Cannabis Rules, Tools Roll Out; Sonora Dispensary Opening
Sonora, CA — After what seems like months without marijuana as a major news topic, Clarke Broadcasting notes new developments this week at the state level and locally.
As state cannabis regulators continue to tweak rules and get their “track and trace” system up and running, they have an updated online tool for public use. All cannabis-related activities that are legally licensed by the Bureau of Cannabis Control (BCC) can now be accessed through the updated interface, which it released this week.
Calaveras County Sheriff Rick DiBasilio, who shared the information as something potentially noteworthy for many, comments that the state rules continue to change at a rapid pace, making it sometimes a challenge to keep up and that the BCC provides working documents and related news on its website as well.
The sheriff also acknowledged the Calaveras supervisors’ 3-2 decision at their Tuesday meeting, as reported here, to bring back the topic of cannabis regulation as a study session topic sometime in March. Although it is too soon to tell what that might mean, it will most probably involve at the very least, planning to update the county ordinance so that it is consistent with state law.
License Search Leads To New Business News
Clarke Broadcasting clicked on the “License Search” subheading on the bureau’s homepage to see how the look up works. The data base is set up to contain information on the business names, addresses, owner names, locations and license statuses of all state-licensed retailers, distributors, testing laboratories, microbusinesses, and temporary cannabis events. While it is searchable by each of these things, entering a county or city name will generate a listing of entities in that location.
A search for all Tuolumne County licensed businesses yielded just one result: Jeff Muzio’s Hazy Bulldog Farms, LLC in Sonora, which was issued a temporary retailer business license for medicinal sales good through Nov. 9 of this year. The owners confirm that they received their final occupancy permits yesterday for their store, located at 1243 Mono Way, and will officially open this Friday. Consumers need to note that the business is solely for medical marijuana sales. At this point the owners say they are hoping to possibly add deliveries but there are no firm plans yet.
As expected, a search of all Calaveras County businesses turns up the three already established medical marijuana dispensaries that are also licensed by the county. A retailer license issued Nov. 20 last year good through the same date this year is listed for Blue Mountain Collective, Inc. (692 Marshall Ave) in San Andreas, with owners listed as Raphael Calderon, Conrad Bonet, Jr., and April Valdes. Two temporary retailer licenses also come up for Jeremy Carlson, owner of Calaveras Naturals Inc. (aka Calaveras Little Trees, located at 2641 Highway 4) in Arnold. One is expired and the other good through Aug. 22 2019. The third license is for Tom Calmese’s Green Gold Cultivators (568 Angels Rd) in San Andreas, listed as in effect through Aug. 12. Sheriff DiBasilio wryly confirms that the database makes it easy to determine what the legal cannabis businesses are in the county — and at this point that number is three.
Other BCC Developments
Under an emergency regulation (3702), announced last week called California Cannabis Track-and-Trace (CCTT), distributors and retailers must enter their wholesale cost and retail selling price of cannabis or cannabis products into the state’s CCTT system. The system was designed to record all commercial cannabis activity by annually licensed distributors and retailers who must also meet all reporting requirements
Today, BCC issued a reminder that distributors are are required to calculate and collect the cannabis excise tax from retailers on the sale or transfer of cannabis or cannabis products and provide them an invoice or receipt that lists the tax amount. Retailers are required to collect the tax from their retail customers. It also notes that the California Department of Tax and Fee Administration (CDTFA) may hold a retailer liable for the excise tax due to the CDFTA without a proper receipt or proof that the retailer paid it to its distributor.
Consumers should be aware that retailers are required to collect the same amount of cannabis excise tax from their customers as paid to the distributor. While the amount can be included as part of the retail selling product price or listed on a separate line, all retail receipts must include on the actual receipt the following statement: the cannabis excise taxes are included in the total amount of this invoice.
To access the License Search and/or attempt to keep up with all the latest BCC proposed and enacted actions, click here.
