SACRAMENTO, Calif., Feb. 13, 2024 – PRESS RELEASE – The Cannabis Policy Lab, a public policy think tank working with community partners across California, issued a report outlining potential changes to improve access to California’s regulated cannabis market by simplifying licensing, making more state resources available to small and equity cannabis businesses, and prioritizing licensure for equity cannabis businesses.
The report, California Cannabis Report: Licensing and Market Access, was created with input from dozens of cannabis businesses, academics, local and state officials, cannabis regulators, and others.
“California is one of the most important cannabis markets in the world, but it’s also one of the most challenging regulatory environments,” said Christina Dempsey, founder of the Cannabis Policy Lab. “The state’s cannabis laws were designed during a different era, when avoiding federal intervention was a top priority, and we had little evidence about how to regulate effectively—but the times have changed.”
Dempsey said that as the federal government looks to reschedule cannabis and California regulators have a better understanding of which parts of the system are working and which ones are failing cannabis businesses and consumers, it’s time to pursue comprehensive improvement.
“When the underlying framework itself is complex, even solutions can create more problems,” Dempsey said. “These proposals address the very challenges in the regulatory framework that make it harder for businesses to become licensed and for governments to provide effective oversight.”
The Cannabis Policy Lab (CPL) has spent the last several months engaging with a diverse group of stakeholders to understand their challenges and explore suggestions for reform where there is broad consensus. Both these conversations and Dempsey’s nearly six years’ experience as a cannabis regulator for the State of California informed the findings in the report.
Broadly, the recommendations outlined in the Licensing and Market Access report would:
- Simplify the licensing process so licenses are issued by location, rather than for each specific activity performed, ending the need for multiple licenses to be issued to a single location and getting more cannabis businesses into the regulated market;
- Clarify the roles of local jurisdictions and state regulators to reduce duplication;
- Prioritize licensing for cannabis equity businesses; and
- Broaden access to state small business programs, providing small and equity cannabis businesses with access to technical assistance and capital.
This is the first report issued by the CPL, which was founded to improve public policy around cannabis legalization. The report was produced pro bono.
Another report, California Cannabis Report: Improving Oversight of Hemp Products, will be released in early March. Both reports directly address emerging regulatory trends while considering what would be most effective in California.
California was the first state in the country to legalize medical cannabis use in 1996, paving the path for a robust market. Created by individuals who believed in the healing properties of the plant, the medical cannabis market grew quickly with little state oversight.
In November 2016, California voters overwhelmingly approved adult-use cannabis, following states like Washington and Colorado during a wave of cannabis-related ballot measures in the 2010s. With federal intervention a looming threat, many states, including California, set up highly restrictive regulations. But unlike other states, California had a robust existing legal medical market, and the implementation of Proposition 64 created a new set of sprawling and burdensome regulations overnight.
Entering the regulated cannabis market in California can be difficult, with steep licensing fees, a confusing array of local and state requirements, and license-specific rules that often require expert understanding of land-use, environmental regulations, labeling requirements, and more.
Created by a former state regulator, CPL is a nonpartisan, public policy think tank that educates government leaders and the public on drug legalization through evidence-based analysis, policy recommendations, and consultation. With a rapidly shifting national cannabis landscape, changing attitudes, and federal rescheduling of cannabis on the horizon, the organization provides clear information and common-sense expertise backed by years of on-the-ground experience in one of the most complex regulatory environments in the country.
Dempsey is a former state cannabis regulator who most recently served as the Deputy Director of Policy and Research for the California Department of Cannabis Control.
Learn more about the Cannabis Policy Lab.
