Cannabis is now legal in California. Here's what that means today.

For cannabis advocates, Jan. 1 is a long-anticipated day: Recreational (or "adult-use" in bureaucratic parlance) marijuana is legal in California, after voters approved Proposition 64 last year.

The California Bureau of Cannabis Control is the government entity responsible for implementing the rules of legal pot, and as of Monday morning, Jan. 1, has issued 94 temporary permits for adult-use sales to dispensaries around the state. 

(The temporary permits expire on May 1, giving the BCC more time to fine-tune its final regulations.)

To get a state license for any side of the recreational cannabis business—distribution, retail (dispensaries), lab testing facilities, cannabis event coordination—an operator is first required to secure permission from their local jurisdiction. 

Four of the 94 permitted retailers to date are located in Monterey County: East of Eden (run by parent company Grupo Flor) in Salinas; Higher Level of Care at 10665 Merritt St. in Castroville; Monterey Bay Alternative Medicine at 800 Portola Drive in Del Rey Oaks; and Big Sur Canna+Botanicals 26352 Carmel Rancho Lane, in the Carmel Rancho shopping center off Highway 1 and Rio Road.

Monterey County's ordinance allowing for recreational marijuana takes effect on Friday, Jan. 5, so Higher Level of Care and Big Sur Canna+Botanicals—both located in unincorporated Monterey County—can't start selling to customers without a medical card until Friday. (Higher Level is closed today for New Year's Day.)

East of Eden is not yet operating, and operators expect to open by the end of March.

That leaves one place to buy cannabis in Monterey County today for customers who don't have a medical card: MBAM in Del Rey Oaks is open from 10am-8pm.

MBAM reports that as of 10am, there is already a line out the door—and they expect it to last all day.

Like alcohol, cannabis is available only to customers ages 21 and up. The California Department of Public Health has compiled an FAQ about cannabis "to increase awareness about cannabis and how it affects our bodies, minds and health." 

Some of CDPH's guidelines: like tobacco smoke, inhaling smoke from cannabis can cause lung problems; pregnant women are advised not to use cannabis; a good introductory dose is 10 milligrams.

Users are advised to start with no more than that amount, and wait to see if the effects kick in before consuming more. New York Times columnist Maureen Dowd already famously taught us that lesson in 2014, when she visited Colorado and went big on her pot candy bar and then suffered for it.