Medicinal cannabis: shipments.

Assembly Member Ahrens advances a temporary, tightly regulated framework to ship medicinal cannabis within California directly to patients, pairing targeted access with clear guardrails and a built-in sunset. The approach would allow a licensed microbusiness with an M-license that covers retail sales, manufacturing, distribution, and outdoor cultivation to ship medicinal cannabis or medicinal cannabis products to a patient in-state, using a common carrier and requiring the recipient to be 21 years of age or older. The arrangement is limited to shipments within California and would operate through January 1, 2029, with several provisions staged to sunset or transition in 2029.

Key mechanics center on safety, traceability, and eligibility. Shipments would be subject to possession limits set by existing Health and Safety Code provisions, and all products would remain compliant with the division’s cultivation, processing, labeling, testing, and transportation requirements. Donated shipments—whether free products or products donated under local programs—are expanded but must be designated for donation in the track-and-trace system, verified for physician standing, and accompanied by documentation (including patient identification) retained for several years. For shipments by a licensed microbusiness, the framework imposes a comprehensive set of conditions: the shipment must be delivered by a common carrier using only the carrier’s own employees, payment must be collected prior to shipment, and title passes on conveyance to the patient. The microbusiness must track shipments, retain patient-identifying records or physician confirmations for four to seven years, and ensure that shipments originate from the microbusiness’s own licensed premises or from a limited number of outdoor cultivation premises, with products manufactured at the licensed location. A broad list of prohibited shipment items is established, while a defined subset of products (including certain tinctures, topicals, suppositories, some full-spectrum oils, and outdoors-grown flowers not infused with flavors or concentrates) may be shipped under specified sourcing and manufacturing controls.

The bill also strengthens patient access protections while limiting local regulatory barriers to delivery and shipment. Local jurisdictions would be constrained from enacting rules that effectively prohibit delivery or shipment to medicinal cannabis patients or their primary caregivers, and they would be afforded room to adopt reasonable regulations on zoning, security, licensing, and taxes, subject to a sunset. Enforceability is provided through civil action provisions modeled on established procedures, with the enforcement framework set to expire in 2029 unless extended. The package also embeds a broader context for the policy: it seeks to address an access gap for patients with severe or complex conditions who historically have faced challenges in obtaining specialized medicinal cannabis products, by coordinating with existing licensing structures and maintaining alignment with MAUCRSA and related California regulatory regimes.

Together, the provisions imply a finite, monitored expansion of medicinal cannabis access through shipments, anchored by rigorous verification, recordkeeping, and product-sourcing requirements, while embedding a framework to preempt locally imposed barriers to delivery. The sunset dates reflect an intent to reassess the approach after a defined window, balancing patient access with regulatory clarity and fiscal considerations for local governments and the regulated industry. The proposal emphasizes a narrow, time-bound pilot within the state’s broader cannabis regulation landscape, with costs and enforcement tools tied to mandated frameworks and potential state-mandated costs if applicable.