California Continues The Battle Against an Illicit Cannabis Market

by Roger Tower on July 16, 2020

The fight agains the cannabis black market continues in California. This morning, the Bureau of Cannabis Control (BCC) announced that the Cannabis Enforcement Unit took action against an illegal gathering where commercial cannabis activity was taking place. 

The raid took place in Fresno, on July 14th, in an underground “smoke session” where unlicensed cannabis vendors and growers were engaging in illegal cannabis sales. The raid resulted in the confiscation of more than $700,000 in cannabis products and six illegal firearms. 

This is not the first raid of illegal cannabis activity enforced by authorities but it is one of a kind. These kinds of underground meetings are often harder to track down because there’s no concrete location. 

The BCC reminded the public in a Facebook post that all commercial cannabis activity must be done in a licensed premise and that the manufacturing, distribution, and selling of cannabis goods without a valid license is illegal. 

An Ongoing Battle 

Since the legalization of commercial cannabis activity in California, the new industry struggled with competing against an established illegal market that’s estimated to be 3-4 times bigger than the legal one.  

Authorities in California have recently stepped up their efforts of breaking up illegal cannabis activity and taking down unlicensed weed shops. 

Last January the Los Angeles Police Department took down two unlicensed cannabis businesses and seized over $560,000 in cash and illegal products. Similarly, last December, law enforcement performed the biggest crackdown on the illicit cannabis market by executing two dozen raids of unlicensed retailers in Los Angeles. 

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