California Collective Grace Period Ends On Jan. 9
[dropcap class=”kp-dropcap”]U[/dropcap]nlicensed cannabis collectives and cooperatives in California are facing a difficult choice— either to close up shop this week or sell cannabis products on the black market.
One year ago, the Bureau of Cannabis Control (BCC) posted that the collectives and cooperatives would need to be licensed after a one-year period excepting individual patients and caregiver gardens serving no more than five patients. On Jan. 10, the one year grace period ends and California’s medical cannabis collectives and cooperatives that are unlicensed will become illegal. As of Jan. 9, Section 11362.775 of the Health and Safety Code will no longer be in effect. The BCC notice ends the collective and cooperative era of the California cannabis market.
The California collectives and cooperatives were able to form after their right to was created with 2005’s Medical Marijuana Program Act. When recreational cannabis was approved by voters, part of the new regulation allowed the non-profit organizations to be grandfathered in under the new model until the announcement a year ago started the countdown clock on their unique status.
“There will be patients who will have their access interrupted, and some of them won’t be able to access or afford a licensed facility where they can find their medicine,” Ellen Komp, deputy director of California NORML, told MJBizDaily. “And collective owners will get caught up in the laws, prosecuted civilly or criminally for not having a license.”
The exact number of these nonprofits is unknown in the state, but it has been estimated that there are still hundreds operating in California. Some of them are still operating in the two-thirds of California cities and counties where cannabis licensing is not available even for those who pursue it. And others are waiting in areas like Los Angeles, which has been slow in action to issue cannabis retail licenses.
“It’s significant because, at this point, if you don’t have a license, whatever legal protection you have goes away,” said Los Angeles cannabis attorney Michael Chernis. “And the stark reality is that for many places in California, licenses are not available.”
