California Permanent Cannabis Regulations Approved by OAL

On Wednesday, the Office of Administrative Law (OAL) completed their review of the California permanent cannabis regulations and approved the current proposal for all three licensing agencies. The permanent regulations took effect immediately overruling the previous emergency regulations.

Permanent Regulations Take Effect

The Bureau of Cannabis Control, California Department of Public Health and California Department of Food and Agriculture were forced to act quickly in December of 2017 to meet the legislative mandate of a regulated cannabis market. The emergency cannabis regulations were far from perfect but allowed cannabis businesses to operate.

Their were several articles within the emergency regulations that required clarification as well as some that needed to be amended outright. The Bureau of Cannabis Control hosted several public hearings to address concerns about the emergency regulations. In June of 2018, the emergency cannabis regulations were re-adopted due to delays in drafting the California permanent cannabis regulations.

The Bureau of Cannabis Control Chief Director Lori Ajax noted that, “These approved regulations are the culmination of more than two years of hard work by California’s cannabis licensing authorities. Public feedback was invaluable in helping us develop clear regulations for cannabis businesses and ensuring public safety.”

Annual License vs. Temporary License

Moving forward all licensees will be subject to the California permanent cannabis regulations. Currently there have only been about ten annual business licenses issued while hundred of retailers are still operating under temporary business licenses. All annual licensees will be required to report their track-and-trace sales reports via Metrc, however those operating with temporary licenses still need to retain all sales information.

The complete California permanent cannabis regulations can be found at the California Cannabis Portal. Every marijuana cultivator, manufacturer, distributor, and retailer should take time to review the regulations. Retailers with annual licenses in California should definitely consider investing in compliant dispensary POS software to automate reporting with Metrc.