State Orders Weedmaps To Stop Promoting Unlicensed Pot Shops

IRVINE, Calif. (AP) – An online company that provides maps of marijuana dispensaries has been ordered to stop promoting California businesses that do not have state licenses.

The Orange County Register reported Wednesday that Bureau of Cannabis Control chief Lori Ajax issued a cease-and-desist order to Irvine-based Weedmaps.

The newspaper says Weedmaps didn't immediately respond to a request for comment, but company President Christopher Beals said during an interview last month that it is an information platform like many other websites.

Cannabis Control spokesman Alex Traverso says more than 900 letters have been sent to unlicensed marijuana businesses since Jan. 1 but the Weedmaps letter is the only one sent by the state to an advertising company.

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