The 4-1-1 on California Cannabis Events.

We’re a couple of weeks into summer and in California that means county fair time! In populous counties, county fairs can include extravagant firework shows and platinum selling musicians coming into town. In smaller counties, a tractor-trailer show may be the biggest event. Regardless of their size, all county fairs have at least two things in common: 1) They are open to the public (entry fees do vary); and 2) Vendors sell their products to, and connect with, the consumer. In California, cannabis events are hoping to tap into the Golden State’s love of county fairs and our California cannabis attorneys are seeing an increase in the number of businesses looking to expand their reach into cannabis events.

California’s Bureau of Cannabis Control (“BCC”) regulates and licenses temporary cannabis events. Under the BCC’s readopted emergency regulations (permanent regulations were recently proposed, which we covered here), obtaining a cannabis event is a two-part process in California. Before you can host a cannabis event, you first have to secure a cannabis event organizer license. Obtaining an organizer’s license is no easy feat, as applicants face the same daunting application requirements that cannabis retailers, delivery-only retailers, distributors, and testing laboratories face. These requirements require they provide the following:

• A list of funds belonging to the applicant’s cannabis event organizing business held in savings, checking, or other accounts maintained by a financial institution;
• A list of loans made to the applicant for its use in cannabis event organizing activities;
• A list of investments made into the applicant’s cannabis event organizing activities;
• A list of all gifts of any kind given to the applicant for its use in cannabis event organizing activities;
• A complete list of every individual with a financial interest in the cannabis event organizing business; and
• A complete list of every owner.

Once you’ve submitted all of the required BCC’s cannabis organizer application information you cannot pass go, nor do you get to collect two hundred dollars. Au contraire, you must submit a non-refundable annual license fee. This fee is five thousand dollars ($5,000) for an organizer planning one to ten events and fifteen thousand dollars ($15,000) for organizing more than ten events in a year.

Assuming you’ve cleared the BCC’s regulatory hurdles and secured your organizer’s license, you can now move forward with your application for a temporary cannabis event. We previously covered the regulations for temporary cannabis events here, but they are worth revisiting since the BCC has released their new proposed regulations.

• A temporary cannabis event license shall only be issued for a single day or up to 4 consecutive days.
• Onsite consumption is allowed if authorized by the local jurisdiction.
• Any compensation paid from a retailer to a cannabis event organizer for participation in a temporary cannabis event shall not be determined, based on, or be contingent on, the sale of cannabis goods.
• Cannabis goods being stored by a licensee at a temporary cannabis event shall not be accessible to the public and shall not be left unattended. Licensees may share the secure, locked container; however, each licensee using the container shall be held responsible for any violations of this section and subject to disciplinary action.
• A temporary cannabis event may only be held on the grounds of a county fair or district agricultural association. This is holdover from the previous regulations but we are seeing progress at the state level with Assembly Bill 2020 (which we covered here) to amend the Medicinal and Adult-Use Cannabis Regulation and Safety Act (“MAUCRSA”) so that all local jurisdictions can host temporary events in authorized locations.
• Each sale at a temporary cannabis event shall be performed only by a retailer or microbusiness authorized to sell cannabis to retail customers. This is another holdover from the previous set of regulations, but just like with AB 2020, we are seeing state legislators push for change. Assembly Bill 2641 (covered here) would authorize licensed cultivators and manufacturers to sell their cannabis and cannabis products directly to the public at temporary cannabis events.

As of this writing, the BCC has issued approximately forty-three (43) cannabis event organizer licenses so we can expect to see new and exciting cannabis events this summer and throughout the year. Assembly Bills 2020 and 2641 are next up for hearings in front of the Senate Appropriations Committee on August 6^th and we expect the Committee will vote to expand the number of cannabis businesses and locations that can participate in cannabis events. Until then, enjoy your summer and your county fair!