This is the 2021 Cannabis Bills section of our ongoing update on California Cannabis Legislation – see the full California Cannabis Law Legislative Update which includes information on cannabis bills from other years. This 2021 section was last updated on 1/4/2022.
California Cannabis Bills Introduced in the California Legislature in 2021
These are the significant cannabis bills proposed in the California Legislature in 2021. This page provides highlights of the cannabis bills as well as an index of all cannabis bills proposed. Each bill contains a link to a page that provides an explanation of existing law and what that bill would do. Each of those pages contains a link to the official California Legislative Information website page for that bill where readers can get more info on the bill including the actual text, votes, history, bill analysis, status, and more.
September 10, was the last day for any bill to be passed in 2021. October 10, 2021, was the last day for the Governor to sign or veto bills.
Highlights of the 2021 California Cannabis Law Legislative Update
In 2021, lawmakers proposed about 30 new cannabis laws addressing a range of topics including state licensing authority consolidation, cannabis billboard advertising, cannabis testing, pets, delivery, unlicensed activity, employment discrimination, provisional licenses, CEQA, hemp, terminally ill patients, local licensing, possession of psychedelics (psilocybin, DMT, LSD, MDMA), and administrative fines.
AB 45 and SB 235 state that a dietary supplement, food, beverage, cosmetic, or pet food is not adulterated by the inclusion of industrial hemp or cannabinoids, extracts, or derivatives from industrial hemp if those substances meet specified requirements, and would prohibit restrictions on the sale of those items. (AB 45 passed and has been signed by the Governor.)
The California Legislature passed a state budget June 14 (AB 128) that was a placeholder to satisfy a constitutional deadline and enabled lawmakers to keep getting paid. On July 1, 2021, the California Legislature passed a budget trailer bill (AB 141) which, among other things, consolidated the three state licensing authorities into a single California Department of Cannabis Control, and modified numerous provisions of California cannabis law ranging from provisional licenses to testing to trade samples. On July 15, 2021, the California Legislature passed another budget trailer bill (SB 160) which makes various modifications to AB 141. The Governor has signed all of these bills which are now in effect.
The California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) will retain the Cannabis Appellations Program. The OCal Program, which will establish standards for cannabis comparable to the National Organic Program, will also be retained within CDFA.
AB 273 would remove the existing reference to advertising or marketing on a billboard or similar device visible from an interstate highway or on a state highway within California and require that all outdoor signs, including billboards, meet specified requirements such as not displaying things like animals, cannabis plants, leaves, food, beverages, smoking, and vaporizing, among others. AB 1302 would prohibit such advertising within a 15-mile radius of the California border on an Interstate Highway or on a State Highway which crosses the California border. These bills are in response to a California court determination that BCC Regulations § 5040(b)(3) regarding cannabis billboard advertising is invalid in that it is inconsistent with the statute that the regulation was intended to implement. In other words, the statute’s cannabis billboard prohibition on Interstate Highways or on State Highways which cross the California border is not limited to just a 15-mile radius of the California border. (AB 1302 passed but was vetoed by the Governor who stated that it would weaken the protections passed in Proposition 64 to shield youth from exposure to cannabis and cannabis advertising.)
AB 287 would impose a 3 year statute of limitations on civil actions for penalties related to unlicensed commercial cannabis activity. (AB 287 passed and was signed by the Governor.)
AB 290 would specify that cannabis or cannabis product does not have to be delivered to the licensed testing laboratory in the final retail packaging.
AB 384 would prohibit the Veterinary Medical Board from disciplining a veterinarian licensed under the act who recommends the use of cannabis on an animal for potential therapeutic effect or health supplementation purposes (unless the veterinarian is employed by or has an agreement with a cannabis licensee which is still prohibited).
AB 1014 would require, on or before January 1, 2023, 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.
AB 1034 would authorize a local jurisdiction to allow for the preparation or sale of noncannabis food or beverage products, as specified, by a licensed retailer or microbusiness in the area where the consumption of cannabis is allowed if certain conditions are met.
AB 1138 would impose a civil penalty on persons aiding and abetting unlicensed commercial cannabis activity of up to $30,000 for each violation. The bill would prohibit filing an action for civil penalties brought against a person pursuant to MAUCRSA 3 years after the first date of discovery of the violation by a licensing authority or a participating agency, whichever is earlier. (AB 1138 passed and was signed by the Governor.)
AB 1222 would authorize cannabis beverages to be packaged in glass containers that are clear or any color. (AB 1222 passed and was signed by the Governor.)
AB 1256 would prohibit (with some exemptions) an employer from discriminating against a person in hiring, termination, or any term or condition of employment because a drug screening test has found the person to have nonpsychoactive cannabis metabolites in their urine, hair, or bodily fluids.
AB 1305 This bill would exempt from MAUCRSA activity performed pursuant to a DEA registration authorizing the cultivation and distribution of cannabis for research purposes. (AB 1305 passed and was signed by the Governor.)
AB 1435 would impose testing and labeling requirements on products that are, or contain, one or more psychoactive or nonpsychoactive cannabinoids that are derived from a plant that is not cannabis, referred to as noncannabis cannabinoids or NCCs
SB 59 would prohibit a licensing authority from issuing a new provisional license to an applicant on or after July 1, 2022, unless the applicant is a qualified equity applicant, and would extend the repeal date of provisional licenses to July 1, 2028. The original version of this bill also had an extension of the local cannabis ordinance CEQA exemption set to expire July 1, 2021, but that language has been deleted from the current bill version.
SB 73 would delete past convictions for possessing or transporting cannabis from those prohibitions against granting probation or a suspended sentence. (SB 73 passed and was signed by the Governor.)
SB 166 would would require the Department of Cannabis Control, on or before January 1, 2022, to develop and implement a program to provide waivers for application fees, licensing fees, and renewal fees required by MAUCRSA. The bill would further require the department, on or before January 1, 2023, to develop and implement a program to provide deferrals of such fees. (SB 166 passed and was signed by the Governor.)
SB 292 would require, among other things: (i) hemp sampling to occur within a timeframe determined by the Department of Food and Agriculture; (ii) a registrant to destroy or dispose of the industrial hemp grown upon receipt of a laboratory test result indicating excessive THC; (iii) that laboratory test reports of hemp include the measurement of uncertainty. (SB 292 passed and was signed by the Governor.)
SB 311 would require specified types of health care facilities to allow a terminally ill patient’s use of medicinal cannabis within the health care facility, subject to certain restrictions. (SB 311 passed and was signed by the Governor. )
SB 398 would authorize a local jurisdiction to enter into a cannabis licensing agreement with the Bureau of Cannabis Control to require the bureau to administer local commercial cannabis licensing, permitting, or other regulatory activities on behalf of the local jurisdiction.
SB 519 would make lawful the possession, obtaining, giving away, or transportation of, specified quantities of psilocybin, psilocyn, dimethyltryptamine (DMT), ibogaine, mescaline, lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD), and 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA), by and with persons 21 years of age or older.
SB 544 would require the bureau, on or before January 1, 2023, to establish a standardized cannabinoids test method to be used by all testing laboratories. (SB 544 passed and was signed by the Governor.)
SB 603 would require a state cannabis licensing authority to develop and implement a program to provide a deferral or waiver for an application fee, a licensing fee, or a renewal fee for a needs-based applicant or needs-based licensee upon an appropriation to do so. It would allow a tax credit for state and local cannabis licensing fees paid by a local equity applicant or a local equity licensee.
SB 758 would decrease the amount of administrative fines by licensees from $5,000 to $4,000.
Index of All California Cannabis Bills
AB 45 (Aguiar-Curry D) Industrial hemp products; AB 109 (Cooper D) Medicinal and Adult-Use Cannabis Regulation and Safety Act; AB 128 Budget Act of 2021; AB 141 Budget Act of 2021: Department of Cannabis Control: licensure: safety and quality assurance; AB 214 Budget Act of 2021; AB 273 (Irwin D) Cannabis: advertisements: highways; AB 287 (Quirk D) Civil actions: statute of limitations; AB 290 (Quirk D) Cannabis testing; AB 318 (Levine D) Hazardous waste: classification: cannabis waste; AB 384 (Kalra D) Cannabis and cannabis products: animals: veterinary medicine; AB 527 (Wood D) Controlled substances: cannabinoids; AB 725 (Ward D) Cannabis tax: penalty; AB 828 (Cooper D) Cannabis excise tax: remittance and collection; AB 997 (Bonta D) Cannabis: criminal resentencing; AB 1014 (McCarty D) Cannabis: retailers: delivery: vehicles; AB 1034 (Bloom D) Cannabis: retail preparation, sale, or consumption of noncannabis food and beverage products; AB 1138 (Rubio, Blanca D) Unlawful cannabis activity: enforcement; AB 1222 (Chen R) Cannabis packaging: beverages; AB 1256 (Quirk D) Employment discrimination: cannabis screening test; AB 1302 (Quirk D) Commercial cannabis billboards: placement restrictions; AB 1305 (Lackey R) The Medicinal and Adult-Use Cannabis Regulation and Safety Act: exemptions; AB 1435 (Carrillo D) Noncannabis cannabinoids; AB 1514 (O’Donnell D) Cannabis transportation and delivery; AB 1525 (Garcia, Cristina D) Cannabis provisional licenses; SB 59 (Caballero D) Cannabis licenses; SB 73 (Wiener D) Probation: eligibility: crimes relating to controlled substances; SB 112 Budget Act of 2021; SB 160 Department of Cannabis Control: Licensure: Appellations of Origin: Trade Samples; SB 166 Department of Cannabis Control: licensure: fee waivers and deferrals; SB 235 (Allen D) Industrial hemp products; SB 292 (Wilk R) Industrial hemp; SB 311 (Hueso D) Compassionate Access to Medical Cannabis Act or Ryan’s Law; SB 398 (Skinner D) Cannabis licenses: cannabis licensing agreements: labor peace agreement license requirement: medical marijuana identification cards; SB 519 (Wiener D) Controlled substances: decriminalization of certain hallucinogenic substances; SB 544 (Laird D) Cannabis testing; SB 603 (Bradford D) Cannabis license deferral and waiver fee program: tax credit; SB 758 (Bradford D) Cannabis; SB 824 California Department of Tax and Fee Administration.
Read more about California Cannabis Legislation – see the full California Cannabis Law Legislative Update.
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