Cannabis Regulations Consolidated in California
The California Department of Cannabis Control’s (DCC) consolidated emergency regulations are approved and now in effect. The regulations create consistent standards for cannabis licensees across all license types, by aligning application requirements, unifying terminology, and clarifying ownership and financial interest requirements. The regulations also establish rules for trade samples between businesses.
View the approved regulation documents:
*The linked text of regulations only includes sections that were changed during this emergency rulemaking. Sections that are not included in the document were not changed and remain in effect.
“We are working towards simplifying regulatory requirements and making it easier to operate within the legal market,” said Nicole Elliott, DCC Director. “The approval of these regulations puts us one step closer towards meeting this objective.”
The text was modified from the proposed version, published on September 8, 2021, in response to feedback received during the public comment period. Changes were also made for grammar, punctuation or spelling that did not change the meaning of the regulation. View an explanation of changes between final and proposed versions:
A prominent element of the regulations establishes rules allowing for trade samples between businesses, which was recently authorized by Assembly Bill (AB) 141. These rules include the type of licensees that can give and receive samples, packaging, tracking and sample sizes. Prior to AB 141, business to business trade samples were allowed only if the product did not contain cannabis.
This is DCC’s second regulatory action to consolidate, clarify and make consistent the regulations within its first two months as a new state department. “That these changes came so soon after being established as a state department reflects the Department’s level of commitment to improve the regulatory environment for our current and prospective licensees,” said Elliott.
The Office of Administrative Law approved the emergency regulations and filed them with the Secretary of State on Sept. 27, 2021.
