Freed Up Consulting translates California cannabis regulation into the operating system real operators actually run on. Eight years inside the most operationally demanding regulatory environment in U.S. cannabis. One practice — the full regulator's playbook.
Built for California Cannabis Operators.
California cannabis operators don't lack ambition. They lack runway when the regulators show up. We don't sell protection from that moment — we change what the moment means.
California cannabis grew up under prohibition. The industry's documentation, record-keeping, and reporting habits were built around the survival skills of that era — habits that don't translate to the modern DCC regulatory framework. Whether you came up through that history or stepped in after legalization, you've inherited the resulting environment: an industry where compliance still gets treated as a threat by most consultants. We do neither. We name the inheritance, translate regulation from threat into infrastructure, and walk operators across the bridge with their team, their data, and their dignity intact.
Most operators start there — but if you already know what needs fixing, jump straight to a Project. If you already know you need ongoing senior compliance support, start with a Retainer. The architecture works for operators in active regulatory pain and for stable operators who want to optimize, not just maintain.
A senior assessment of your compliance posture, delivered as an executive readout. Quantified exposure, prioritized findings, and a 30/60/90-day remediation roadmap your leadership can act on. The Diagnostic credit applies to whatever follows.
Read the DiagnosticProductized fixes for the regulatory pain we see most: METRC reconciliation rebuild, SOP & MMP build, inspection readiness sprint, and re-application readiness. Each project is scoped to your operation, with a fixed fee quoted up front and a defined window.
See the projectsTwo parallel ladders. Compliance Officer Retainer for senior advisory hours — strategic oversight, citation response, inspection prep. Operational Office Retainer for back-office execution. Buy one, the other, or both — bundled retainers get 12% off.
See the tiersFreed Up does compliance as a single practice — every section of the code a license touches, under one engagement. SOPs and standard operating procedures, METRC reconciliation, environmental documentation, security and supply-chain controls, sales records, inspection readiness, citation response. Operators who only have one part of that covered are exposed on the rest, and most compliance consultancies cover only a slice. The firm was structured so the regulator's full code lands in one practice — not stitched together from three different consultants.
Our recommendations don't come from a deck. They come from reading what's actually happening inside your operation — your inspection history, your METRC data flow, your SOPs as they exist today, your team's daily practices, your environmental record. Findings are ranked by what an inspector would cite first. Remediation is scoped to what your team can absorb in 30, 60, and 90 days without breaking the rest of the operation. We benchmark you against operators like you. The report tells you what's working, what isn't, and what to do next.
How we decide what to take on, how we engage, and how we know when we are done. These are the standards the practice holds itself to — every engagement, every operator, every time.
Most relationships start with the Diagnostic — two to three weeks of structured discovery, a written 8–15 page readout, and a one-hour findings call. We close with an honest recommendation: a fixed-fee Project, a Compliance Officer or Operational Office Retainer, both, or in some cases no further engagement at all. The Diagnostic credit applies toward whatever follows within 30 days.
Three things. First, we work only inside California cannabis — Type 6 and 7 manufacturers, distributors, cultivators, and microbusinesses. Second, we run compliance as one practice — every section of the code a license touches, under one engagement, rather than stitched together from three different consultants. Third, every recommendation we make is anchored in your actual operation — your inspection record, your METRC, your SOPs — not a template.
Retainers start at $1,500/mo for the Quarterly Compliance Officer tier. The Diagnostic is a fixed fee, listed on the Diagnostic page. Project pricing is scoped per project and quoted as a fixed fee up front. Full retainer tiers are listed on the retainer page.
That's exactly the conversation the Diagnostic exists for. Bring the citation. We pull the public record, read your operation, and tell you whether a fixed-fee Project closes it, or whether you need ongoing retainer support, or whether the right fix is internal.
No. Retailers and labs run on different regulatory architectures than the rest of the supply chain. We refer out to consultants who specialize.
The frameworks we use travel. Our consulting practice is California cannabis. If you're in healthcare, food and beverage, or financial services, we'll tell you whether we're the right fit on a 20-minute call before you spend a dollar.
A 20-minute fit call costs nothing and ends with a clear recommendation: Diagnostic, Project, Retainer, or a referral to a better fit. We don't sell to people we can't help.