(1) The Control, Regulate and Tax Adult Use of Marijuana Act of 2016 (AUMA), an initiative statute 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. AUMA authorizes legislative amendment of its provisions with a 2/3 vote of both houses, without submission to the voters, to further its purposes and intent.
Existing law, as part of AUMA, requires all advertisements and marketing relating to the sale of cannabis or cannabis products, as specified, to accurately and legibly identify the licensee responsible for its content, by
adding, at a minimum, the licensee’s license number.
This bill would make a violation of that provision requirement by a cannabis-related business licensee, or by a licensed or unlicensed cannabis-related business using a fictitious license number, subject to a civil penalty of $10,000 per incident. incident, but would require a business to be provided 48 hours to correct its first violation prior to being subject to the civil penalty. The bill would continuously appropriate the funds from these civil penalties to the Department of Justice
Board of State and Community Corrections to provide grants to cities, counties, and cities and counties to fund cannabis control officers, as provided, thereby making an appropriation. The bill would declare that these provisions further the purposes and intent of AUMA.
(2) Existing law prohibits a person who has under his or her management or control any building, room, space, or enclosure, either as an owner, lessee, agent, employee, or mortgagee, from knowingly renting, leasing, or making available for use, with or without compensation, the building, room, space, or enclosure for the purpose of unlawfully manufacturing, storing, or distributing any controlled substance for sale or distribution, punishable by imprisonment in a county jail for not more than one year, or by imprisonment in a county jail for 16 months, or 2 or 3 years. Under existing law, cannabis is a Schedule I controlled substance.
This bill would require, in the case of cannabis, a person who commits the above-described offense and who obtains excessive profits, as defined, from the use of the building, room, space, or enclosure to be punished by imprisonment in a county jail for 2, 3, or 4 years. By creating a new crime, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program.
Except as provided by law, existing law makes it a crime to transport, import, sell, furnish, administer, or give away any cannabis. Existing law makes all moneys, negotiable instruments, or securities used or intended to be used to facilitate a violation of this provision subject to forfeiture.
This bill would, in addition to any other penalty, if the controlled substance is cannabis that is being sold or distributed in violation of state or local law, require that any excessive profits, as defined, obtained from the use of a building, room, space, or enclosure in violation of the above specified law, be subject to seizure. The bill would appropriate funds seized to the Board of State and Community Corrections to provide grants to cities, counties, and cities and counties to fund cannabis control officers, as provided,
thereby making an appropriation. By increasing the punishment for a crime, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program.
The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement.
This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.