Last month, we talked about WeedMaps receiving a cease-and-desist letter from the state of California for continuing to list unlicensed grey and black market dealers on their California listings, and that this order demonstrated how serious the state was about all businesses that are plant-touching, even in a very digital sense of the concept of “touching,” were obligated to be compliant with the state and local laws that guide legalized adult-use cannabis. While some companies such as Leafly have been rather responsive and agreeably compliant to the state and local guidelines, arguably to the betterment of all plant-touching businesses, WeedMaps has taken a different tack entirely.

Per the Guardian, “…Since it is a technology company, it can’t be regulated any more than, say, Google, which can also be used to locate dispensaries.” This is a bold tactic for a company that, okay, is a tech company that touches plant-touching businesses to take. Furthermore, if the federal government’s decision last week to shutdown Backpages.com, also ostensibly a “technology company,” last week is any indicator, WeedMaps could be setting themselves (and the PTB industry) up for some legal headaches at the federal level. While it is still very early in this game between California and WeedMaps, the company’s brazenness comes at arguably an inopportune time for the larger industry within California and across the country.

While it’s understandable for WeedMaps to protect its business interests (the company would take a significant hit in ad revenue if it were to remove all grey and black market businesses), it’s also fair to wonder if this isn’t a bit of a “winning the battle, but losing the war” moment for the company as well.

The state has been steadfast in their insistence that with legalized recreational use strict compliance guidelines and regulations would be here as well. None of that has changed in the subsequent three months since January 1, 2018, and the state, even in the face of a looming bottleneck of testing labs later this year, remains steady in its expectations, and clear in what their requirements are. Just on Monday, MJ Biz Daily reported on the state’s cease-and-desist letters that have been sent (954 individual businesses received them) and while these are absolutely growing pains, the only way for a legal market to flourish is for California to continue sifting through compliant and non-compliant businesses. As MJ Biz Daily mentions, many of the letters were sent to companies who have encountered difficulties in acquiring proper licensing on the state or local level, but also this is a very effective method to find grey and black market companies that are putting above the board companies at a competitive disadvantage. WeedMaps, while protecting their business interests, is raising the stakes of legalized use on the national level, while also making the competitive landscape for legal business at home in California more challenging.