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[dropcap class=”kp-dropcap”]I[/dropcap]t seems like there isn’t a month that goes by in California when the Assembly isn’t trying to pass a slew of cannabis bills to help regulate the state’s industry under the Medicinal and Adult-Use Cannabis Regulation and Safety Act (MAUCRSA). As of Oct. 13, California has some new cannabis laws on the books (thanks to Gov. Gavin Newsom). This article is dedicated to the highlights of some of those laws and how they’ll affect cannabis businesses in 2020 and beyond.

 

State Tax Deductions

There’s no real gold standard for state cannabis taxation. And at the federal level, cannabis businesses suffer constantly under the heavy weight of I.R.C. 280E. However, Assembly Bill 37 will provide at least some tax relief to California cannabis businesses (from 2020-2024). AB-37 is a departure from California’s otherwise standard mandate that income taxation be treated the same as on the federal level, which, for cannabis businesses, formerly meant no state deductions for business expenses related to trafficking in cannabis because of I.R.C. 280E. Now though, California cannabis business owners licensed under MAUCRSA will be able to lawfully take ordinary personal, business deductions under California law.

 

Charitable Donations

Senate Bill 34 creates better breaks for low-income medical patients that have a physician’s recommendation but that may not have an ID card from the Department of Public Health pursuant to the 2004 Medical Marijuana Program Act. Via tax-free “compassionate care donations” by licensed retailers and/or retailer microbusinesses, before providing any medical cannabis to any qualified patient or their caregiver, those licensees have to ensure that all of the necessary criteria is met. This includes rules regarding caregivers, physician’s recommendations and much more.

Testing

Assembly Bill 404 represents a much-needed, practical change to current cannabis testing laws. If a cannabis batch sample failed testing, a cannabis company only had two choices: Remediate or destroy the batch. Now, with the passage of AB-404, a testing laboratory is authorized to amend a certificate of analysis “to correct minor errors, as defined by the Bureau of Cannabis Control.” In addition, labs can now retest a failed batch sample “if the test result falls outside the specifications authorized by law or regulation, when the testing laboratory notifies the bureau, in writing, that the test was compromised due to equipment malfunction, staff error, or other circumstances allowed by the bureau and the bureau authorizes the retest.”

 

Social Equity Support

California has made great strides in supporting local social equity programs. The California Cannabis Equity Act of 2018 authorizes the Bureau of Cannabis Control, upon request by a local jurisdiction, to provide technical assistance to a local equity program that helps local equity applicants or local equity licensees. With the passage of Senate Bill 595, “on or before Jan. 1, 2021, [the state licensing agencies will have] to develop and implement a program to provide a deferral or waiver for an application fee, a licensing fee, or a renewal fee for a needs-based applicant or needs-based licensee.” At least 60 percent of the total dollar amount of deferrals of fees pursuant to this new program will be allocated to the deferral of fees for local equity applicants and licensees, and SB-595 also requires at least 60 percent of the total dollar amount of waivers of fees to be allocated to the waiver of fees for local equity applicants and licensees.

 

Research

Assembly Bill 420 expands existing University of California (UC) research mandates with the authorization of the California Cannabis Research Program, hosted by the existing Center for Medicinal Cannabis Research at UC San Diego. The program will allow researchers to be able to conduct studies regarding the efficacy of cannabis and provide medical guidelines based on their findings. Where the center has had issues with acquiring enough cannabis for its research purposes, AB-420 allows the center, via the program, “to cultivate cannabis for its use in research, pursuant to applicable federal and state laws and regulations.”

 

Vape Cartridges and Pens

Assembly Bill 1259 took effect immediately, and it will change up the packaging/labeling requirements for vape cartridges and pen makers by making life a little bit easier. Specifically, a cannabis cartridge or an integrated cannabis vaporizer that contains cannabis or a cannabis product “shall bear the universal symbol . . . [t]he universal symbol shall be visible on the cannabis cartridge or integrated cannabis vaporizer and shall not be smaller than one-quarter inch wide by one-quarter inch high. The universal symbol shall be engraved, affixed with a sticker, or printed in black or white.”

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