LOS ANGELES (AP) — Los Angeles has started accepting license applications from marijuana growers, manufacturers and testing companies, seven months after California broadly legalized cannabis.

The start of the process Wednesday arrived with a mix of relief and anxiety from businesses that have been waiting to enter the state’s legal market for months.

So far, the city has only licensed retail shops, with the rest of the supply chain in limbo.

Retailer and cultivator Donnie Anderson has been paying rent for months on commercial space he hasn’t been able to use without a cultivation license.

He says he and his partner have been “hanging on by the skin of our teeth.”

Meanwhile, legal sales continue to face stiff competition from the illicit market, and there are widespread complaints over hefty taxes.