MMJ: New Rules, New Nonsense

I hear the Bureau of Cannabis Control is working on some new guidelines and regulations. What do you think? -Biz Spar-Kee

The new proposal came out last week and for some reason, the BCC decided on a 15-day comment period, as opposed to the usual 45-day period, so the cannabis industry has been scrambling to make sense of this proposal.

The new rules can be summed up thusly: convoluted. The packaging rules are still ridiculous and hard to follow, but the biggest seed in the doobie is the new proposal that would requireeveryone involved in the industry to have a license of some sort. This applies to websites, celebrities who want to license their name to products (hello, Willie Nelson and the Marley Brothers), and folks who run “white label” cannabis manufacturing businesses. Folks are very upset. Chelsea Dudgeon, CEO of Newell’s Botanicals (named as November’s “startup of the month” by Comstock’s business magazine) says if these new rules are adopted, it “will significantly impact not just unlicensed IP holders, but also dozens of manufacturing facilities that have made white labeling services their business model. It will significantly impact the marketplace, product availability and tax revenue.”

Hezekiah Allen, executive director of the California Growers Association, says, “For businesses and brands trying to stay alive in ban counties, this one is going to hurt. A lot of the farms and brands that consumers know and love are threatened, and the shelves might be even less diverse than they are now if these rules go into effect.” Cannabis lawyer and activist Omar Figueroa tells me, “The cannabis industry is alarmed by these unanticipated obstacles proposed at the last second and that these sorts of major changes should have a 45-day comment period.” He anticipates major pushback from the industry, and describes the chances of this proposal passing as written as “iffy.”

I’m not sure why it’s so hard for the BCC to make it easy for people to open and run cannabis businesses. Sigh.

What are you smoking on? - Anita Hitson

I am polishing off last year’s Purple Candy Cane, and I just finished my stash of Jaeger from Oregon. So good. I am looking forward to visiting a few farms next week as harvest season gets into full swing. Expect a full report soon.