#MAUCRSA

[cannabisbusinessexecutive]

California Bill May Change State’s Cannabis and Hemp Industries

By Griffen Thorne, Attorney @ Harris Sliwoski, On February 7, 2024, California Assembly Member Aguilar-Curry introduced AB 2223. The bill, if passed, would significantly change the state’s cannabis and hemp industries – for better or worse. Today, we’ll take a look at how AB 2223 could change both the cannabis industry and hemp industry in the Golden State. First though, a brief caveat. AB 2223…

[robertnelson2-blog]

California Cannabis Market

California cannabis market pioneered the modern cannabis policy reform movement in 1996 when voters passed Proposition 215, the Compassionate Care Act. State voters approved Proposition 215, the law that made it legal for doctors to recommend cannabis to patients.

In 2015 Gov. Jerry Brown signed three bills that toughened regulations for medical cannabis businesses and sought standards for documentation and testing. The bills are known as the Medical Marijuana Regulation and Safety Act (MMRSA). Collectively, the legislation also paved the way for medical cannabis businesses to turn a profit. The legislation is impacting marijuana business models in other ways. The laws have eliminated the idea of home-based dispensaries. The Act requires licenses for the cultivation, manufacture, distribution, transportation, laboratory testing, and sale of medical cannabis. Cannabis Cultivation Business

Though voters failed to approve adult use in 2010, they voted overwhelmingly in 2016 to make adult use legal in a state that represents the world’s sixth-largest economy.

Cannabis Licensing

On November 8, 2016, California voters have approved cannabis for recreational use.

On June 27, 2017, the legislature passed, and Governor Brown signed into law the Medicinal and Adult-Use Cannabis Regulation and Safety Act (MAUCRSA), which creates the general framework for the regulation of both commercial medicinal and adult-use (recreational) cannabis. Under MAUCRSA, the Bureau of Cannabis Control (Bureau) is the lead agency. The Bureau is charged with licensing, regulation, and enforcement of the following types of commercial cannabis businesses: distributors, retailers, microbusinesses, temporary cannabis events, and testing laboratories. The Manufactured Cannabis Safety Branch, a division of the California Department of Public Health (CDPH), is responsible for regulating and licensing manufacturers. CalCannabis Cultivation Licensing, a division of the California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA), is responsible for licensing cultivators and implementing the Track-and-Trace system.

On January 1, 2018, the state began issuing licenses for commercial cannabis activity. Additionally, on January 1, 2018, two new cannabis taxes went into effect: a cultivation tax on all harvested cannabis that enters the commercial market and a 15 percent excise tax on the purchase of cannabis and cannabis products. Vertically integrated cannabis business

As of December 2022, the state’s three licensing authorities have issued 12,060 commercial cannabis licenses to cannabis businesses throughout the state of California, including 7,673 cultivators, 879 manufactures and 1,092 retailers, 487 non-storefront retailers, 1,246 distributors, 383 microbusinesses, 187 transporters, 68 event organizers and 45 testing laboratories.

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When did marijuana become legal in California

California's cannabis regulations

California turned into the principal state to permit restorative cannabis use when electors passed the Empathetic Use Act in 1996. Today, cannabis is lawful in California for both therapeutic and grown-up (sporting) use.

The cannabis business is completely directed to ensure:

Organisations work securely

Items are sans impurity and marked to illuminate buyers

Cannabis is avoided kids

Resolutions, guidelines and statutes are a wide range of regulations that cooperate to set rules for organisations and buyers.

What are resolutions, guidelines and statutes?

Resolutions are regulations composed and passed by the state assembly, and endorsed into regulation by the Lead representative. They apply to the entire state and make fundamental principles that apply to everybody in the state.

Guidelines are rules made by a state organisation that decipher the resolution and make it more unambiguous. Like rules, guidelines additionally apply to the entire state. The Division of Cannabis Control (DCC) makes guidelines that apply to cannabis organisations.

Mandates are rules made by urban areas and districts to set significantly more unambiguous guidelines for the nearby local area. They put down the point in time, spot and way a business can work or an occupant can make specific moves. A law just applies in the city or province that made it. Laws can be more unambiguous than resolutions or guidelines, yet they can't neutralise them. Check with your city and area to see whether they have passed any laws for cannabis.

Statutes

The primary resolution for cannabis organisations is in the Business and Callings Code. It is known as the Restorative and Grown-up Use Cannabis Guideline and Wellbeing Act (MAUCRSA). MAUCRSA sets up a fundamental system for permitting, oversight and implementation connected with cannabis organisations.

Notwithstanding cannabis-explicit regulations, cannabis organisations additionally need to keep the very guidelines that different organisations in California should adhere to. For instance, there are rules in the resolutions about garbage removal, safeguarding the climate, vehicle enrollment and making good on charges.

There are additional resolutions that set guidelines for individuals involving cannabis in California. The Wellbeing and Security Code has a part on cannabis with:

Rules to keep individuals under age 21 from getting cannabis

Limits on how much cannabis an individual can convey at a time

Necessities for clinical cannabis

Guidelines

Assuming you run, work for or need to begin a cannabis business, you really must grasp DCC's guidelines.

We have assets to assist you with figuring out the prerequisites:

Permit application necessities

Sorts of cannabis permit

Bundling and naming necessities

Track and Follow framework

DCC guidelines

DCC makes guidelines for cannabis organisations. These guidelines indicate:

What you should submit while applying for a permit

Rules for maintaining a cannabis business

What can and can't be made into a cannabis item, and what fixings can and can't be utilised

Bundling prerequisites to forestall pollution and illuminate buyers about what's inside

The testing that every item should pass before it tends to be sold

Requirement moves that might be initiated on the off chance that a business isn't observing the guidelines

Value mandates

A few urban communities and provinces in California have mandates for value projects to assist with people adversely impacted by the Conflict on Medications and make a more comprehensive commercial centre. Every law upholds value candidates in various ways, for example,

Quicker application processes

Help during the authorising system

Assist with working your business

Direct monetary help

Where could I at any point purchase a pot?

Contingent upon where you reside, the closest dispensary probably won't be close by any means.

"There's just a modest bunch of urban communities that are embracing it," said Jason Elsasser, a marijuana industry advocate in Desert Natural aquifers, a city that has procured the epithet "Desert Pot Springs" for its generous acknowledgment of marijuana organisations. Elsasser is beginning a pot-accommodating spa in the city.

Clinical Sanctioning

Cannabis for restorative use can be followed to different old civilizations, from applications in early Chinese medical procedure (the Chinese expression for "sedation"  - in a real sense meaning "cannabis inebriation") to "hemp fume showers" utilised by the old Scythians to cure agony or irritation. Today, therapeutic cannabis is fundamentally utilised for queasiness decrease, help with discomfort, and hunger support.

Early change endeavours for the legitimate clinical utilisation of cannabis in California started around the mid 1990s in San Francisco. These endeavours before long extended to St Nick Cruz, and the two urban communities acquainted fruitful suggestions with sanctioning clinical cannabis use. Goals were passed in a few California urban communities to permit the open offer of cannabis to Helps, disease, and glaucoma patients - most strikingly the San Francisco Cannabis Purchasers Club.

In 1996, Suggestion 215 - otherwise called the Humane Use Act - was passed by means of a statewide voting form drive and permitted California residents the option to get and involve cannabis for any sickness with a specialist's proposal. In a memorable development, the principal state to lay out a cannabis restriction regulation turned into the main state to lay out a lawful clinical cannabis program. After seven years, Senate Bill 420 (The Clinical Marijuana Program Act) would rethink a portion of the phrasing in Suggestion 215.

Facilitating the Business' Developing Agonies

Following sporting cannabis use decriminalisation, three State permitting specialists were accused of authorising and directing business cannabis action in California:

Agency of Cannabis Control (BCC) - a department inside the California Division of Buyer Undertakings, answerable for permitting retailers, merchants, testing research facilities, and microbusinesses

CalCannabis Development Permitting - a division of the California Branch of Food and Farming, liable for permitting cultivators and executing the State's "track-and-follow" framework to record the development of cannabis from seed to deal

Made Cannabis Security Branch - a branch inside the California Division of General Wellbeing, answerable for permitting makers of cannabis items, including all non-bloom items (edibles, concentrates, and so on.)

Toward the beginning of November 2019, BCC apparently suspended north of 400 legitimate cannabis activity licenses - practically 5% of all cannabis permits to operate in California - after those organizations neglected to stick to the State's compulsory detectability framework. BCC representative Alex Traverse alluded to the move as "developing torments" of a new and creating industry.

[nationalcannabisx-blog]

Start Your Engines for California Cannabis Recalls

Start Your Engines for California Cannabis Recalls

Now that the MAUCRSA transition period is over and full cannabis testing is in the works, we can fully expect California marijuana companies to start engaging in recalls of certain products for a variety of reasons. In fact, a voluntary recallhas already been initiated by The Bloom Brand where an impermissible pesticide (Myclobutanil) was present in one of its product batches that made it to…

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[holysmokescrafts]

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST SB 34, as amended, Wiener. Cannabis: donations. (1) The Control, Regulate and Tax Adult Use of Marijuana Act (AUMA), an initiative measure approved as Proposition 64 at the November 8, 2016, statewide general election, authorizes a person who obtains a state license under AUMA to engage in commercial adult-use cannabis activity pursuant to that license and applicable local ordinances. The Medicinal and Adult-Use Cannabis Regulation and Safety Act (MAUCRSA), among other things, consolidates the licensure and regulation of commercial medicinal and adult-use cannabis activities. Existing administrative law prohibits a retailer licensee from providing free cannabis goods to any person or allowing individuals who are not employed by the retailer to provide free cannabis goods to any person on the licensed premises. Existing administrative law provides an exception to this prohibition for specified medicinal retailer and microbusiness licensees to provide access to medicinal cannabis patients who have difficulty accessing medicinal cannabis goods, as specified. This bill, the Dennis Peron and Brownie Mary Act, would similarly authorize those specified licensees to provide free cannabis or cannabis products to a medicinal cannabis patient or the patient’s primary caregiver if specified requirements are met, including that the cannabis or cannabis products otherwise meet specified requirements of MAUCRSA. The bill would authorize those specified licensees to contract with an individual or organization to coordinate the provision of free medicinal cannabis and medicinal cannabis products on the retailer’s premises. #legislation #digest #sb34 #regulation #auma #initiative #statewide #dennisperon #browniemary #dennisperonbrowniemaryact #maucrsa #holysmokestv #holysmokes #holysmokescrafts #oneman #solo #cannabis #reform #legalization #safeaccess #news #ismokecannabis #medicalcannabis #thc #cbd #breal #massroots #rawlife #rawlife247 #losangeles (at Los Angeles, California) https://www.instagram.com/p/B1zxcukhv9R/?igshid=jdcfb21ub38a

[cannamediae-blog]

The #Trump administration is looking for negative data to smear #cannabis. That makes the executive branch of our government essentially the only American institution trending against #marijuana. #weed #420 #weedstagram #pot #maucrsa #auma #prop64 #CompassionateUseAct https://www.instagram.com/p/Boam2piBdGI/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=25uy821wopez

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Coming January 1st PharmLabs will offer a specialized service of random sampling and transportation for your convenience to ensure compliance with new regulations. Our trained Scientific Sampling and Transportation Specialists (STS) will be available from 9:00am to 5:00pm Monday through Friday to come on-site to perform the required sampling of your cannabis and cannabis products and safely transport your samples to our laboratories for safe testing. We also offer Phamily Plans which allow you to prepay for a monthly, weekly or daily basis of sampling. We're ready for 2018, are you? Call us today to join the Phamily! #phamily #maucrsa #bureauofcannabiscontrol #labtested #isoaccredited #CAcompliance #randomsampling #phamilyplan #cannabis #californiacannabiscommunity #science

[fortune420group]

The Top Ten Issues Under California’s Cannabis Regulation and Safety Act (a/k/a MAUCRSA or SB94)

#MustWeed http://www.fortune420.com/the-top-ten-issues-under-californias-cannabis-regulation-and-safety-act-aka-maucrsa-or-sb94/

With California’s recent passage of its Medicinal and Adult Use Cannabis Regulation and Safety Act (“MAUCRSA” a/k/a the Governor’s Trailer Bill, a/k/a SB 94), California has combined government oversight of its medical and adult use cannabis industries into one master regulatory regime.

MAUCRSA is almost guaranteed to make California’s cannabis industry more business friendly and less bureaucratic[…] Read the rest:  http://www.Cannalawblog.com/the-top-ten-issues-under-californias-medicinal-and-adult-use-cannabis-regulation-and-safety-act-aka-maucrsa-or-sb94

[reportwire]

Interstate Cannabis Agreements in California

Interstate Cannabis Agreements in California

I get asked a lot of questions about what California cannabis licensees can and cannot do under the Medicinal and Adult-Use Cannabis Regulation and Safety Act (“MAUCRSA”). California is actually business friendly once operations get going with a license– despite its many issues with the cannabis industry. For example, vertical integration is allowed. There’s no license cap, and you can apply for…

[the-mushroom-lady]

Rethinking Capitalism With The Help of Tripping

Quite a lot can be learned from the past success and failures of the cannabis industry. Consumers of psychedelics have this golden opportunity to explore.We’re devoted to rigorous reporting by professional experts and journalists in the world of psychedelics. Buy shrooms online today and start the journey of creativity only by clicking here.Washington D.C. ranked fourth among countries that have decriminalized all psychedelics. Oregon was the first to legalize the treatment of health conditions with psychedelics. Psychedelics became legalized in Denver in the year 2019 and the state began to picture what that action will look like they’re in the country. More than ten million dollars has been spent on the development of psychedelic substances, though this trend of events is long overdue, all the same, it’s awe-inspiring. Amidst this prohibition process, it’s also important that individuals and companies concerned should take out some time to ask themselves some salient questions, for instance, what should their behavior and comportment be like?In cannabis, an array of misnomers have been seen like perverse incentives and unhealthy dealing with profit and investment, and these are slowly driving reasonable consumers away from it, by to be replaced by some unworthy ones. Traditional venture capitalists and multistate operators are replacing legacy operators. For psychedelics, there is always a chance to improve. Psychedelics give us a less egotistical and self-driven system. Do we really have to choose between nonprofit and free-market capitalism. There are probably more options. But first of all, we need to get weird.Tue two notorious phenomena (greed and free-market capitalism) are what we have when we believe that we are isolated or need to fend for ourselves. We then make it a do-or-die thing that we often become obsessed with finding an escape route from the assumed woeful lot of not having. Most of the time, that belief is always false. Psychedelics play a pivotal role in guiding and teaching us to know what is important to do. We then become knowledgeable and know that the Great perspective Shift will help shed light on laws, and business tips that will help foster a healthy business relationship, whereby to heal the wound that has been made.📷 Why not just make “nonprofit” mandatory once and for all? The decriminalization of recreational cannabis in the state of California was done through California’s Proposition 64 in 2016, and the law that was afterward implemented was the Medicinal and Adult-Use Cannabis Regulation and Safety Act also called “MAUCRSA.” This law was produced as a result of interests other than the union of stakeholders who were on the good track because the industry of cannabis wasn’t successful with legalization early enough.Some background checks showed that it was in 1996 that the then California voters first authorized therapeutic use of cannabis. That elegant proposition was necessary to public health.In 2004, in a bid to establish a working system that will aid the distribution to patients, California lawmakers passed SB 420, which allows patients to come together to form nonprofit medical cannabis corporations. The formation was intended to make allowance for a fair and accessible system of distribution for patients and even their caregivers, but, unfortunately, it led to large cannabis brands that are unregulated. These were even ready to take the risk of being closed down to have the grey market and profit heavily. Buy shrooms Canada today by linking up with our website.Decriminalization is crucial and must be initiated across the world; we need to stop punishing people for drugs. But we must also know that decriminalization without any proper kind of distribution pattern, does expose the folks to risk. Elegantly branded underground psychedelic products, for example, shroom tea and chocolates with shrooms, etc. are growing in popularity especially since you can buy shrooms onine with ease. Those who created these brands are just waiting to pass a measure on decriminalization, which

will allow them to feel safe enough to start selling psychedelics outside their communities.We all should know that without the creation of a new model, the same status-quo capitalist structures will be in place for psychedelics. We also need to ask ourselves if the proposed psychedelic we all anticipate will be one that will have grievous regulation which cages us or should it be one that will allow all consumers to be left to their free-market models? If the latter is what we have, then you should expect to see the same failures we’ve always experienced. We need to become intentional and do the following:Allowing the things we’ve learned of psychedelics to spur us to more creativity and idealism.Let’s acknowledge and catch up with the entrepreneurial, and capitalistic drive that is so involved with our culture.Let’s secure business models and methodology that serve our health sector well and also help eliminate greed and a profits-first mindset.Far-Out Business Models for an Ethical Psychedelics IndustryB-Corps with TeethA Benefit Corporation prioritizes purpose rather than profit. Benefit Corporations are famous and sometimes referred to called B-Corps, including Ben & Jerry’s, Dr. Bronner’s Magic Soaps, and Patagonia. Though the state has a lot to say, to become a benefit corporation, a company must adhere to an array of higher standards than normal corporations to reflect their mission and transparency. In psychedelics, it’s better that we require and just advocate for a B-Corp model that will help raise organizations that have defined initiatives. Buy shrooms Canada by clicking here.No Plastic Ever, in any packaging or product, period. Truly recyclable or compostable packaging only.Corporate CooperativesLet’s look at the cannabis cooperative  (a new legal entity structure of member-companies created by MAUCRSA) as a model idea for how we can (1) keep production small; and (2) give the psychedelic producers and commercial cultivators (fungi, chemical compounds, and plant medicines all included) the opportunity to work together and hold each other accountable.📷 Limits on Branding and Advertising If you’re over 40 years old, you remember when pharmaceutical companies were not allowed to advertise their products on television and in print ads. Isn’t it beyond controversy that these ads have made us less informed, sicker, and more reliant on pharmaceuticals? Let’s learn from this and challenge ourselves to do better, even if it means psychedelics are not the next hot “emerging market” in “consumer packaged goods” or traditional venture capital.Radicalize Patent Law Concepts On a more basic platform, a patent refers to a legal status we give out to inventors and that allows them to help to prevent others from making, selling, or utilizing the invention for a given amount of time. More importantly, the public policy that’s behind this is to encourage investment and innovation. But patent law allows altering this model for a much better result, without harming the inventor.On a final note, the public-private partnership rules that were implemented in 1980 by the Bayh-Dole Act make it possible for certain inventors who get federal funding to still hold title to their inventions.There’s no need to entirely break the current system at all, but making room for some additional rigor concerning how patents are used and monetized will create room for public interest at the forefront of considerations. This could be a good start.In conclusion, you can buy shrooms online at magic mushroom dispensary. This dispensary is very versatile, coupled with the smooth partnership with other companies doing great in the industry, ensuring that only the best is given to our customers. Our promo code is “BLOWOUT25” and with a 25% discount off, no minimum spent, you can be sure our prices won’t blow your budget. Hurry and buy shrooms Canada now before the promo runs out! Shop now!

Read more:- https://magicmushroomdispensary.ca/2022/02/19/rethinking-capitalism-with-the-help-of-tripping/

[cannabisbusinessexecutive]

Interstate Cannabis Agreements in California

Interstate Cannabis Agreements in California

By Hilary Bricken, Principal at Harris Bricken I get asked a lot of questions about what California cannabis licensees can and cannot do under the Medicinal and Adult-Use Cannabis Regulation and Safety Act (“MAUCRSA”). California is actually business friendly once operations get going with a license– despite its many issues with the cannabis industry. For example, vertical integration is allowed.…

[supremekalmllc]

New Post has been published on https://supremekalm.com/icymi-here-comes-california-certifiedcomparable-to-organic-cannabis/

ICYMI: Here Comes California-Certified “Comparable-to-Organic” Cannabis

Due to the federal illegality of cannabis, cannabis businesses don’t receive normal treatment from the federal government (with maybe one or two exceptions, like the NLRB and the 2014 FinCEN guidance for access to financial institutions). This obviously mucks up the ability of a cannabis business to operate in a consistent and reliable way, and it can make it difficult for cannabis businesses to really stand out when it comes to the creation of household names and brands.

In particular, other, federally legal businesses in the agricultural world are freely able to use the term “organic” on their comestible products so long as they adhere to U.S. Department of Agriculture (“USDA”) protocols and regulations. Not so for your average cannabis farmer or distributor. At the same time, to assist cannabis cultivators and other cannabis licensees with economic survival and product recognition as well as establishing more comprehensive standards for product quality, individual states have contemplated pseudo-organic certification programs under state law (like Washington State). California is leading the way though as the first state to have a “organic” certification program comparable to the Feds that will go live in 2021.

Back to federal law. Labeling a product as “organic” generally requires an actual certification, and that certification is regulated by the USDA. Congress set forth general organic principles in the Organic Foods Production Act, and the USDA defines and regulates specific organic standards. Though alternative certifications exist for cannabis and cannabis products under various state laws, none are approved or regulated by the USDA, and they therefore do not create an official federal organic certification (which will not happen unless and until cannabis is legalized at the federal level).

Despite current federal laws around organic certification, the Medicinal and Adult-Use Cannabis Regulation and Safety Act (“MAUCRSA”), the California Department of Food and Agriculture (“CDFA”) is required to establish a certification program for cannabis that is comparable to the National Organic Program (“NOP“) and the California Organic Food and Farming Act by January 1, 2021. In response to its statutory directive under MAUCRSA, CDFA created the OCal Program. “OCal” is a labeling term that “identifies California commercial cannabis products produced according to the OCal regulations, which are comparable to the [NOP] regulations.” The OCal Program is charged with the development and enforcement of regulations for products sold, labeled, or represented as “OCal”. To be very clear, “OCal” does not mean “organic” as that term is defined by and used under federal law–“OCal” actually stands for “comparable-to-organic” cannabis products sold only within the State of California.

In case you missed it, OCal is strictly a voluntary certification program (but you cannot utilize the OCal label without the required certification). Essentially, cultivation or distribution licensees can pursue certification through the program and, if the licensee meets certification requirements, the certifying agent (who will be accredited either under NOP or OCal,and it can be a “private entity” or local government doing the certifying) will designate the licensee’s operations as “OCal.” OCal isn’t yet in play–while the program has been created and initial round of regulations sent to the public for comment, those initial draft rules are still being modified and aren’t anticipated to be adopted until December of this year, with the OCal Program going live on January 1, 2021. And if you’re a manufacturer that wants to label your products as “comparable-to-organic” under state law, you’ll get your chance, too, as the California Department of Public Health must also establish a program similar to OCal by July 1, 2021.

What does certification actually mean and entail? A solid outline is available in the proposed regulations issued by CDFA in May of this year. Here are some of the highlights of those regulations:

Not every licensee can get OCal certification. In particular, “a licensed commercial cannabis operation that does not handle cannabis and nonmanufactured cannabis products to be labeled, sold or represented as OCal is excluded . . . including . . . Distribution operations if nonmanufactured OCal cannabis products: (1) Are received enclosed in a package or container; (2) Remain enclosed in the same package or container while under the control of the distributor, except for Bureau sampling; and (3) Are in a container labeled pursuant to section 10301(a) of this chapter; Laboratory operations; [and] Retail operations.

Even if you can label your products as “OCal” certified, you still cannot use the term “organic” anywhere on the label or it’s a violation of state law (not to mention a violation of federal law), and the products labeled as OCal must contain 100% OCal certified product components/ingredients. If you’re knowingly labeling your products as OCal without accreditation or just as “organic”, you can receive administrative fines from the state for up to $17,952 per violation, or up to $20,000 per violation with revocation or suspension (as of the release of the September 1 modified rules).

Cultivators and distributors that participate in the program have additional and increased record keeping, system protocols (including the adoption of a very specific OCal systems program to be utilized at the licensed premises), and regulatory accountability requirements (including regarding track-and-trace) to ensure they can prove compliance with the program at any time.

To be sold or labeled OCal, cannabis and nonmanufactured cannabis products have to be made/grown without the use of: “Synthetic substances and ingredients”, except as provided in The National List of Allowed and Prohibited Substances; “Nonsynthetic substances” prohibited in The National List of Allowed and Prohibited Substances; Substances prohibited for use on cannabis under state law as determined by the Department of Pesticide Regulation; “Excluded methods”; Ionizing radiation, as described in Food and Drug Administration regulation, 21 C.F.R. section 179.26; and sewage sludge.

Specific to cultivators, not just any plot of land or location can be used if you want to be OCal, and the land/farm must be managed in extremely specific ways, too. The land or farm must have (1) been managed to support soil fertility and crop nutrient levels in compliance with the regulations, which is an incredibly comprehensive and detailed system with specific seed and plant stock practices that also includes specific crop rotation requirements as well as fertilizer and pesticide requirements and prohibitions; (2) had no prohibited substances on it or applied to it for a period of 3 years immediately preceding harvest of cannabis; and (3) distinct, defined boundaries and buffer zones on the operator’s field or farm parcel to prevent the unintended application of a prohibited substance to the crop or contact with a prohibited substance applied to adjoining land that is not under organic management.

A specific OCal seal can only be used on products depending on background color. Here are your two choices so far:

Securing certification is not going to be the easiest task in the world as applicants will have to demonstrate compliance with the program through a separate application process (that includes review of a proposed OCal systems program prepared by the applicant) that involves a fairly rigorous on-site inspection by the state/certifying agent before the certification will be granted.

It’s a $500 fee to apply, and you’ll also be paying for a certifying agent’s time to complete the accreditation process at $55 an hour–you’ll get the bill for that time spent after you’re found eligible for accreditation and you have to pay within 10 days of receipt in order to actually receive accreditation. There are also flat fee registration renewal fees for certifying agents that increase over time depending on when you register going into 2021 and beyond.

On September 1, CDFA issued modified regulations around the OCal Program. The modified regulations are almost identical to the proposed regulations from May of this year with a few notable exceptions around clarifying (1) that a certifying agent’s fees have to be “reasonable” and well-documented in order to be eligible for payment by an applicant per 8 above; (2) penalties and fees for willful violations; (3) that any agricultural product test results that have pesticides, residues, or contaminants that exceed either the Food and Drug Administration’s or the Environmental Protection Agency’s “regulatory tolerances” need not be reported to the state by a certifying agent (which makes sense because no such standards exist for cannabis with either of those agencies). The public can submit comments to CDFA regarding these modified rules until September 15.

With the advent of the modified rules pretty much mirroring the proposed rules, and given that it’s already September, we’re likely looking at the bulk of the OCal Program already. In turn, cultivators and distributors should be preparing themselves now for OCal certification, as it’s sure to be no easy task to accomplish. The point here though is that California State certification will try to be as good as federal certification (even if the legal semantics around the term “organic” don’t completely line up), and it will hopefully be to the long-term benefit of cultivators, distributors, and consumers. Let’s see.

The post ICYMI: Here Comes California-Certified “Comparable-to-Organic” Cannabis appeared first on Harris Bricken.

[cannabisresins]

New Year's Day saw the implementation of the long-awaited Medicinal Adult-Use Cannabis Regulatory Safety Act (MAUCRSA), allowing Californians over the age of 21 to legally buy pot without a doctor's recommendation. But a new sense of chaos looms over the nascent industry. The onset of these ... Read More...

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[centuryassociates]

Will California Be Ready For Adult Use Cannabis?

Our California cannabis lawyers are constantly asked how big sales and tax revenues will be in California once adult use cannabis becomes legal there. With recent reports of increased sales in Colorado and Nevada, everyone is expecting California – with its population of nearly 40 million people – to dwarf the sales of other adult use cannabis states. Many see California sales exceeding Colorado and Washington sales (together!) by at least ten times. To say our law firm is bullish on California would be an understatement; we literally cannot find good lawyers fast enough for our two California offices (Los Angeles and San Francisco).

When Californians voted for the Adult Use of Marijuana Act (a/k/a AUMA or Prop 64), you could smell the enthusiasm. Our California offices were deluged with a flood of investors looking to invest in California cannabis businesses. Then Governor Brown and the California legislature removed Prop 64’s in-state residency requirement with the enactment of the Medicinal and Adult-Use Cannabis Regulation and Safety Act (a/k/a MAUCRSA or SB 94) this past June. With residency requirements removed, my firm saw a significant increase in interest from clients outside California seeking to obtain cannabis business licenses in the Golden State.

Unfortunately, local legislators in California’s cities and counties have not kept pace with the enthusiasm on the business side. Prior to SB 94, the legal cannabis landscape consisted of California jurisdictions focused on their medical cannabis ordinances in step with the Medical Cannabis Regulation and Safety Act of 2015(MCRSA). The MCRSA was California’s first attempt at establishing a statewide regulatory and licensing regime. The MCRSA also allowed medical cannabis businesses to operate as for-profit businesses starting in 2018.

With most local jurisdictions playing catch-up with the MCRSA, it’s unlikely Californians will be able to purchase recreational cannabis on January 01, 2018. That’s because most California cities and counties are waiting on the state’s main cannabis regulatory agencies – the Bureau of Cannabis Control, the Department of Food and Agriculture, and the Department of Public Health – to publish their emergency regulations before they enact their own adult use cannabis ordinances. The emergency regulations should be released in mid to late November and the Bureau of Cannabis Control has stated that cannabis businesses will be able to apply for temporary permits online in December.

Though it might take a little longer than expected before adult use cannabis sales in California become commonplace, we are seeing local regulators moving in the right direction. In our Cannabis Countdown series, we keep our readers apprised of cannabis ordinance developments on the local level and the below is an updated snapshot of what’s going on across the state regarding adult-use commercial cannabis activities:

Los Angeles: On March 07, 2017, Los Angeles residents came out in full force and voted for Proposition M, a much-needed effort at clearing up Los Angeles’s previously confusing, complicated, and unfriendly position towards medical cannabis businesses. On June 8th of this year, the Los Angeles City Council released draft requirements for commercial cannabis activities – which we covered here. After the release of these draft requirements, there was a 60-day comment period and on September 22nd, the City Council revised the draft requirements – which we covered extensively here. On September 25th the City Council Rules Committee requested the Los Angeles City Attorney prepare and present a draft ordinance addressing the changes made in the revised draft regulations. Though Los Angeles will authorize seed to sale license types (indoor cultivation, non-volatile and volatile manufacturing, distribution, and retail) it’s unlikely it will have an adult use cannabis permitting process in place by the start of 2018.

San Francisco: The city of San Francisco (where I am located) proposed draft cannabis legislation on September 26th of this year. The proposed legislation requires creating an equity program, authorizes the issuance of temporary local licenses for medical cannabis businesses, and will have seed to sale license types (including the microbusiness license). It also allows for medical and adult use cannabis licenses, but adult use licenses won’t be issued until the equity program is in place. The ordinance does not cap the number of permits to be issued citywide, nor does it limit the number of licenses a person can hold – except that testing licensees cannot hold other cannabis licenses. However at a recent stakeholder meeting I attended, it was discussed that the Board of Supervisors (BOS) may revisit the issue of licensing caps (at the individual applicant and citywide level). It’s paramount that cannabis supporters stay politically active and fight complacency — don’t let what happened in San Luis Obispo happen in your city. San Francisco’s Office of Cannabis is to provide the BOS with an equity report, a medicinal access report, and a proposed fee schedule by November 1st of this year. Much like Los Angeles, San Francisco has proposed a cannabis-friendly ordinance that likely will not be ready for 2018.

Humboldt County: As part of the famed Emerald Triangle, Humboldt County is a cannabis business-friendly jurisdiction. On September 7th, Humboldt County’s Planning and Building Department released a draft cannabis ordinance that provides for the following:

Licenses all seed to sale commercial activities (including non-volatile and volatile manufacturing);

Allows farm-based retail sales, subject to receiving a retailer’s license from the state (we’ll have to see what the Bureau of Cannabis Control has to say about that);

Authorizes temporary special events for cannabis sales and consumption;

Allows on-site consumption for retailers and microbusinesses (for persons 21 years of age and older); and

Allows for cannabis tours and cannabis farm stays.

This proposed ordinance cements Humboldt’s reputation as a place that thinks outside the box when it comes to attracting cannabis businesses. Humboldt’s proposed ordinance was up for review and public comment on October 18 and we expect its enactment by early December. We are not sure whether Humboldt will allow current medical cannabis businesses to convert over to adult use and for-profit enterprises before January 01, 2018.

Though some of California’s biggest population centers will take their time before enacting adult use cannabis ordinances, we envision some of the more sparsely populated (and tax-starved) California jurisdictions will be the first to move into the adult use cannabis marketplace.

We will be sure to keep you posted on new developments in our Cannabis Countdown series.

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