New Rules To Follow If You Want To Smoke Pot In California

CALIFORNIA -- The state this week issued new regulations surrounding marijuana, less than two months before the recreational drug becomes legal to use in California. The Cannabis Advisory Committee released a lengthy list of regulations on Thursday varying from licenses to fines to inspections surrounding the sale of marijuana.

The regulations were developed across three agencies: the Department of Consumer Affairs’ Bureau of Cannabis Control, the Department of Public Health’s Manufactured Cannabis Safety Branch, and the Department of Food and Agriculture’s CalCannabis Cultivation Licensing Division.

The regulations include:

• All commercial cannabis activity can only be conducted between licensees.

• Businesses can obtain a temporary license that is good for 120 days.

• There is no specifc number limit to the licenses that may be held by an applicant.

• There is no restriction on the types of cannabis licenses a person can hold, except that a person who holds a testing laboratory license is prohibited from licensure for any other commercial activity.

• Cultivation license application fees range from $135 to $8,655, and license fees range from $1,205 to $77,905.

• All cannabis products cannot be infused with nicotine or alcohol or have added caffeine. Edible products cannot be shaped like a human, animal, insect, or fruit.

• Edible products are limited to a maximum of 10 mg of THC (tetrahydrocannabinol) per serving and 100 mg of THC per package. Other cannabis products, such as tinctures, capsules and topicals, are limited to a maximum of 1,000 mg per package for the adult-use market and 2,000 mg of THC per package for the medicinal-use market.

The regulations come after a series of public hearings the state held, asking Californians how marijuana should be regulated after voters decided to make recreational use of the drug legal. Officials said they expect the regulations released this week to be effective by December 2017.

The Business, Consumer Services and Housing Agency plans to hold a workshop with state-chartered banks and credit unions next month to discuss regulatory and compliance issues.

Read a full list of regulations here.

Photo via Pixabay