California

At a glance

Medical Marijuana Program: Yes
Adult Use / Recreational MMJ: Yes
Pediatric: Yes
Home grow: Yes
Possession limit: Adult use – If you are 21 or older you can buy and possess up to one ounce (28.5 grams) of cannabis and up to eight grams of concentrated cannabis.
Medical – You can possess up to eight ounces of dried cannabis and up to six mature or 12 immature cannabis plants, unless the physician’s recommendation specifies a higher amount
Reciprocity: No
Legislation: Proposition 64 – Adult Use – 201, Ballot Proposition 215 – Medical – 1996
Estimated # of registered patient: 1,078,795
Types of cannabis permitted for use: All

Legalization & Important Dates

• November 05, 1996, California voters approved Ballot Proposition 215 (effective November 06), removing state-level criminal penalties on the use, possession and cultivation of marijuana by patients possessing either a “written or oral recommendation” from their physician
• January 01, 2004, Senate Bill 420, was amended, imposing statewide guidelines on how much a medical marijuana patient may cultivate or possess
• Medical – California was the first state to legalize medical marijuana in 1996 but fell short on providing consistently safe regulations for medical marijuana related businesses. On October 9, 2015, Gov. Jerry Brown signed 3 bills, AB 266, AB 243, and SB 643, that collectively establish a statewide regulatory system for medical marijuana businesses which includes dispensing, transportation, cultivation, processing, and testing.
• November 2016 Ballot – Proposition 64 – Adult use – would legalize marijuana for people 21 years of age and older.

Types of Licenses

Licenses for CA adult use program will not be available until later this year
• Type 1 = Cultivation; Specialty outdoor; Small.
• Type 1A = Cultivation; Specialty indoor; Small.
• Type 1B = Cultivation; Specialty mixed-light; Small.
• Type 2 = Cultivation; Outdoor; Small.
• Type 2A = Cultivation; Indoor; Small.
• Type 2B = Cultivation; Mixed-light; Small.
• Type 3 = Cultivation; Outdoor; Medium.
• Type 3A = Cultivation; Indoor; Medium.
• Type 3B = Cultivation; Mixed-light; Medium.
• Type 4 = Cultivation; Nursery.
• Type 6 = Manufacturer 1.
• Type 7 = Manufacturer 2.
• Type 8 = Testing.
• Type 10 = Dispensary; General.
• Type 10A = Dispensary; No more than three retail sites.
• Type 11 = Distribution.
• Type 12 = Transporter.
• A licensee may only hold a state license in up to two separate license categories.
• M-license: An M-license is required to manufacture cannabis products for sale in the medicinal-use market.
• A-license: An A-license is required in order to manufacture cannabis products for sale in the adult-use market.

Grower/Cultivator:
• License – medical marijuana plants from seed or clone, to flower and finish. Growers wishing to provide clones, but who do not intend to flower or finish plants, may apply for a specialty nursery license.

• To apply to grow cannabis in California, you will need to select a license based on your grow size and lighting source:

Tier 1: Specialty
• License 1: Specialty Outdoor. Up to 5,000 sq ft of canopy OR up to 50 mature plants on non-contiguous plots.
• License 1A: Specialty Indoor. Up to 5,000 sq ft using exclusively artificial lighting.

• License 1B: Specialty Mixed-Light. Up to 5,000 sq ft using a combination of natural and supplemental artificial lighting


Tier 2: Small
• License 2: Small Outdoor. Between 5,001 and 10,000 sq ft of canopy.
• License 2A: Small Indoor. Between 5,001 and 10,000 sq ft of canopy using exclusively artificial lighting.
• License 2B: Small Mixed-Light. Between 5,001 and 10,000 sq ft of canopy using a combination of natural and supplemental artificial lighting.

Tier 3: These licenses are limited in their access to vertical integration.
• License 3: Outdoor. Between 10,001 sq ft to one acre of canopy.
• License 3A: Indoor. Between 10,001 sq ft to one acre of canopy using exclusively artificial lighting.
• License 3B: Mixed Light. Between 10,001 sq ft to one acre of canopy using a combination of natural and supplemental artificial lighting.

•License 4: Nursery.

•License 5: Processor.
This license allows business entities to process raw medical marijuana plant matter into a variety of medicinal products.
Processor licenses are sub-divided into two categories based on the types of solvent being used.

• License 6: Manufacturer 1. Not using volatile solvents.
• Legislators have stated License 6 was not intended for use by edibles manufacturers. This may be subject to cleanup language.
• License 7: Manufacturer 2. Using volatile solvents.

Additional license types currently in the law include:

Tester: Laboratories intending to test medical marijuana products for quality and potency will be required to apply for a tester license
• License 8


Dispensing: Businesses that intend to retail medical cannabis to qualifying patients will require a dispensing license
• License 10: one retail location

• License 10A: up to three retail locations and the potential for full vertical integration


Distributer: MMRSA requires that—while business agreements can be made directly between any licensed entities—a third-party distributor be responsible for overseeing and officially conducting any business transaction that occurs. Distributors are required track all products received, and to have them tested for quality.
• License 11: All distributors must also apply for a Transporter License (12).
• From the legislative perspective, the inclusion of the “distributor” model was a necessary compromise to address the trust deficit with people who do not believe the cannabis industry is effectively and consistently self-regulating.


Transporter: Business intending to transport medical marijuana from one licensed facility to another.
• License 12

Cultivation License Types.
License types include:
1. Specialty Cottage:
a. “Specialty Cottage Outdoor” is an outdoor cultivation site with up to 25 mature plants.
b. “Specialty Cottage Indoor” is an indoor cultivation site with 500 square feet or less of total canopy.
c. “Specialty Cottage Mixed-Light Tier 1 and 2” is a mixed-light cultivation site with 2,500 square feet or less of total canopy.
2. Specialty:
a. “Specialty Outdoor” is an outdoor cultivation site with less than or equal to 5,000 square feet of total canopy, or up to 50 mature plants on noncontiguous plots.
b. “Specialty Indoor” is an indoor cultivation site between 501 and 5,000 square feet of total canopy.
c. “Specialty Mixed-Light Tier 1 and 2” is a mixed-light cultivation site between 2,501 and 5,000 square feet of total canopy.
3. Small:
a. “Small Outdoor” is an outdoor cultivation site between 5,001 and 10,000 square feet of total canopy.
b. “Small Indoor” is an indoor cultivation site between 5,001 and 10,000 square feet of total canopy.
c. “Small Mixed-Light Tier 1 and 2” is a mixed-light cultivation site between 5,001 and 10,000 square feet of total canopy.
4. Medium:
a. “Medium Outdoor” is an outdoor cultivation site between 10,001 square feet and one acre of total canopy.
b. “Medium Indoor” is an indoor cultivation site between 10,001 and 22,000 square feet of total canopy.
c. “Medium Mixed-Light Tier 1 and 2” is a mixed-light cultivation site between 10,001 and 22,000 square feet of total canopy.
5. “Nursery” is a cultivation site that conducts the cultivation of cannabis solely as a nursery.
“Processor” is a cultivation site that conducts only trimming, drying, curing, grading, packaging, or labeling of cannabis and non manufactured cannabis products.

Associated Fees

Cultivation Application fees
• Specialty Cottage Outdoor $135
• Specialty Cottage Indoor $205
• Specialty Cottage Mixed-Light Tier 1 $340
• Specialty Cottage Mixed-Light Tier 2 $580
• Specialty Outdoor $270
• Specialty Indoor $2,170
• Specialty Mixed-Light Tier 1 $655
• Specialty Mixed-Light Tier 2 $1,125
• Small Outdoor $535
• Small Indoor $3,935
• Small Mixed-Light Tier 1 $1,310
• Small Mixed-Light Tier 2 $2,250
• Medium Outdoor $1,555
• Medium Indoor $8,655
• Medium Mixed-Light Tier 1 $2,885
• Medium Mixed-Light Tier 2 $4,945
• Nursery $520
• Processor $1,040

Cultivation annual fees
• Specialty Cottage Outdoor $1,205
• Specialty Cottage Indoor $1,830
• Specialty Cottage Mixed-Light Tier 1 $3,035
• Specialty Cottage Mixed-Light Tier 2 $5,200
• Specialty Outdoor $2,410
• Specialty Indoor $19,540
• Specialty Mixed-Light Tier 1 $5,900
• Specialty Mixed-Light Tier 2 $10,120
• Small Outdoor $4,820
• Small Indoor $35,410
• Small Mixed-Light Tier 1 $11,800
• Small Mixed-Light Tier 2 $20,235
• Medium Outdoor $13,990
• Medium Indoor $77,905
• Medium Mixed-Light Tier 1 $25,970
• Medium Mixed-Light Tier 2 $44,517
• Nursery $4,685
• Processor $9,370

Manufacturer application fees
Annual license fees shall apply to all manufacturer applicants and licensees, as follows:
(a) A nonrefundable application-processing fee of $1,000 for each new application submitted.

• Tier 1 Up to $100,000 $2,000
• Tier 2 $100,001 – $500,000 $7,500
• Tier 3 $500,001 – $1,500,000 $15,000
• Tier 4 $1,500,001 – $3,000,000 $25,000
• Tier 5 $3,000,001 – $5,000,000 $35,000
• Tier 6 $5,000,001 – $10,000,000 $50,000
• Tier 7 $10,000,001 and above $75,000

Qualifying Conditions

• Anxiety
• Arthritis
• Cancer
• Chemotherapy Side Effects
• Chronic Pain
• Fibromyalgia
• Glaucoma
• HIV-AIDS
• Migraine Headaches
• Multiple Sclerosis
• Radiation Therapy Side Effects
• And, any other chronic or persistent medical symptom that substantially limits the ability of the person to conduct one or more major life activities (as defined by the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990) or, if not alleviated, may cause serious harm to the patient’s safety or physical or mental health

How to Become A Medical Marijuana Patient

1. Patients are advised to obtain legitimate medical records or documentation from their primary care physician describing the diagnosis of their qualifying condition
2. To qualify, a California patient needs to be diagnosed by a physician as having one of the medical conditions that is identified by the law:
3. Patients are required to obtain a signed Physician’s Statement from a physician, currently licensed to practice medicine in California
4. Once a patient has obtained a written certification from a physician licensed in the state of California, patients are required to register with the California Department of Public Health, Public Health Policy and Research Branch, Medical Marijuana Program Unit.
5. To register, complete the Application/Renewal Form CDPH 9042
6. Submit the application form to your country health department (addresses listed below), along with the following
a. A government-issued photo identification card
b. Proof of county residence, such as a rent/mortgage receipt, utility bill, or motor vehicle registration
c. Written documentation from your doctor recommending the use of medical marijuana
d. Application fee (varies by county – see below)
7. Upon registration, patients will receive a medical marijuana I.D. card.

Caregivers

Yes, primary caregiver is the individual, designated by a qualified patient or by a person with an identification card, who has consistently assumed responsibility for the housing, health, or safety of that patient or person. The caregiver must be 18 years of age or older (unless the primary caregiver is the parent of a minor child who is a qualified patient or a person with an identification card).