Administration of Retail Application Lottery
On December 8, 2022, the Department of Cannabis Regulation (DCR) successfully conducted the retail application lottery, also known as the Phase 3 Retail Round 2 Lottery (Lottery) which selected 100 verified Social Equity Individual Applicants (SEIAs) for the opportunity to apply for a cannabis retail license in the City of Los Angeles.
The Lottery was the culmination of nine months of planning, including a process that allowed individuals to request verification as a Social Equity Individual Applicant (SEIA). More about the verification process can be found here.
For specific details on the administration of the Lottery including the triple-blind random selection process and information on an auditor’s review of the process, please read the Lottery update.
Social Equity Program Welcomes the SEIA Class of 2022
DCR’s Social Equity Program (SEP) welcomed more than 500 newly verified Social Equity Individual Applicants (SEIAs) to its program this November. During the SEIA verification period from May to July 2022, more than 1,000 individuals requested verification as an SEIA and more than 500 SEIAs met the criteria to participate in the SEP.
In December 2022, Dr. Imani Brown, Director of the Social Equity Program, earmarked grant funding to waive certain application fees for the 100 SEIAs selected in the Lottery.
As part of the SEP program, DCR offers tools and resources to SEIAs to help them fast track their business development model and apply real-world, practical information on best practices directly to their businesses. In addition, the SEP offers financial grant opportunities, business coaching, legal resources, and educational courses, among other programming exclusively available to SEIAs.
For more information on the SEP, visit our website here.
DCR’s Social Equity Program Wins Legal Battle
On November 30, 2022, a lawsuit was filed in federal district court challenging the Lottery. The lawsuit is part of a nationwide trend of coordinated legal proceedings seeking to dismantle social equity programs like the City’s. Following a hearing on December 7, the Court denied the plaintiffs’ application for a temporary restraining order (TRO) and ruled that the Phase 3 Retail Round 2 Lottery could proceed. The City will continue to fight this lawsuit in court.
Additional Lottery Opportunity
Unless there is a policy change, DCR is planning for an additional SEIA verification process and subsequent lottery in 2023. Lottery and verification timelines and requirements are subject to change based on ongoing litigation and/or City Council action.
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