Quarterly report pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d)

COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENCIES

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COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENCIES
9 Months Ended
Sep. 30, 2018
Notes to Financial Statements  
NOTE 16 - COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENCIES

California Operating Licenses

 

Effective January 1, 2018 the State of California allowed for adult use cannabis sales. California’s cannabis licensing system is being implemented in two phases. First, beginning on January 1, 2018, the State began issuing temporary licenses. Temporary licenses were initially issued for 90 days but have since been extended twice by the state. Our current temporary licenses have been extended through December 2018, as the state has not issued any annual licenses to date and other similar operators are receiving extensions until the state begins to issue annual licenses. The extensions were initially provided because in May 2018, the Company had submitted all the necessary documentation for an annual license to be issued. Prior to the state completing its review of any annual licenses, the licensing authority BCC determined that they would eliminate the need to have multiple licenses issued to each entity for both medical and adult use. This meant the State would allow for an entity to apply for a consolidated license which allowed the entities to sell both medical and recreational cannabis. The Company has since applied for single category licenses that allow our vertically integrated activities to conduct sales in both the medical and adult use categories. The decision by the regulating authority meant that the cost of the annual licenses would also be reduced as prior to this change we would have had to apply for two licenses one in each category and they each bore a multi-thousand dollar expense. The Company’s prior licenses obtained from the local jurisdictions in which it operated in have been continued by such jurisdictions and are necessary to obtain state licensing. The Company has received a temporary license for each local jurisdiction which it had active operations. The temporary permits may be extended for an additional period of time. The Company submitted its applications for the annual permits in April 2018. Although the Company believes it will receive the necessary licenses from the State to conduct its business in a timely fashion, there is no guarantee the Company will be able to do so and any failure to do so may have a negative effect on its business and results of operations.

 

Although the possession, cultivation and distribution of cannabis for medical and adult use is permitted in California and Nevada, cannabis is a Schedule-I controlled substance and its use remains a violation of federal law. Since federal law criminalizing the use of cannabis preempts state laws that legalize its use, strict enforcement of federal law regarding cannabis would likely result in our inability to proceed with our business plan, especially in respect of our cannabis cultivation, production and dispensaries. In addition, our assets, including real property, cash, equipment and other goods, could be subject to asset forfeiture because cannabis remains federally illegal.