Recreational cannabis in California has been off to a roaring start. Following months of revisions, the Bureau of Cannabis Control (BCC), Department of Food and Agriculture, and the Department of Public Health submitted their final copy of these new regulations to the Office of Administrative Law (OAL) for approval. On January 16th, California lawmakers approved the final regulations governing the state’s new recreational cannabis market.
With these finalized regulations, there has been both praise and critiques. While these regulations are “final”, there will probably small changes made to them in the future. We have compiled some main takeaways from the OAL’s final legalized cannabis regulations.
Cannabis Delivery in California
The ability for cannabis services to deliver is one of the clear front-runners when it comes to major wins for the industry. The Bureau of Cannabis Control has ruled that cannabis delivery will be available statewide, regardless of bans within local municipalities.
While the BCC has ruled its decision on the regulation, the Office of Administrative Law still needs to grant its final approval, which could create some holdups in true finalization. The OAL will most likely take into consideration the potential for lawsuits, which is still a cause for concern among many aspiring cannabis delivery services.
Child-Safe Packaging
With these final regulations, responsibilities for child-safe product packaging has again been shifted. The responsibility for child safe packaging will be at the retail level with exit packaging, which are disposable bags that retailers can provide their customers with. This exit packaging can double as a child-proof container. By 2020, all growers and manufacturers must have their products placed in child safe packaging before shipping to retailers.
White-Labeling for Cannabis Products
Contract manufacturing, also known as white labeling, may also soon be permitted within the California cannabis industry. This would allow for edible and concentrate manufacturers to produce cannabis products for non-licensed companies. The BCC still has grounds to scrutinize potential white labeling contracts. They want to avoid large, out-of-state companies coming in and taking advantage of the opportunity to create a product on the cannabis market while avoiding obtaining a license. However, contract manufacturing should be fine with regulators, if there is transparency to consumers.
“These approved regulations are the culmination of more than two years of hard work by California’s cannabis licensing authorities,” Bureau of Cannabis Control Chief Lori Ajax said. “Public feedback was invaluable in helping us develop clear regulations for cannabis businesses and ensuring public safety.”
While there is still some ambiguity for manufacturers and retailers, these final regulations contain many wins for the California cannabis industry. With potential changes to rules on delivery and contract manufacturing, Santa Cruz Cannabis blog will be sure to keep you up to date on all the latest regarding legal, recreational cannabis in California!