Cannabis POS software to streamline California dispensaries

Timeline of marijuana legalization in California

1996: Medical cannabis became legal in 1996 when voters approved Proposition 215, the Compassionate Use Act. 

2003: With Senate Bill 420, California introduced a state ID card program for medical cannabis patients. This allowed the formation of non-profit cannabis collectives.

2016: In November 2016, recreational cannabis was approved following  Proposition 64. Beginning  January 2018, licensed dispensaries and delivery services eventually became legal. 

California cannabis laws

If you want to manage your dispensary legally, you must abide by California’s marijuana laws. To avoid fines, police investigations, or loss of license, any dispensary operation has to be legitimate and in accordance with state laws. 

Let’s have a closer look at the main requirements that you must always keep in mind.

Transaction requirements

A retail license is mandatory. The type of license will depend on whether you have a store or not. 

While customers must be 21 years old to purchase recreational products, patients aged 18 years old and above can obtain medical marijuana with a physician’s recommendation.

Only medical cannabis patients and their primary caregivers can get free cannabis products –  no third parties can be involved.

Before starting a transaction, verify the age of your customer by checking their ID, which can take the form of a passport, a driver’s license, or a military card.

Dispensary design requirements

All dispensaries are prohibited from selling goods via a pass-through window, a drive-in, or a slide-out tray outside of the licensed premises.

Customers must enter the dispensary to make a purchase. 

Alcoholic beverages are not allowed on the premises.

If your dispensary is adjacent to the premises used for manufacturing or cultivation, there must be a wall separating them. All doors between the two areas shall be closed.

Purchase limits

If you’re a medical cannabis patient or their primary caregiver, your purchase amounts in a single day are as follows:

• Up to 8 ounces of dried mature flowers or the plant conversion of 8 ounces of medicinal cannabis ( in the form of concentrate).
• Up to 12 immature cannabis plants.
• An amount of medical cannabis consistent with the patient’s needs as recommended by a physician.

If you’re a recreational adult consumer, your purchase amounts in a single day are as follows:

• Up to 28.5 grams of non-concentrated cannabis.
• Up to 8 grams of concentrated cannabis, including concentrate contained in cannabis products.
• Up to 6 immature cannabis plants.

Label requirements

DOs

For nonmanufactured cannabis products:

• Labels shall have two parts – primary panel and informational panel. The primary panel is usually at the top or on the front side of the product. The informational panel can be any other part of the label.
• The primary panel shall include product entity, net weight, and universal symbol. 
• The informational panel shall include UID number, date of packaging for retail sale, government warning statement, licensee name, and phone number or website. 
• You may add other labeling displaying cannabinoid content in percentage. 

For manufactured cannabis products:

• Labels shall have two parts – primary panel and informational panel. The primary panel is usually at the top or on the front side of the product. The informational panel can be any other part of the label.
• If there are multiple levels of packaging, basic labeling must be added to the inner container as well. 
• The primary panel shall include product entity, universal symbol, and net weight or volume. If your cannabis product is edible, the words “cannabis-infused” must be added above the product entity. 
• The informational panel shall include the manufacturer name and contact information, date of manufacture/packaging, government warning statement for cannabis products, UID number, batch or lot number, instructions for use, list of all ingredients, allergens, artificial food colorings, and expiration or use-by/best-by date. 
• If the product is perishable after opening, you must also add “KEEP REFRIGERATED” or “REFRIGERATE AFTER OPENING”. 
• If the product contains a THC concentration only sold in the medicinal market, you must add “FOR MEDICAL USE ONLY”. 
• If your cannabis product is edible, its label must include information on sodium, sugar, carbohydrates, and total fat per serving in milligrams or grams.
• Other labeling may include cannabinoid content in milligrams, indicating  THC and CBD per package for all manufactured products, THC and CBD per serving for edibles and concentrates with designated serving sizes, and any other cannabinoid that makes up 5% or more of the total cannabinoid content. 

DON’Ts

For nonmanufactured cannabis products:

• Don’t include the name of a California county if less than 100% of cannabis in the product is grown there.
• Don’t add any cartoons or images that might attract children.
• Don’t write any false or misleading information. 
• Don’t make any unproven health or anecdotal claims.

For manufactured cannabis products:

• Don’t include the name of a California county if less than 100% of cannabis in the product is grown there.
• Don’t add any cartoons or images that might attract children.
• Don’t write any false or misleading information. 
• Don’t make any unproven health or anecdotal claims.
• Don’t include a picture of the product in case it’s edible.
• Don’t market any products as alcoholic beverages.

Seed-to-sale tracking and Metrc

Before taking part in any commercial cannabis activity, you must create an account within the track and trace system. An account manager or any other authorized employee shall be trained on the track and trace system. Also, a list of all the users with their full names and usernames must be created and kept up-to-date by the account manager.

Keep in mind that your records in the track and trace system must include data on the packaging of cannabis goods, their sale, transfer, transportation, receipt, return, destruction, disposal, laboratory testing, and any other activity, if it’s required.

Each activity entered in the track and trace system shall be recorded with information on the name of the cannabis goods, their type, unique identifier, amount, total wholesale cost, and so on.

Any errors in the track and trace system must be discovered and corrected at once. 

Operational requirements

You may sell and deliver cannabis goods between the hours of 6:00 a.m. Pacific Time and 10:00 p.m. Pacific Time. However, local jurisdictions may establish additional restrictions on operating hours.

You may not engage in delivery outside of the hours of operation. If you are a licensed retailer, you shall sell and deliver cannabis goods only between the hours of 6:00 a.m. Pacific Time and 10:00 p.m. Pacific Time.

The process of delivery begins when the employee leaves the retailer’s licensed premises with the cannabis goods. This process ends when the same employee returns to the retailer’s licensed premises upon completing delivery.

Delivery

Before delivery, make sure that:

• Your cannabis products are from licensed distributors, haven’t exceeded their expiration date, meet all legal requirements, have undergone laboratory testing, and their batch numbers are compliant. 
• Your delivery employees have at least one order before leaving the premises and a delivery inventory ledger of all cannabis goods.
• Your delivery request receipts contain the following: name and address of the retailer, the first name and employee number of the retailer’s employee who prepared and delivered the order, the delivery address, the date and time of delivery, and a detailed description of all cannabis goods requested. 
• Your delivery employee is licensed, 21 years old, has an identification badge, as well as a copy of their government-issued identification and the retailer’s current license. 
• The delivery employee can work only for one licensed retailer at the time of delivery.
• Your delivery vehicles must be logged in the retailer’s records and outfitted with a dedicated GPS device. They can only be used by licensed employees and there should be no indications of what products are being transported.

License

The type and number of licenses you need solely depend on the type of cannabis activity your business performs. Without a valid DCC license, you cannot operate or be involved in any commercial activity.

The main license types are:

• Cultivation licenses with variations based on the type of product and lighting used, as well as the number of plants grown and the size of the canopy. They can be outdoor, indoor, or mixed-lighting depending on the area where they grow and the amount of artificial lighting used during the process.
• Manufacturing licenses are defined by the types of activities performed during the process, the chemicals used, and whether you operate in a shared-use facility or not.
• Distribution licenses also have two types – for distributors and transport-only distributors. 
• Testing laboratory licenses.
• Retail licenses can be for non-storefront retailers and storefront retailers.
• Micro Business licenses.
• Event licenses have two types – for event organizers and temporary cannabis events.

Medical/Recreational

Cannabis in California is legal for both medical and recreational use.