Shortly after Michelle Garakian replaced Cat Packer in March to become the Los Angeles marijuana czar, the city invoked mandatory timelines to process and approve cannabis business applications and licenses.
Unclogging that bottleneck is among Garakian’s top priorities.
In particular, she aims to remove bureaucratic red tape as well as better communicate with and help operators and applicants in one of the world’s largest regulated marijuana markets.
Garakian, a longtime insider at the L.A. Department of Cannabis Regulation (DCR) and former aide to Mayor Eric Garcetti, spoke with MJBizDaily for a wide-ranging discussion on marijuana policy, new department initiatives and the push to transfer thousands of temporary permits into annual licenses.
What are your overarching goals for the DCR moving forward?
To get back to the mission of the department, which is licensing.
We’re really focused on business development and customer service.
That has been a core tenet guiding me, in
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