AB 2255: Cannabis: distribution: deliveries: violations.

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 imposes duties on the Bureau of Cannabis Control in the Department of Consumer Affairs, the Department of Food and Agriculture, and the State Department of Public Health with respect to the creation, issuance, denial, suspension, and revocation of licenses issued pursuant to MAUCRSA. MAUCRSA authorizes these licensing authorities to suspend, revoke, place on probation with terms and conditions, or otherwise discipline licenses issued by that licensing authority and fine a licensee, after proper notice and hearing to the licensee, if the licensee is found to have committed any of the acts or omissions constituting grounds for disciplinary action, which includes failure to comply with MAUCRSA.

MAUCRSA requires a licensed distributor, during transportation, to maintain a physical copy of a shipping manifest and a licensee receiving the shipment to maintain each electronic shipping manifest, and requires those manifests to be made available upon request to agents of the Department of Consumer Affairs and law enforcement officers.

Under MAUCRSA, transporting, or arranging for or facilitating the transport of, cannabis or cannabis product in violation of MAUCRSA is grounds for disciplinary action against the licensee.

This bill would prohibit a licensed distributor from transporting an amount of cannabis or cannabis products in excess of the amount stated on the shipping manifest.

This bill would prohibit a law enforcement officer from seizing cannabis or cannabis products for a violation of MAUCRSA, unless the seizure is otherwise authorized by law and the officer has probable cause to believe a criminal cannabis violation has occurred. The bill would also clarify that transportation for purposes of sale with a counterfeit shipping manifest is subject to existing provisions of criminal law relating to the unlawful transportation of cannabis and disciplinary action by the bureau.

MAUCRSA requires a licensee authorized to make deliveries to maintain a copy of the delivery request during deliveries and requires those delivery requests to be made available upon request of the licensing authority and law enforcement officers.

This bill would specify that the copy of the delivery request be physical or electronic.

This bill would authorize the bureau to prescribe citations that may be issued for the violations described above, and would prescribe the content of the citations and the method for challenging a citation. The bill would authorize the Department of the California Highway Patrol and local law enforcement agencies to issue those citations.

AUMA authorizes the Legislature to amend, by a majority vote, certain provisions of the act to implement specified substantive provisions, provided that the amendments are consistent with and further the purposes and intent of the act.

This bill would declare that its provisions implement specified substantive provisions of, and further the purposes and intent of AUMA.