More Action on California’s Cannabis Event Permit Rules

19 Feb More Action on California’s Cannabis Event Permit Rules

We receive calls on a weekly basis from clients and prospective clients who want to know what steps they must take to host a cannabis event. We’ve heard plans for cooking classes, dinner parties, shows at art galleries with on-site consumption, and the list goes on. And while the Medicinal and Adult Use Cannabis Regulation and Safety Act (“MAUCRSA”) does provide for state temporary event licenses, those licenses are unfortunately extremely limited.

Pursuant to MAUCRSA, a state licensing authority may issue a state temporary marijuana event license to a licensee authorizing onsite cannabis sales to, and consumption by, persons twenty-one years of age or older at a “county fair or district agricultural association event, provided that certain other requirements are met.” No other venue is allowed.

The hypothetical events I listed above do not constitute a “county fair” or a “district agricultural event,” and so technically, even if a local jurisdiction were entirely willing to issue a special event license for one of these types of events, it would not be permissible under state law. Assembly Bill 2641, introduced on February 15^th, seeks to remedy this problem.

AB 2641 would authorize the Bureau of Cannabis Control (“BCC”) to issue the temporary event licenses, and would authorize a state temporary event license to be issued for “an event to be held at any other venue expressly approved by the local jurisdiction.” The BCC would not be authorized to approve a state temporary cannabis event license for a given event unless the local jurisdiction in which the event is to be held has approved.

The bill would also authorize the BCC to issue a temporary cannabis retailer license to a licensed cannabis manufacturer or a licensed cannabis cultivator for the retail sale and deliver of cannabis or cannabis products to customers at a licensed temporary cannabis event, and the license would be valid only for the duration of that particular temporary cannabis event.

Temporary cannabis retailer licensees would need to be valid manufacturing or cultivation licensees. A temporary cannabis retailer licensee would only be authorized to sell cannabis or cannabis products manufactured or cultivated by that licensee. And of course, temporary cannabis retailer licensees must comply with all other requirements imposed on retailers.

Perhaps because cannabis events are such a desirable option for many people, AB 2641 is not the only bill of its kind. Last week, we covered Assembly Bill 2020, which also gives local jurisdictions the right to approve and permit events. The bills are quite similar, with AB 2641 slightly more detailed on requirements that event licensees sell only cannabis that they themselves have cultivated.

Given the demand for a wide array of cannabis events, we see the overlapping proposals of AB 2641 and AB 2020 as a welcome moves that would grant local jurisdictions flexibility in determining what types of special events they wish to approve. And it may mean that soon, our clients will finally be able to host all those creative events they’ve been planning.