Report: California pot growers struggling to obtain licenses

Nearly two months after marijuana became legal in California only about 1 percent of the state’s known growers have been licensed, according to a report from a cannabis-business group.

The report, released Monday by the California Growers Association, cites costs and regulatory barriers it says independent growers face. It says only 0.78 percent have obtained licenses.

California’s Bureau of Cannabis Control was closed Monday for the President’s Day holiday and did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

A study published last year by the University of California Agricultural Issues Center estimates the newly created state market for recreational marijuana should produce $5 billion in taxable revenue this year.

Monday’s report by the California Growers Association says that legal revenue could be diminished if more growers can’t gain licenses.