According to new regulations, a marijuana delivery service may soon be able to operate all over the state of California, irrespective of county or city rules. Additionally, it looks as if those who receive marijuana on prescription will soon be able to purchase edibles with higher levels of cannabis than what is available under California law at present. At the same time, however, there are likely to be tighter regulations in terms of what can be said in cannabis product advertisements.
The Impact of Regulations on a Marijuana Delivery Service in California
State regulators have recently proposed to make permanent changes to the cannabis industry in California. At present “emergency” rules are in place but these now govern a multi-billion dollar industry and something more permanent clearly had to be put in place. This is the fourth time that the state has aimed to create regulations for the marijuana industry and it looks like they will succeed this time.
The first rules applied specifically to medical marijuana. However, in November 2016, Californians voted that recreational marijuana should be legal in the state, meaning the rules had to change. Emergency regulations were implemented in November 2017. Those were then changed again in May 2018. However, by December 2018, permanent rules should be in place.
Changing laws is a lengthy and complex process. People have to be consulted on and should be allowed to have a voice. This is all monitored by the state’s Bureau for Cannabis Control. Thankfully, the proposed permanent regulations are very similar to the current emergency ones, which means few changes will have to be made.
The impact on delivery services is that, according to the emergency regulations, delivery drivers would not be allowed on public roads. On paper, this meant that drivers would not be allowed to drive through certain towns. But in reality, it meant that they could drive through town, so long as they would stop somewhere as well. Under the proposed new regulations, delivery drivers will be allowed anywhere on the roads in the state.
Of course, the added complexity is that retail sales of cannabis continue to be mainly illegal. Hence, for many, changing the emergency law only makes it easier for people to access cannabis. According to the California Growers Association, however, this is a good thing. Meanwhile, the proposed new changes to packaging and advertising will mean that free products will no longer be available and that cannabis products cannot be marketed to children. The exception to this is proposed to be for medical marijuana patients, in as such that benefits for them can still be advertised.
Also, the levels of THC within edibles that are permitted are set to rise. However, the document does not add a 1-acre growing space cap for each farmer, which has angered many. They fear that this means small growers will not have a chance to compete.
The final changes that have been proposed are all about the regulatory and administrative environment. They want to ensure that labeling requirements and lab testing requirements are very easy to understand. This ensures compliance with the rules is easier than ever before.