officials say traffic at licensed dispensaries on day one was surprisingly light.  "People are starting to show up in the later part of the day, but it certainly had a very slow start," said Devlin.

As for what's next, city officials say they will begin to shift focus from the licensing of dispensaries to the licensing of distributors, cultivators, and manufacturers. This is vitally important to avoid a marijuana dry spell in Sacramento because as of January 1st, dispensaries can no longer buy pot and product from a business that doesn't have both a city and state license and officials say none do so far.

In the meantime, they ask the public to educate themselves on the rules regarding marijuana. Things like no smoking on the streets or in public, check with your landlord if you're renting or living in an apartment, your job can still drug test, and smoking in the car or driving high is against the law.

And medical patients can get an official state medical card through their county health department that will waive them paying the sales tax fee of 8.25 percent.