California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) has vetoed a bill to allow small marijuana growers to sell their products directly to consumers at state-organized farmers markets.
Ahead of a Monday deadline to act on legislation, the governor blocked final approval of the measure from Assemblymember Gail Pellerin (D), saying that while he appreciates “the author’s intent to support small and equity cannabis cultivators,” he is “concerned that the bill’s broad eligibility, which extends to the vast majority of licensed cultivators, would undermine the existing retail licensing framework and place significant strain on the Department of Cannabis Control’s ability to regulate and enforce compliance.”
“I remain open to considering a more flexible and narrowly focused version of this bill next year that can better respond to market dynamics, without imposing a rigid monitoring and compliance framework,” Newsom wrote in a veto message. “Such policies must be considered within the broader context of efforts that are necessary to address the fundamental issues straining the legal cannabis market, such as competition from unregulated sources and improving access to regulated products.
“It is essential that we prioritize solutions that strengthen, rather than further burden, the existing regulated market,” he said.
While the governor supports cannabis legalization, he’s been notably reserved about various drug policy proposals in recent years, for example vetoing legislation to legalize psychedelics and allow safe consumption sites for illegal drugs.
Newsom has yet to act on a separate bill to legalize cannabis cafes from Assemblymember Matt Haney (D).
Newsom vetoed a prior version of Haney’s cannabis cafe bill, saying that while he appreciated that the intent was to “provide cannabis retailers with increased business opportunities and an avenue to attract new customers,” he felt “concerned this bill could undermine California’s long-standing smoke-free workplace protections.”
To that end, the measure as passed by the legislature contains changes to create separation between public consumption spaces and back rooms of businesses where food is prepared or stored in order to better protection the health of workers in line with the governor’s concerns.
Meanwhile, the Origins Council and several other cannabis trade associations sent a letter to Newsom late last month, encouraging him to sign the farmers market that that would have authorized regulators to issue “a state temporary event license to a licensee authorizing onsite cannabis sales to, and consumption by, persons 21 years of age or older at certain venues expressly approved by a local jurisdiction, as specified.”
Applicants wishing to obtain the state temporary events license would also have needed to meet the definition of a small marijuana producer. That means they could not be cultivating more than one acre of cannabis, 22,000 square feet under a mixed-light tier 1 cultivation license or 5,000 square feet under a mixed-light tier 2 or indoor cultivation license.
“Under existing California law, small cannabis farmers are only authorized to conduct direct sales at events if they hold a full-time license as a cannabis retailer,” the letter to Newsom said. “This current requirement is not just unnecessary: it also puts direct sales practically out of reach for most small and especially rural cultivators, who generally lack the financial resources and commercial zoning to support a full-time retail operation.”
The legislation would have expanded upon a California law that was enacted in 2018, allowing regulators to issue temporary marijuana event licenses in jurisdictions where the local government permits it.
It was that change that allowed marijuana sales and on-site consumption at the California State Fair for the first time this year. Under that policy, approved retailers could market their cannabis, whereas this latest legislation would extend that to small cultivators that received the necessary license.
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The governor’s veto of the farmers market bill comes about a week after members of the hemp industry—including Cheech and Chong’s cannabis company—filed a lawsuit seeking to overturn new California regulations that outlaw most consumable hemp products in the state, including those containing any intoxicating cannabinoids derived from the plant.
The suit says the rules, backed by Newsom, are based on a faulty declaration of “emergency” and come after officials failed to effectively implement hemp regulation legislation that was enacted in 2021.
First unveiled earlier this month, Newsom’s new emergency ban won official approval from California’s Office of Administrative Law last week and took effect immediately. The rules prohibit hemp products with any “detectable amount of total THC,” while hemp products that don’t contain THC are limited to five servings per package and may only be sold to adults 21 and older.
The action came less than a month after the state legislature effectively killed a governor-backed bill that would have imposed somewhat similar restrictions on intoxicating hemp-derived cannabinoids.
Meanwhile, a state-funded effort is underway in California to analyze the genetic information of various marijuana strains in order to preserve the state’s rich history of cannabis cultivation. It’s part of a project meant not only to acknowledge the past but also protect the future of legacy growing regions such as the Emerald Triangle.
Image element courtesy of Gage Skidmore.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) has vetoed a bill to allow small marijuana growers to sell their products directly to consumers at state-organized farmers markets. Ahead of a Monday deadline to act on legislation, the governor blocked final approval of the measure from Assemblymember Gail Pellerin (D), saying that while he appreciates “the author’s intent Read More