Welcome to July of 2018! The six-month grace period has officially ended since the legalization of cannabis in California took effect. If you have wondered why dispensaries were selling off many products, and why they lack some, itis because any goods that do not meet all statutory and regulatory requirements must be destroyed in accordance with the rules pertaining to destruction.
Up until now, there was a grey area.Compliance is a tough aspect of cannabis, and so the Bureau of Cannabis Control California allowed a six-month grace period to allow business to transition into all the new regulations. Untested cannabis goods were allowed to be sold at dispensaries. Some products were not one hundred percent compliant, just slight of passing testing, while others were completely missing many aspects of compliance (1).
The reason many brands struggle to satisfy compliance requirements is not simply negligence or carelessness, but rather a lack of finances or capital. California only has 28 licensed labs available, and not all are fully up and running. The big playersinvested avast amount of money that others simply do not have. These large companies who invested and pushed ahead are the ones whose products are on the shelves right now (2).
According to the Bureau of Cannabis Control in California:
- Any cannabis product that has been untested, did not pass all testing requirements, or was harvested before January 1st, 2018, must be destroyed.
- All packaging and labeling must be performed prior to cannabis goods being transported to a retailer.
- Exit packaging is not required to be child resistant.
- Edibles contain no more than 10 mg THC per serving and 100 mg per package.
The months of July and August of 2018 will be a struggle for many who did not satisfy the compliance requirements. Although some companies lacked the means to transition, others have been preparing for this from this years’start. These are the ones that will be completely unaffected. This prime shelf space real-estate will create a gap between companies, as the ones who missed out must try their best toinch their way back in when they return.
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