Bulletin 2022-06: Clarifying the Frequency of Background Reviews_Amended

June 1, 2022

The San Francisco Office of Cannabis (OOC) amends this bulletin to announce a reduction in the frequency with which Owners, as defined in Article 16 of the San Francisco Police Code, must submit to a background review, and to clarify that Owners may use a single background review for multiple applications.

Pursuant to Section 1615(e) of the San Francisco Police Code, “the [Office of Cannabis] shall conduct a thorough review of the nature of the crime, conviction, circumstances, and evidence of rehabilitation of the Applicant or Owner, and shall evaluate the suitability of the Applicant or Owner, to be issued a permit based on the evidence found through the review.”

Owners must submit to a background review as a part of their cannabis business permit application, prior to permit issuance.  Owners may use their submission to a single OOC background review across multiple Cannabis Business Permit applications.

In the version of this bulletin published in March 2021, OOC announced that Owners would be required to undergo a new background review every three (3) years to ensure that their live scan results are up to date.  

OOC is now eliminating the requirement that Owners undergo a new background review every three years. 

If an Applicant seeks to add Owners after permit issuance, then those new Owners must submit to a background review if they had not previously done so.

If you have any questions, then please get in touch with the OOC at officeofcannabis@sfgov.org.

Departments