The buying and selling of recreational cannabis is only months away from becoming legal in California, and Los Angeles is making moves to make sure they're ready to regulate the nascent cannabis industry.
The Daily News reports the L.A. City Council voted unanimously to confirm Cat Packer as executive director for the newly created Department of Cannabis Regulation. Packer, a nominee of Mayor Eric Garcetti, formerly served as the director for the Drug Police Alliance, a group that works on marijuana regulations and laws.
The so-called Cannabis Czar will help the city council weigh proposed regulations to allow dispensaries, cultivators, manufactures, and other cannabis-related businesses to operate in the city of Los Angeles.
Voters passed Proposition 64 last year by a margin of about 56% to 44% making California the fifth state to legalize recreational cannabis. Colorado, Washington, Oregon and Alaska have also legalized recreational marijuana use. California was the first state to legalize medical marijuana in 1996.