SAN FRANCISCO (BCN) – San Francisco’s Office of Cannabis — the city department that oversees permits for all cannabis businesses — has a new leader, city officials announced on Wednesday.

Both Mayor London Breed and City Administrator Carmen Chu have appointed Nikesh Patel to serve as Director of the Office of Cannabis.

Nikesh will replace the office’s former director Marisa Rodriguez, who left the position last year to become executive director of the Union Square Business Improvement District.

Patel currently serves as the associate director of oversight for the Office of Cannabis and, prior to that, served as an assistant district attorney for the city’s District Attorney’s Office.

“I am excited to have Nikesh Patel serve as the new Director of the Office of Cannabis to help build on the important work that this office has advanced over the past few years,” Breed said in a statement. “His long and dedicated career working to reform the criminal justice system and advance equitable policies, specifically for individuals with marijuana-related records, will serve our city and this office well.”

“Nikesh is clear in his commitment to advance social equity and understands why it is important to focus on the nuts and bolts of how to support cannabis businesses in this city,” Chu said. “We want all businesses in this city to have the opportunity to succeed and to contribute to the community — a strong Office of Cannabis helps us to achieve this vision.”

Patel is a San Francisco native, raised in the city’s Tenderloin. He earned his bachelor’s degree at Stanford University; has an master’s degree from Oxford University; and studied law at Berkeley School of Law, according to city officials.

Patel has been with the city’s cannabis office since 2019.

“To be the next director of the Office of Cannabis is both an honor and a privilege,” Patel said. “The regulated cannabis industry continues to face obstacles as it seeks to mature. Fortunately, San Francisco continues to be on the vanguard of social equity and commercial cannabis. Building upon the foundation laid by my predecessors, I am eager to ground our efforts in community, grow business and workforce opportunities, and solidify San Francisco’s storied cannabis industry.”

Adult recreational use of marijuana became legal in California on Jan. 1, 2017 after voters approved it. The city office was created that same year to oversee the permitting process and to serve as a central point of contact.

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