Retail cannabis sales will begin on-time in California after regulators released an emergency rules package allowing operators a six-month transition period, and providing for grows much larger than the 1 acre proposed by the Department of Food & Agriculture. The rules prohibit combined cannabis and alcohol sales at shops, the word “candy” from being used in branding, and drones and bicycles from being used in customer deliveries.
Adults 21-and-older will be allowed to buy 28.5 grams of flower, eight grams of concentrate, and six immature plants per visit, while medical patients will be allowed eight ounces of flower or as much as recommended by their physician. Edibles can only contain 100 milligrams of THC per 10-serving package; while tinctures and lotions for the recreational market can contain up to 1,000 milligrams and medical tinctures and lotions can contain up to 2,000.
Priority licensing will be available to businesses that can prove they were in good standing with their municipality by Sept. 1, 2016, and the rules require businesses with more than 20 employees enter into labor peace agreements. The enhanced testing rules, which expand the scope of what laboratories are required to consider, take effect on Jan. 1.
Under the rules, canna-businesses must be 600 feet from a K-12 school, youth center, or daycare center, and window displays are not allowed if they contain cannabis imagery.
The rules were developed by the Department of Health, Department of Food & Agriculture and the Bureau of Cannabis Control.