LOS ANGELES — California endorsed a rule Jan. 16, 2019, that will allow home marijuana deliveries statewide, even into communities that have banned commercial cannabis sales.
The regulation by the state Bureau of Cannabis Control was opposed by police chiefs and other critics who predict it will create an unruly market of largely hidden marijuana transactions, while undercutting control by cities and counties.
Cannabis companies and consumers had pushed for the change, since vast stretches of California have banned commercial marijuana activity or not set up rules to allow legal sales. That means residents in those areas were effectively cut off from legal marijuana purchases, even though adult-use sales have been permitted for adults in California since Jan. 1, 2018.
“The public spoke loud and clear in favor of statewide delivery,” cannabis bureau spokesman Alex Traverso said in a statement.
The rule cleared by state lawyers sought to clarify what had been apparently conflicting law and regulations about where marijuana can be delivered in California.
Proposition 64, the law approved by voters in 2016 that opened the way for adult-use sales, said that local governments had the authority to ban nonmedical marijuana businesses. But state regulators pointed to the business and professions code, which said local governments “shall not prevent delivery of cannabis or cannabis products on public roads” by a licensed operator.
The cannabis bureau had said it was merely clarifying what had always been the case: A licensed cannabis delivery can be made to “any jurisdiction within the state.”
Pot Valet representatives tout their delivery service March 31, 2018, at the Four Twenty Games in Santa Monica. A California rule that clarifies marijuana deliveries are allowed in any community has upset local governments. The League of California Cities opposes the rule because the state would be undermining the local control of its members. (Associated Press file photo/Richard Vogel)
The League of California Cities had opposed the rule, arguing that it would gut local control, overriding local regulations or bans.
It’s likely the dispute will end up in court, or play out again in the Legislature.
Josh Drayton of the California Cannabis Industry Association said a patchwork of local rules in the state — some communities have embraced legal sales, while others have banned them — had created pot “deserts” where consumers were faced with long drives to find legal marijuana, edibles and other products.
The problem could be worse for the sick and frail who might not be able to leave their homes.
“At this point, you cannot stop regulated delivery services from entering a banned area to deliver to a consumer legally,” he said.
The rule was released as part of hundreds of pages of regulations governing the legal marketplace from growing to retail sales, which received final approval Jan. 16, 2019. The state market had been operating under temporary rules.
— Michael Blood
