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AB-2456 Cannabis: model local ordinance.(2019-2020)

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Date Published: 02/19/2020 09:00 PM
AB2456:v99#DOCUMENT


CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2019–2020 REGULAR SESSION

Assembly Bill
No. 2456

Introduced by Assembly Member Ting

February 19, 2020

An act to add Section 26203 to the Business and Professions Code, relating to cannabis.


LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


AB 2456, as introduced, Ting. Cannabis: model local ordinance.
The Control, Regulate and Tax Adult Use of Marijuana Act (AUMA), an initiative measure approved as Proposition 64 at the November 8, 2016, statewide general election, authorizes a person who obtains a state license under AUMA to engage in commercial adult-use cannabis activity pursuant to that license and applicable local ordinances. The Medicinal and Adult-Use Cannabis Regulation and Safety Act (MAUCRSA), among other things, consolidates the licensure and regulation of commercial medicinal and adult-use cannabis activities, including retail commercial cannabis activity. MAUCRSA gives the Bureau of Cannabis Control in the Department of Consumer Affairs the power, duty, purpose, responsibility, and jurisdiction to regulate commercial cannabis activity in the state as provided by the act, and does not supersede or limit the authority of a local jurisdiction to adopt and enforce local ordinances to regulate commercial cannabis businesses within that local jurisdiction. MAUCRSA provides a local jurisdiction, defined as a city, city and county, or county, with specified powers regarding commercial cannabis activity, including adopting and enforcing local ordinances regulating commercial cannabis activity or prohibiting that activity.
This bill would require the Bureau of Cannabis Control to develop a model local ordinance, and to make the model local ordinance publicly available on its internet website.
AUMA authorizes the Legislature to amend by majority vote certain provisions of the act to implement specified substantive provisions, provided that the amendments are consistent with, and further the purposes and intent of, AUMA.
This bill would declare that its provisions implement specified substantive provisions of AUMA and are consistent with, and further the purposes and intent of, AUMA.
Vote: MAJORITY   Appropriation: NO   Fiscal Committee: YES   Local Program: NO  

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:


SECTION 1.

 The Legislature finds and declares all of the following:
(a) Given the public health threat created by the sale of illegal vaping products, it is the intent of the Legislature to secure and strengthen the legal cannabis market in California by encouraging local governments to license retail cannabis businesses. Currently, there are fewer than 90 cities in California that license retail cannabis businesses out of 482 total cities in the state. Of the 58 counties, only 44 have regulated cannabis retail, but 17 counties have three or fewer shops. As a result, fewer than 650 licenses have been issued by the state to sell regulated cannabis in brick and mortar retail businesses.
(b) California currently has a relatively low number of retailers for its population, with only one licensed retailer for every 35,147 adults over 21 years of age. In comparison, the State of Oregon has one licensed retailer for every 5,567 adults over 21 years of age. The State of Colorado has one retailer for every 4,240 adults over the age of 21.
(c) The widespread ban on legal cannabis sales exists despite a recent University of California, Berkeley, Institute of Governmental Studies poll conducted for the Los Angeles Times that showed 63 percent of California voters support permitting cannabis stores where they live. The poll showed that every county has majority support for local retailers, with the lowest support in two counties at 54 percent.
(d) Providing patients and consumers access to licensed retail cannabis is essential for reducing the size of the illegal market, as location and convenience are two of the most important factors influencing a consumer’s purchasing decisions. The current market density does not meet current demand, and the lack of legitimate access to legal cannabis creates difficulties for Californians who use cannabis for adult-use and medicinal purposes. Forty percent of individuals in the state have to drive 60 miles, or find a licensed nonstorefront retail willing to drive 60 miles, to deliver safe, legal, and tested cannabis.
(e) Reports suggest that California’s illicit market is actually growing since legalization. According to BDS Analytics and ArcView Market Research, seventy-four percent of cannabis sales in 2017 occurred in the illicit market. In 2018, as much as 80 percent of cannabis sales occurred in the illicit market. Illicit cannabis operators will bring in $8.7 billion in revenue in 2019, compared to $3 billion in revenue from legal sales.
(f) Until local jurisdictions begin issuing more retail licenses, the illicit market will continue to thrive in California, putting California consumers at risk. In an effort to limit access to illegal cannabis, this bill intends to help ensure that all communities, especially the most vulnerable in California, have access to safe and legal products. This bill intends to require the Bureau of Cannabis Control to develop a model ordinance for local jurisdictions to use in drafting ordinances for retail cannabis licensure.

SEC. 2.

 Section 26203 is added to the Business and Professions Code, to read:

26203.
 The Bureau of Cannabis Control shall develop a model local ordinance that local jurisdictions may adopt to license retail commercial cannabis activity within their jurisdiction, and the bureau shall make the model local ordinance publicly available on its internet website.

SEC. 3.

 The Legislature finds and declares that Section 2 of this act, adding Section 26203 to the Business and Professions Code, implements Section 6.1 of the Control, Regulate and Tax Adult Use of Marijuana Act of 2016 and is consistent with, and furthers the purposes and intent of, that act as stated in Section 3 of that act.