An Emerging Crisis: Over Regulation of Cannabis in California

[dannno]

Who could have predicted this :confused:



For immediate release: February 16, 2018


STATE'S LARGEST ASSOCIATION OF CANNABIS BUSINESSES WARNS OF AN EMERGING CRISIS IN CALIFORNIA


Sacramento – A forthcoming report to be published on Monday provides a concerning perspective on the emerging regulated cannabis marketplace. Prepared by the California Growers Association, the states largest association of cannabis businesses, the report finds that less than 1 percent of the states growers have been licensed. The report provides summaries of dozens of specific barriers to entry and provides a robust list of potential solutions.


The key conclusion of the report is that “the current system will not achieve its goals without fundamental and structural changes that allow small and independent businesses to enter into compliance.” As noted in the report “there is no shortage of actions that policy makers can take to reduce barriers and improve the situation for thousands of local businesses. In fact, there are so many things that could be done, it can be hard to determine where to start.”


According to Hezekiah Allen, Executive Director of the California Growers Association: “The specific challenges may be varied across the state, but the takeaway is the same: from Oakland to Humboldt, from Los Angeles to Gold Country, from cultivation to delivery service, many of the hardworking pioneers of our cannabis marketplace are being left behind, primarily because they are unable to afford one time costs of regulation. This report lays out an initial road map, but it will take a sustained multi-year coalition effort to correct course.”


“We look forward to working with policy makers and stakeholders at the state and local levels,” Allen continued. “We must develop a regulatory framework that will effectively curb the environmental and public safety impacts of cannabis by providing pathways to compliance for businesses currently operating in the unregulated market. If they are unable to comply, the unregulated market is likely to persist and their will be an unnecessary strain on law enforcement resources. Ultimately, without broad participation, legalization will look a lot like prohibition."

California Growers Association
http://www.calgrowersassociation.org/ (http://www.calgrowersassociation.org/?e=5b67f6d60fa3dfcd811823893601a64b&utm_source=emeraldgrowers&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=crisisreport&n=4)

[tod evans]

There's gotta be fodder for the meat grinder...

All these scoff-laws must be brought to "Just-Us" !

[dannno]

There's gotta be fodder for the meat grinder...

All these scoff-laws must be brought to "Just-Us" !

Most of these are businesses and growers who were in the medicinal industry which was working relatively well and have now been placed under the umbrella of all these new regulations, most of which weren't even in the legalization bill that was voted on.

[tod evans]

Most of these are businesses and growers who were in the medicinal industry which was working relatively well and have now been placed under the umbrella of all these new regulations, most of which weren't even in the legalization bill that was voted on.

Do you really think any of that matters when there are MRAP's and SWAT teams sitting idle?

Investigators, prosecutors and jailhouse employees all need to eat too.

[dannno]

For those who don't know, weedmaps.com is fucking awesome.. It is a website that has been around for years, and it links cannabis businesses to consumers. There are about 40-50 cannabis retailers in my small town, most of them are delivery services and one thing they have in common is that they only serve customers who have medicinal licenses. They are all listed on weedmaps. There are hundreds, maybe upwards of 1,000 in the LA area, and in the bay area probably close to 1,000 I would guess. The number cited in the article below seems quite conservative..


Weedmaps to Bureau of Cannabis Control: You don't have the authority to police us

By Brad Branan


March 12, 2018 05:27 PM



A popular marijuana website has told the state's cannabis czar that she lacks the authority to make the company stop running advertisements for unlicensed pot retailers.
In a letter sent Monday (https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/4407347-WM-Response-to-BCC-Ajax-Exec-Dist-3-12-18.html) to Lori Ajax of the Bureau of Cannabis Control, Doug Francis and Chris Beals of Weedmaps.com (https://weedmaps.com/) said the company is not licensed by the bureau and therefore not subject to its enforcement.


They also said Weedmaps is protected from such action because the company is an "interactive computer service" covered under the federal Communications Decency Act. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Communications_Decency_Act)The law states that such a service shall not be treated as the publisher of information provided by a third party.


The CDA is seen as providing legal protection for Facebook, Twitter and other Silicon Valley giants that rely on consumer-generated content. The protection clause cited by Weedmaps has been successfully used a legal shield by companies facing criminal prosecution, including Backpage.com, (http://www.sacbee.com/news/local/crime/article178966551.html) a classified advertising site that has contained sex ads.


The letter was sent in response to Ajax's request last month (http://www.sacbee.com/news/state/california/california-weed/article203926954.html) that Weedmaps stop allowing unlicensed retailers to advertise on the website, which serves as something similar to Yelp for cannabis, providing listings of dispensaries, delivery services and doctors who make recommendations for marijuana.


Weedmaps charges cannabis companies anywhere from hundreds to thousands of dollars each month to advertise on its site.


Ajax told Weedmaps to stop "engaging in activity that violates state cannabis laws" by advertising unlicensed retailers and by failing to publish license numbers for legal and illegal retailers.


Hundreds of dispensaries and delivery services advertise on Weedmaps in California, far more than the number of companies licensed by the Bureau of Cannabis Control.

Weedmaps' response to Ajax places the responsibility for having a license on the companies that use Weedmaps, saying "any groups that place information on our site represent and warrant that they are in compliance with local law."


The letter goes on to say the company believes many of the unlicensed businesses are protected under state law until next January because they are cannabis cooperatives.

Under the state's old medical marijuana laws, cooperatives were nonprofit entities created solely to provide cannabis to members. State law eliminates the status of cooperatives under a sunset clause.


Ajax was not available for comment Monday afternoon. However, Joe Devlin, Sacramento’s chief of cannabis policy and enforcement (http://www.sacbee.com/news/local/article149538929.html), has said that at least part of Weedmaps' argument isn't valid because the illegal retailers on Weedmaps are not nonprofit, as evidenced by the fact that they are advertising on the site.

Weedmaps' spokesman Carl Fillichio did not respond to requests for comment.


In its three-page letter to Ajax, Francis and Beals focus on what they described as problems hindering retailers from becoming licensed. Saying that "native California licensees operate under a regulatory landscape that is so blurry it stifles investment," the executives complain about high tax rates, among other things.


About 85 percent of the state does not allow commercial marijuana sales because of local control provisions in the 2016 legalization law approved by voters.






Read more here: http://www.sacbee.com/news/state/california/california-weed/article204783469.html#storylink=cpy



http://www.sacbee.com/news/state/california/california-weed/article204783469.html

[dannno]

Here is the official response from Weedmaps

https://mjbizdaily.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/Weedmaps-response-to-CA-regulators.pdf (https://mjbizdaily.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/Weedmaps-response-to-CA-regulators.pdf)

[dannno]

https://mjbizdaily.com/chart-breakdown-california-marijuana-companies-got-cease-desist-letters/

Nearly 1,000 individual cannabis businesses have been sent cease-and-desist letters or emails by California regulators during an ongoing enforcement process, a first step in a long effort to ensure the state’s industry is fully regulated and operating like those in more mature markets.

According to a list obtained (https://mjbizdaily.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/List-of-Cannabis-Businesses-Sent-Warning-Emails-by-California-3.9.18.xlsx) by Marijuana Business Daily, as of April 4, the California Bureau of Cannabis Control (BCC) had sent cease-and-desist letters or emails to at least 954 businesses that the agency identified as potentially operating without full legal permission.The list provides insight into the locations of many of the marijuana companies that are either flaunting California’s new regulated market or simply having a difficult time obtaining local permits – but a lot remains unknown about the state’s gray- and black-market activity.

The vast majority of the cease-and-desist letters – 64% of those with some sort of listed address – are in the Los Angeles metro area. The number of letters targeting businesses in L.A. and its surrounding municipalities is 393.

The cannabis bureau is responsible for licensing retailers, delivery services, microbusinesses, distributors and testing labs.
Retailers, in particular, and delivery services accounted for the bulk of the cease-and-desist letters, according to BCC spokesman Alex Traverso.

The cannabis bureau’s list includes 1,245 entries, though 291 of those businesses appear to be duplicates, in part because individual companies received more than one letter.

The remaining 954 businesses are either unique entities or part of companies with multiple locations.