It’s been two years since California approved the recreational use of cannabis, but Marin is still in a lengthy process of issuing delivery-only licenses for medicinal use to no more than four businesses in unincorporated areas. Earlier this month, the county’s Community Development Agency released the results of a lottery held in January, which cleared four out of six applicants to proceed to the next level of the selection process. Those businesses—Buttercup and Spring, Elite Herbs Inc., Express2You Inc., and Mohave Distribution LLC—have until May 7 to turn in site review applications, proposing locations for their delivery-only businesses. “Although the deadline is May 7 for the site review applications to be submitted, we could move forward earlier if they are all submitted earlier,” Inge Lundegaard, the cannabis program manager for the agency, said in a press release. She estimated that her staff will need six weeks to review the proposals and handle the required noticing for a public meeting. “The Board of Supervisors would like to agendize this as soon as we’re ready,” she added. The board approved an ordinance in November 2017 that allowed for medicinal cannabis delivery-only retailer licensing, dubbing it the MCDORe (or “McDory”) rule. The ordinance prohibits the businesses within 600 feet of a school, daycare center, youth center or playground. To qualify for consideration, a proposed site must be within an area zoned for commercial, office or industrial uses. Last spring, businesses turned in applications for the first phase of review, and several fell short of the requirements. Last month’s lottery ruled out two companies, Access Marin and the Bjork Group. The winning applicants all scored over 80 points, with a possible 20 points for their business plan, 50 points for their operating plan and 30 points for their public benefits plan. Eliminating the need for taxpayer funding, the first round of applicants paid a $3,000 fee each and the four qualified applicants dropped an additional $7,000 each. Applicants awarded a license would pay an annual deposit of $7,000 that would cover the costs of compliance monitoring. Marin supervisors took the delivery-only route after the county’s effort to permit site-based dispensaries failed in the face of public opposition. In 2016, supervisors adopted an ordinance that permitted up to four medical cannabis dispensaries in unincorporated Marin. But residents turned out in large numbers to object; in West Marin, a proposal for the building that houses the Farm Stand in Forest Knolls was particularly condemned, with residents citing impacts to students at Lagunitas School. In 2017, the county withdrew that ordinance, and instead went forward with the delivery-only licenses. Ms. Lundegaard said that based on county counsel’s current understanding of state legislation, local jurisdictions cannot prevent the delivery of medical or recreational cannabis to any part of Marin. Marin’s towns and cities are regulating their own jurisdictions. Through a pilot program, the City of San Rafael granted five medical cannabis delivery licenses last August, including to Ona.life, one of the applicants for an unincorporated Marin license. In Fairfax, the Marin Alliance for Medical Marijuana, which opened in 1996 when the state first legalized it, has a retail shop and delivers medical marijuana. Ms. Lundegaard, a regional planner with the county since 2005, explained that she was appointed to her current post in 2016 when the state legalized recreational use and the county needed to allocate more resources toward regulation. “Other nearby jurisdictions, like Berkeley, Oakland and San Francisco, are at different stages if they had staff and regulations already in place, but Marin had to start from scratch,” she explained. “Certainly those communities that really spoke up early and wanted a regulatory process, they are further along.”