Can L.A. Save Its Cannabis Market Before It’s Too Late? Inside the City Leaders’ Plan

“Eyes are on California.. and when people say that, what they really mean is eyes are on L.A.”

That’s according to Jackie Bryant, longtime cannabis journalist and professor at San Diego State University, who moderated a panel on Los Angeles’ complex and controversial cannabis market at IgniteIt’s Market Spotlight: California.

Councilwoman Imelda Padilla, representing Los Angeles’ Sixth District, and Jazmin Aguiar, founder and CEO at Creatrix Management Group and a cannabis policy and economic development consultant supporting Councilmember Padilla, joined Bryant on the stage in Anaheim.

Aguiar, born and raised in L.A., helped shape cannabis legalization efforts in Colorado and Mexico before returning home in 2015, only to find the city’s cannabis scene still in turmoil.

“We were at the time battling through Measure N and Measure M,” she recalled. What followed was years of uncertainty and adjustment.

• The cannabis policy spotlight moves to Washington, DC, on November 17, 2025, when IgniteIt hosts its Cannabis Capital & Policy Summit. Federal reform, access to capital, and DMV market strategy are front and center — including remarks from congressional leadership.
  ➤ Details: https://www.cannabismarketspotlight.com/dc

“Department of Cannabis Regulation has been operational since 2018, and since its Inception, it has been going through a lot of regulatory changes,”Aguiar said. “Initially, it started with a very robust regulation, which was really wrapped around bureaucracy because the Council was scared of what cannabis could be in the city of L.A., and that created a lot of barriers.”

Padilla seconded Aguiar.

“People don’t know what to do with new things,” Padilla said. “There was just a lot of fear of something very new and something that they didn’t want to engage with the state to let it thrive.”

Nowadays, however, Padilla sees a shift.

The city’s attitude toward cannabis is finally evolving, with a younger, more progressive council now willing to address the issue directly and find ways to bring more revenue to the city, Padilla noted.

She described some of the key reforms that are in progress.

“We’re being very intentional about talking to LAPD and the city attorney about enforcement,” Padilla said. “I just introduced the motion to bring back the neighborhood prosecutor program to case-manage, closing out the illegal shops.”

Moreover, the city is studying which licenses to prioritize next, particularly cultivation, while also preparing for the rollout of consumption lounges and cannabis events, Padilla added.

However, the reality that cannabis operators face these days is harsh, Aguiar noted.

“L.A. has been very unwelcoming to operators and to the industry that used to thrive in the city. Rents are high, fees are high, taxes are high, so these margins are eating up these businesses,” she said. “As much as I talk to industry leaders and they do want to be in L.A., they’re forced to go do business elsewhere.”