Description
On November 16, 2017, California’s
Bureau of Cannabis Control, the Department of Public Health, and the
Department of Food and Agriculture released over 270 pages of emergency
regulations to implement licensing for the Medicinal and Adult-Use
Cannabis Regulation and Safety Act (“MAUCRSA”) with licensing to
commence on January 1, 2018.
Under MAUCRSA, cities and counties are free to
regulate or ban cannabis businesses. To receive temporary or annual
licenses to operate, cannabis license applicants must demonstrate to the
state of California that they have “local approval” from the city or
county in which they plan to operate. California has 482 cities and 58
counties and each one that has opted to regulate cannabis businesses
within its jurisdiction has taken a different tack. With the state
fast-moving towards licensing in January, cities and counties are
hard-pressed in deciding whether to regulate or ban MAUCRSA cannabis
businesses.
On December 14th from 12 to 1:15 pm Pacific Time, Brad Rowe of BOTEC Analysis, a drug and crime policy research and consulting firm, and
Hilary Bricken, a cannabis business and regulatory attorney in the Los
Angeles office of law firm Harris Bricken, will present a webinar on the
information, data, and legal and policy considerations local
governments need regarding MAUCRSA and their ability to regulate or ban
cannabis. Topics covered during the webinar include:
- How can municipalities balance cultivation, production, sales and use restrictions while staying eligible for funding under MAUCRSA?
- What can local governments expect from MAUCRSA funding long term? How and when does MAUCRSA money sunset, and who will be affected?
- What are realistic and lawful municipal cannabis tax policies? What groups would be affected and how?
- What might taxing by THC content look like? What groups would be affected and how?
- How can market measurements help localities model tax revenues and assist in locating dispensaries?
- What are the opportunities for communities that have enacted a ban and plan to reverse it down the road?
- How can cities leverage unionized cannabis workers (see LA) to create a credit union and a pool of money to support small and minority-owned business?
- What are current banking options for operators?
- What are the policy considerations of allowing only medicinal versus recreational and what have we learned from other states and local governments about this?
- How should municipalities value and reward existing operators without being overly protectionist?
- What are the mechanisms for municipalities to communicate effectively with each other and with the state in an environment of ever-changing regulations?
Brad and Hilary will address audience questions both during and at the end of the webinar.
Local governments are squarely in charge of who
gets to participate under MAUCRSA; they are on the front lines of
policing operators while balancing communal impact and concerns. As
such, don’t miss this webinar to better educate yourself on the range of
policy and tax choices and regulatory and legal oversight mechanisms
available to local governments under MAUCRSA.