Responding to Humboldt County Nuisance and Abatement Actions

Humboldt County Code Enforcement Unit is currently sending notices of violation and proposed administrative civil penalty notices to landowners based upon satellite imaging.  The notices order the recipients to correct or otherwise remedy the violation within 10 calendar days or risk fines of $10,000 per day.  If you receive one of these notices please immediately contact an attorney to preserve … Read More

Adult Use or Medical? How About Both.

This last week saw the issuance of a number of interim permits that now allow local cultivators to apply for an interim cultivation licenses through the California Department of Food and Agriculture. As part of the interim license permit, the application requests that you choose which market you would like to serve, either adult use or medical. While the decision to … Read More

What’s Mixed Light? The Apparent Conflict Between CDFA’s Regs and he Humboldt County Cannabis Ordinance

What is mixed light cultivation? Apparently, the California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) and the Humboldt County Medical Marijuana Land Use Ordinance (CMMLUO) can’t even agree on a uniform definition. The conflicting definition of mixed light arises in how the CDFA regulations included “light deprivation” within the definition of “mixed light,” whereas the CMMLOU does not include “light deprivation’ … Read More

Discrepancies in State Cannabis Regulations and Local Regulations.

Humboldt County’s Commercial Medical Marijuana Land Use Ordinance (CMMLUO) has been in existence for almost two years. The California Department of Food and Agriculture’s (CDFA)  Emergency Regulations concerning cannabis cultivation have been out for almost a month. Already, the two are at odds. The issue stems from how the County defines “mixed light” cultivation versus the State’s definition of the same … Read More

What is a “Distributor” Under the California Medical and Adult Use Regulation and Safety Act?

The governor of California’s trailer bill known as Senate Bill 94 passed, which married the Medical Cannabis Regulation and Safety Act (MCRSA) and the Adult Use of Marijuana Act (AUMA). The regulations under the MCRSA have been scrapped and state regulators are furiously trying to draft emergency regulations for the cannabis industry. State licensing is fast approaching, with regulators informing … Read More

California Cannabis Unions

The passage of California’s Senate Bill 643 established a comprehensive licensing and regulatory framework for the cultivation, manufacture, transportation, storage, distribution, and sale of medical cannabis.  The new law provides that all state commercial cannabis applicants or licensees with 20 employees or more (not counting some management) must operate under a Labor Peace Agreement (“LPA”).  This requirement includes all types … Read More

State Withdraws MCRSA Regulations

As a result of the passage of the Medicinal and Adult Use Cannabis Regulation and Safety Act, signed into law by Governor Jerry Brown on June 27, 2017, the Department of Consumer Affairs’ Bureau of Cannabis Control, Department of Public Health, and Department of Food and Agriculture withdrew the proposed regulations developed under the prior Adult Use of Marijuana Act … Read More

Recommending Medical Cannabis in California

The Compassionate Use Act of 1996 provided seriously ill Californians with the right to obtain and use cannabis for medical purposes when it has been recommended, under certain circumstances, by a physician who is the patient’s attending physician.  The recent passage of California’s Senate Bill 643 established a more comprehensive licensing and regulatory framework for the cultivation, manufacture, transportation, storage, … Read More

Humboldt County Commercial Medical Cannabis Ordinance 2.0 is Coming!

For those of you who missed the boat on applying for a permit for new or existing cultivation last December, you may be getting another chance. In April, Humboldt County released a document titled, “Proposed Ordinance Policy Areas and Discussion Items” (“Policy Areas”) for a planned update to the Humboldt County Commercial Medical Marijuana Land Use Ordinance (“CMMLUO”), that will … Read More

Local Permitting Requirement Change to State Cannabis License Law

Yesterday, June 27, Governor Jerry Brown signed into law Senate Bill No. 94. Senate Bill No. 94 amends the Medical Cannabis Regulation and Safety Act and the Adult Use Cannabis Act (MCRSA) to create a single regulatory framework for both medical and recreational cannabis. The bill amends MCRSA significantly by repealing the vertical integration requirements under MCRSA, amends the tax structure … Read More