AB 2555: Cannabis.

(1)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 generally divides responsibility for the state licensure and regulation of commercial cannabis activity among the Department of Consumer Affairs, the Department of Food and Agriculture, and the State Department of Public Health and requires those state licensing authorities to begin issuing licenses by January 1, 2018.

Under existing law, the Department of Food and Agriculture may issue cannabis cultivation licenses to commercial cannabis businesses that differ depending on the size of the cultivation site and whether the site is indoor, outdoor, or mixed. AUMA also requires the Department of Food and Agriculture, in consultation with the Bureau of Cannabis Control, to implement a unique identification program for cannabis and requires a unique identifier to be issued for each cannabis plant, plant at a cultivation site during the cultivation period, as specified. AUMA, as amended by MAUCRSA, defines a unique identifier as referencing a specific plant on a licensed premises, and any cannabis or cannabis products derived from that plant. AUMA, as amended by MAUCRSA, requires the department, in consultation with the bureau, to use these unique identifiers in a track and trace program that tracks the movement of cannabis and cannabis products throughout the distribution chain, from cultivation to sale, using a software tracking system.

This bill would define immature cannabis plant, mature cannabis plant, and plant plant for purposes of AUMA. Instead of requiring a unique identifier to be issued for each cannabis plant, the bill would require a unique identifier to be issued for each mature cannabis plant, as defined. The bill would provide for a unique identifier that references the lot of plants to which an immature plant belongs, instead of requiring a unique identifier for each immature plant, as specified.

(2)AUMA authorizes the Legislature to amend AUMA to further the purposes and intent of AUMA with a ²/₃ vote of the membership of both houses of the Legislature, except as provided.

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