Politics The latest in cannabis legalization including laws and policies legislators views election coverage and more. Politics 13 Things You Might Not Know About Californias Prop. 64 Ben Adlin If youre a California voter you probably havent read the whole text of Proposition 64 the Adult Use of Marijuana Act. You shouldhere it isbut you wont. So I did. You know the basics: Prop. 64 would legalize cannabis under state law for adults 21 and older. It would designate state agencies to license and regulate the industry set up a system of taxes (medical patients are exempt from some) and set restrictions on things like packaging and marketing. Products would be tested for cannabinoids terpenes pesticides and foreign contaminants. And people whove been convicted of cannabis-related crimes would become eligible for resentencing or to have those records destroyed. RELATED STORY Legalization 2016: America Votes Thats the highlight reel. I read all 62 pages of Proposition 64 looking for things you might not hear about in most reporting. Heres what I found: 1. Cannabis wont be available everywhere. Its hard to locate a town in California without a tavern or a liquor store but dont expect same thing with cannabis. Cities and counties can ban cannabis businesses and its likely that many will. This is a common feature of legalization measures meant to allow communities to decide locally how to regulate the cannabis industry. RELATED STORY Behind the Big Ban: Why California Towns Are Scrambling to Oust Dispensaries Dont like it? Reach out to your local officials. Some cities have made tremendous progress thanks to citizen activism.And its worth noting: Municipalities that ban cultivation or retail sales wont be eligible to receive certain cannabis tax revenues meant to enhance law enforcement fire protection or other public safety programs. 2. Anyone can grow cannabis at home. Even if your city or county decides to ban cannabis businesses it cant keep you from growing your own. Municipalities would be required to allow adults 21 and older to cultivate up to six plants for personal use. Local governments could prevent you from growing those plants outdoors but they couldnt bar you from cultivating small amounts of cannabis inside your private residence. RELATED STORY Growing Organic Cannabis at Home Its not clear though whether landlords could prevent tenants from growing for personal use. Prop. 64 defines a private residence as a house an apartment unit a mobile home or other similar dwelling but its possible cultivation could be disallowed under the terms of a lease. (Americans for Safe Access has a helpful summaryof current housing law for medical patients.) 3. Retail shops cant sell blunt wraps. Are you one of the many cannabis consumers who prefer blunts? Dont plan on a one-stop shop. Businesses that sell tobacco or alcohol products arent eligible to sell nonmedical cannabis. Entrepreneurs eager to sell pre-rolled bluntsor consumers plain tired of rolling themwill have to wait. 4. Organic cannabis is coming. This is California after all. Prop. 64 directs the state Department of Food and Agriculture to establish a certified organic designation and organic certification program for marijuana and marijuana products. If adopted Californias program could become the first of its kind in the country. Colorado put forward a similar plan but lawmakers earlier this year rejected the proposal saying an organic label would imply cannabis is healthy. (Want to buy organic Colorado vodka though? Go for it.) 5. Appellations are getting support too. Farmers in Humboldt and Mendocino counties are well aware their regions have a reputation for primo cannabis. Prop. 64 wants to make sure that producers outside those areas dont try to cash in on their names through clever branding. Only cannabis grown in a specific region can use that name on labels packaging or marketing materials. Further materials for cannabis grown outside a particular appellation cant display any statement design device or representation which tends to create the impression that the marijuana originated in [that] particular place or region. RELATED STORY Whats So Special About Humboldt County Cannabis? Its tempting to associate the appellations program with a growing interest in cannabis terroirthe character cannabis takes on from a regions soil and its environmentbut Prop. 64 wouldnt require appellation-specific cannabis to be grown outdoors or even in soil. That could diminish any regionally identifying traits in the final product. (Is Napa Valley wine the same thing if the grapes were grown hydroponically in a warehouse?) 6. Delivery services are here to stay. Dont have a car? Unsafe to drive? Broke your stupid ankle? Prop. 64 would allow licensed retailers and delivery services to bring cannabis to your door. And even though local governments could ban cannabis businesses the measure says jurisdictions shall not prevent delivery of marijuana or marijuana products on public roads. In other words picking up a pack of pre-rolls could soon be as easy as ordering a pizza. This isnt exactly new: A thriving delivery market already has emerged quasi-legally within the states existing medical system. The California aqueduct the central component of the California State Water Project moves fresh water down the state from Northern California into the irrigation networks of the central valley and into the Southern California. Photovia Metropolitan Water District 7. Water could set an upper limit on California cannabis. Under Prop. 64 licensed growers would be required to obtain a unique identifier for every single plant. Imagine barcodes on bracelets around the base of each one. The identifiers would be a key part of the measures track-and-trace program but they could also dictate the future of Californias cannabis industry. A provision in the measure says that new identifiers could only be issued in areas where theres enough water to support the plants. If a watershed cannot support additional cultivation it says no new plant identifiers will be issued for that watershed. California has long struggled with water supply issues and problems have only gotten worse as the climate grows hotter and drier. Regulators have already slowed pumping water to Southern California in order to protect a tiny endangered fish critical to the SacramentoSan Joaquin Delta ecosystem. Its conceivable that water woes could one day set a cap on cannabis cultivation in the state too. 8. Say goodbye to infused Sour Patch Kids. California medical patients (or fans of Conan OBrien) are likely familiar with some of the infused lookalike products currently sold in the state. Those could soon disappear. Prop. 64 prohibits products easily confused with commercially sold candy or foods that do not contain marijuana. It will be interesting to see how courts interpret that phrase; Sour Patch Kids might be obvious but an infused brownie can sure look a lot like a regular one. RELATED STORY Colorado Gives Cannabis Candy a New Look to Avoid Confusion 9. So long to swag too. No licensee shall give away any amount of marijuana or marijuana products or any accessories as part of a business promotion or other commercial activity the measure reads. This will likely come as a disappointment to California consumers whove developed a fondness for traveling from dispensary to dispensary to collect new-member freebies. It could also put a damper on industry and consumer events where giving away dabs pre-rollsgrinders and other goodies is the practice du jour. 10. Advertisers start your calculators. Some legalization opponentswere looking at you Sen. Dianne Feinsteinhave claimed Prop. 64 would allow cannabis advertising aimed at children. We can all agree that would be terrible. So its a good thing its not exactly true. (PolitiFact rated her claim mostly false.) But that doesnt mean the advertising laws would be simple. Prop. 64 says advertising in broadcast cable radio print and digital communications shall only be displayed where at least 71.6 percent of the audience is reasonably expected to be 21 years of age or older as determined by reliable up-to-date audience composition data. I was on page 34 and feeling pretty good about myselfat that point but when I got to that phrase I called a lawyer. Rebecca Stamey-White a partner at Hinman amp; Carmichael in San Francisco who handles alcohol and cannabis matters told me the rule was borrowed from the adult beverage industry where it exists as a self-imposed industry guideline not a law. It means advertisers have to pay attention to (and a lot of money for) things like Nielsen ratings and other industry data that break down audiences into demographics. It probably goes for unpaid social media activity tooalready widely used by the states medical cannabis market. The way it works in alcohol is everything is advertising. Its all commercial speech said Stamey-White. That said she predicted many platforms could meet those standards. When Snapchat came out it skewed very young. That was a platform a lot of brands wanted to be on but it took a while to rise above that threshold. Even if the state were to havea hard time policing that requirement as Stamey-White predicted it could violation still would technically put businesses out of compliance with state lawand compliance with state law is key toprotecting state medical markets from federal prosecution. RELATED STORY Federal Court Bars Justice Department From Prosecuting Medical Cannabis 11. Get ready for social consumption. This will be up to cities and counties if Prop. 64 passes. The initiative says a local jurisdiction may allow for the smoking vaporization and ingesting of marijuana or marijuana on the premises of a retailer or microbusiness. Consumption couldnt be visible from a public place and the establishment wouldnt be able to sell alcohol or tobacco. Still it means Amsterdam-style coffeeshops could be coming to at least some parts of the Golden State in the next few years. 12. Big growers would be prohibited until 2023. In an effort to prevent industry monopolization Prop. 64 wouldnt begin licensing any large growersthose with more than one acre of outdoor grow space or 22000 square feet of indoor canopyuntil Jan. 1 2023. Although size would be limited during the first few years most businesses would be eligible to apply for multiple licenses meaning a single company could be a grower concentrate manufacturer retailer and delivery service. Testing laboratories must be separate under the measure. RELATED STORY Oakland Rolls Out Drug War Reparations 13. Well know who wants to change the rules. Concerned about lobbying efforts by special industry interests? Youre not alone. Prop. 64 requires annual reports from state licensing authorities which must include a detailed list of the petitions for regulatory relief or rulemaking changes received by the office from licensees requesting modifications. The measure doesnt seem to add additional state requirements to track lobbying lawmakers in Sacramento but it does attempt to build an element of transparency into the process. Have you slogged your way through all 62 pages? Heres the link again. Read it and let us know what jumps out at you. CaliforniaElection 2016lawslegalizationpolitics Ben Adlin Ben is an associate editor at Leafly specializing in politics. 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