AB 2020: Cannabis: local jurisdiction licensees: temporary event license.

The Control, Regulate and Tax Adult Use of Marijuana Act of 2016 (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. MAUCRSA authorizes an applicant to apply to all applicable state licensing authorities to obtain a state license to engage in commercial adult-use cannabis activity, and requires the applicant to obtain a separate license for each location where it engages in commercial cannabis activity. MAUCRSA establishes the Cannabis Control Appeals Panel and authorizes any person aggrieved by specified decisions of a licensing authority related to disciplining any license to appeal the licensing authoritys written decision to the panel.

MAUCRSA authorizes a state licensing authority to issue a state temporary event license to a licensee authorizing onsite cannabis sales to, and consumption by, persons 21 years of age or older at a county fair or district agricultural association event, provided that certain other requirements are met, including that all participants in the event are licensed under MAUCRSA. Under existing administrative law, the Bureau of Cannabis Control has adopted regulations that govern the issuance of a state temporary cannabis event license. Under those existing regulations governing state temporary cannabis event licenses, each sale at an event under that license is required to be conducted by a licensed retailer or microbusiness. Under those existing regulations, an applicant for a state temporary event license is required to include in the application a list of all licensees who will be providing onsite sales of cannabis goods at the event, and to update that list and provide a final list to the bureau no less than 72 hours before the event. MAUCRSA requires that any person who engages in commercial cannabis activity without a license is subject to a civil penalty of up to 3 times the amount of the license fee for the violation, subject to certain requirements.

This bill would authorize a state temporary event license to be issued to a licensee for an event to be held at any other venue expressly approved by a local jurisdiction for events, as described. The bill would modify the requirements codified in MAUCRSA to include requirements that are similar to those provided in regulations adopted by the bureau described above, including requiring that all participants who are engaged in the onsite retail sale of cannabis or cannabis products at the event be licensed to engage in that activity, and requiring an applicant who submits an application for a state temporary event license to, 60 days before the event, provide the bureau a list of all licensees that will be providing onsite sales of cannabis or cannabis products at the event and to update that list in a manner similar to what is provided in existing regulations. The bill would specifically authorize the bureau to impose a civil penalty on any person who violates the requirements governing state temporary event licenses in an amount up to 3 times the amount of the license fee for each violation. The bill would authorize the bureau to require the event and all participants to cease operations without delay if in the opinion of the bureau or local law enforcement it is necessary to protect the immediate public health and safety of the people of the state. The bill would authorize the bureau to require the event organizer to immediately expel from the event any participant selling cannabis or cannabis products without a license from the bureau that authorizes the participant to sell cannabis or cannabis products and would authorize the bureau to require the event and all participants to cease operations immediately if the participant does not leave immediately. The bill would specify that an order by the bureau for the event to cease operations does not entitle the event organizer or any participant in the event to a hearing or an appeal of the decision. The bill would exempt an order by the bureau for the event to cease operations from specified provisions related to the discipline of a license and from specified provisions related to the appeal of a decision by a licensing authority.

The Control, Regulate and Tax Adult Use of Marijuana Act, an initiative measure, authorizes the Legislature to amend the act to further the purposes and intent of the act with a 2/3 vote of the membership of both houses of the Legislature.

This bill would declare that its provisions further specified purposes and intent of the act.