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AB-2842 Cannabis retailers: delivery: vehicles.(2019-2020)

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Date Published: 04/30/2020 09:00 PM
AB2842:v98#DOCUMENT

Amended  IN  Assembly  May 04, 2020

CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2019–2020 REGULAR SESSION

Assembly Bill
No. 2842

Introduced by Assembly Member McCarty

February 20, 2020

An act to add Sections 26090.1, 26090.2, and 26090.3 to the Business and Professions Code, relating to cannabis.


LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


AB 2842, as amended, McCarty. Cannabis delivery. retailers: delivery: vehicles.
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. 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. Existing law MAUCRSA generally defines delivery to mean the commercial transfer of cannabis or cannabis products to a customer, limits the delivery of cannabis or cannabis products to only be made by a licensed retailer, microbusiness, or nonprofit nonprofit, and establishes requirements for the delivery of cannabis and cannabis products, including that an employee of the licensee carry a copy of the licensee’s current license and a government-issued identification with a photo of the employee, such as a driver’s license.

This bill would state the intent of the Legislature to enact subsequent legislation related to a tiered delivery system for cannabis products.

MAUCRSA also requires the Bureau of Cannabis Control to establish minimum security and transportation safety requirements for the delivery of cannabis and cannabis products. Under existing administrative law, among other requirements, a licensed retailer’s delivery employee that is carrying cannabis goods for delivery is only allowed to travel in an enclosed motor vehicle. Under existing administrative law, among other requirements, a licensed retailer’s delivery employee is prohibited from carrying cannabis goods in the delivery vehicle with a value in excess of $5,000 at any time and the value of cannabis goods carried in the delivery vehicle for which a delivery order was not received and processed by the licensed retailer prior to the delivery employee departing from the licensed premises may not exceed $3,000.
This bill would require, on or before January 1, 2022, the regulations established by the bureau regarding the minimum security and transportation safety requirements to include regulations that would allow for different value tiers of cannabis goods to be carried during delivery of those cannabis goods to customers by employees of a licensed retailer based on the type of vehicle used for the delivery, including bicycles and motorcycles, as specified. The bill would require, on or before January 1, 2022, the bureau, in coordination with the Department of the California Highway Patrol, to develop transportation safety standards for all the different value tiers of cannabis goods carried during delivery to customers by employees of a licensed retailer based on the type of vehicle used for the delivery, as specified, and to develop a standardized inspection and certification process for each delivery vehicle based on the transportation safety standards developed pursuant to this bill, including the form of the certifications, to be implemented on and after January 1, 2023.
Under existing administrative law, a delivery employee of a licensed retailer may only carry cannabis goods in the delivery vehicle and may only perform deliveries for one licensed retailer at a time. Existing administrative law also requires a delivery employee of a licensed retailer to depart and return to the same licensed premises before taking possession of any cannabis goods from another licensee to perform deliveries.
This bill would codify those administrative law provisions.
The Control, Regulate and Tax Adult Use of Marijuana Act authorizes the Legislature to amend the act to further the purposes and intent of the act with a 2/3 vote of the membership of both houses of the Legislature.
This bill would declare that its provisions further specified purposes and intent of the act.
Vote: MAJORITY2/3   Appropriation: NO   Fiscal Committee: NOYES   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) Fifty–four percent of California’s legal adult-use cannabis consumers utilize delivery as their only option for purchasing cannabis goods in the state.
(b) For medical users, delivery offers greater patient access to medical cannabis goods for those who are unable to travel to a retailer.
(c) The net impact of delivery reduces traffic given that drivers take multiple orders on each trip, reducing individual trips to retailers by consumers.
(d) The illicit market, subjecting Californians to untested cannabis goods, is found to be three times the size of the regulated markets according to a 2019 audit.
(e) Over 75 percent of illicit market retailers are delivery operations, thereby making it very difficult for local and state enforcement officers to track them down.
(f) The organized and established illicit market delivery operators are carrying cannabis goods inventory valued at over $25,000 in each unregulated vehicle to speed their deliveries, thus creating a major competitive disadvantage for the licensed operators that are subjected to the $3,000 to $5,000 inventory limitations on their regulated vehicles.
(g) While licensed delivery operators are limited to carrying a $5,000 value in excess of cannabis goods, distributors are not subject to a carrying limit.

SEC. 2.

 Section 26090.1 is added to the Business and Professions Code, to read:

26090.1.
 (a) On or before January 1, 2022, the regulations established by the bureau pursuant to Section 26070 regarding the minimum security and transportation safety requirements shall include regulations consistent with this section that would allow for different value tiers of cannabis goods to be carried during delivery of those cannabis goods to customers by employees of a licensed retailer based on the type of vehicle used for the delivery.
(b) The different value tiers shall be based on the following vehicle types and requirements:
(1) For bicycles, the maximum value of cannabis goods that can be carried during delivery of those cannabis goods to customers by an employee of a licensed retailer on each bicycle is five hundred dollars ($500) and all orders for those cannabis goods carried on the bicycle are to be made and processed by the licensed retailer prior to the delivery employee departing from the licensed premises.
(2) For motorcycles and scooters, the maximum value of cannabis goods that can be carried during delivery of those cannabis goods to customers by an employee of a licensed retailer on each motorcycle or scooter is nine hundred fifty dollars ($950) and all orders for those cannabis goods carried on the motorcycle or scooter are to be made and processed by the licensed retailer prior to the delivery employee departing from the licensed premises.
(3) For cars, the maximum value of cannabis goods that can be carried during delivery of those cannabis goods to customers by an employee of a licensed retailer in each car is twenty thousand dollars ($20,000). The value of cannabis goods carried in any car for which a delivery order was not received and processed by the licensed retailer prior to the delivery employee departing from the licensed premise may not exceed twelve thousand dollars ($12,000).
(4) For cargo vans, the maximum value of cannabis goods that can be carried during delivery of those cannabis goods to customers by an employee of a licensed retailer in each cargo van is fifty thousand dollars ($50,000). The value of cannabis goods carried in any cargo van for which a delivery order was not received and processed by the licensed retailer prior to the delivery employee departing from the licensed premise may not exceed thirty thousand dollars ($30,000).
(c) The value of the cannabis goods shall be determined using the current retail price of all cannabis goods carried by, or within the delivery vehicle of, the licensed retailer’s delivery employee.
(d) For purposes of this section, both of the following definitions shall apply:
(1) “Cannabis goods” means cannabis, cannabis products, or both.
(2) “Licensed retailer” means a licensee that has been issued a retail license pursuant to this division, including a retailer, microbusiness, or nonprofit.

SEC. 3.

 Section 26090.2 is added to the Business and Professions Code, to read:

26090.2.
 (a) On or before January 1, 2022, the bureau, in coordination with the Department of the California Highway Patrol, shall develop transportation safety standards for all the different value tiers of cannabis goods carried during delivery to customers by employees of a licensed retailer based on the type of vehicle used for the delivery, as specified in Section 26090.1, consistent with this section.
(b) The transportation safety standards shall include, but are not limited to, the following:
(1) Qualifications for persons eligible to operate vehicles, including, but not limited to, the following:
(A) Minimum age.
(B) Established employment with a licensed retailer.
(2) Security features required for each vehicle type, including, but not limited to, the following:
(A) Inventory security, such as lockboxes or compartments.
(B) Security video or surveillance requirements.
(C) Identity verification requirements for customer delivery.
(D) Global Positioning System (GPS) tracking.
(E) Identification requirements for vehicles that connect with a retailer’s license, such as ensuring drivers have information to provide law enforcement to show the vehicle is a delivery vehicle of a licensed retailer.
(c) The bureau shall develop a standardized inspection and certification process for each delivery vehicle of a licensed retailer based on the transportation safety standards developed pursuant to this section, including the form of the certifications, to be implemented on and after January 1, 2023.
(d) For purposes of this section, both of the following definitions shall apply:
(1) “Cannabis goods” means cannabis, cannabis products, or both.
(2) “Licensed retailer” means a licensee that has been issued a retail license pursuant to this division, including a retailer, microbusiness, or nonprofit.

SEC. 4.

 Section 26090.3 is added to the Business and Professions Code, to read:

26090.3.
 (a) A delivery employee of a licensed retailer shall only carry cannabis goods in the delivery vehicle and shall only perform deliveries for one licensed retailer at a time. A delivery employee of a licensed retailer shall depart and return to the same licensed premises before taking possession of any cannabis goods from another licensee to perform deliveries.
(b) For purposes of this section, both of the following definitions shall apply:
(1) “Cannabis goods” means cannabis, cannabis products, or both.
(2) “Licensed retailer” means a licensee that has been issued a retail license pursuant to this division, including a retailer, microbusiness, or nonprofit.

SEC. 5.

 The Legislature finds and declares that this act furthers the purposes and intent of the Control, Regulate and Tax Adult Use of Marijuana Act.
SECTION 1.

It is the intent of the Legislature to enact subsequent legislation related to a tiered delivery system for cannabis products.