Amended  IN  Assembly  April 24, 2018
Amended  IN  Assembly  April 16, 2018
Amended  IN  Assembly  April 10, 2018

CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2017–2018 REGULAR SESSION

Assembly Bill No. 2899

Introduced by Assembly Members Rubio and Cooper
(Principal coauthor: Assembly Member Chau)

February 16, 2018

An act to amend Sections 26150 and 26151 of the Business and Professions Code, relating to cannabis. cannabis, and declaring the urgency thereof, to take effect immediately.


LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


AB 2899, as amended, Rubio. Cannabis: advertisements: license number.
Existing law, the Control, Regulate and Tax Adult Use of Marijuana Act (AUMA), approved by the voters at the November 8, 2016, statewide general election, regulates the cultivation, distribution, transport, storage, manufacturing, testing, processing, sale, and use of marijuana for nonmedical purposes by people 21 years of age and older. The Medicinal and Adult-Use Cannabis Regulation and Safety Act (MAUCRSA), among other things, consolidates the licensure and regulation of commercial medicinal and adult-use cannabis activities. MAUCRSA requires all cannabis advertisements and marketing to accurately and legibly identify the licensee responsible for that content by adding, at a minimum, the licensee’s license number and prohibits a technology platform from displaying the advertisement on an Internet Web page unless the advertisement displays that licensee’s license number. Under MAUCRSA, each licensing authority is authorized to discipline a licensee for failure to comply with these provisions, among other things.
This bill would require that the license number displayed on the advertisement be the licensee’s active license number, which the bill would define as the number of a license issued pursuant to MAUCRSA that is not suspended or revoked.
AUMA authorizes the Legislature to amend by majority vote certain provisions of the act to implement specified substantive provisions, provided that the amendments are consistent with and further the purposes and intent of AUMA.
This bill would declare that its provisions implement specified substantive provisions of AUMA and are consistent with and further the purposes and intent of AUMA.
This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.
Vote: MAJORITY2/3   Appropriation: NO   Fiscal Committee: YES   Local Program: NO  

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:


SECTION 1.

 Section 26150 of the Business and Professions Code is amended to read:

26150.
 For purposes of this chapter:
(a) “Active license number” means the number of an A-license or M-license, as defined in Section 26001, that is not suspended or revoked.
(b) “Advertise” means the publication or dissemination of an advertisement.
(c) “Advertisement” includes any written or verbal statement, illustration, or depiction which is calculated to induce sales of cannabis or cannabis products, including any written, printed, graphic, or other material, billboard, sign, or other outdoor display, public transit card, other periodical literature, publication, or in a radio or television broadcast, or in any other media; except that such term shall not include:
(1) Any label affixed to any cannabis or cannabis products, or any individual covering, carton, or other wrapper of that container that constitutes a part of the labeling under provisions of this division.
(2) Any editorial or other reading material, such as a news release, in any periodical or publication or newspaper for the publication of which no money or valuable consideration is paid or promised, directly or indirectly, by any licensee, and which is not written by or at the direction of the licensee.
(d) “Advertising sign” is any sign, poster, display, billboard, or any other stationary or permanently affixed advertisement promoting the sale of cannabis or cannabis products which are not cultivated, manufactured, distributed, or sold on the same lot.
(e) “Health-related statement” means any statement related to health, and includes statements of a curative or therapeutic nature that, expressly or by implication, suggest a relationship between the consumption of cannabis or cannabis products and health benefits, or effects on health.
(f) “Market” or “Marketing” means any act or process of promoting or selling cannabis or cannabis products, including, but not limited to, sponsorship of sporting events, point-of-sale advertising, and development of products specifically designed to appeal to certain demographics.

SEC. 2.

 Section 26151 of the Business and Professions Code is amended to read:

26151.
 (a) (1) All advertisements and marketing shall accurately and legibly identify the licensee responsible for its content, by adding, at a minimum, the licensee’s active license number.
(2) A technology platform shall not display an advertisement by a licensee on an Internet Web page unless the advertisement displays the active license number of the licensee.
(3) An outdoor advertising company subject to the Outdoor Advertising Act (Chapter 2 (commencing with Section 5200) of Division 3) shall not display an advertisement by a licensee unless the advertisement displays the active license number of the licensee.
(b) Any advertising or marketing placed 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.
(c) Any advertising or marketing involving direct, individualized communication or dialogue controlled by the licensee shall utilize a method of age affirmation to verify that the recipient is 21 years of age or older before engaging in that communication or dialogue controlled by the licensee. For purposes of this section, that method of age affirmation may include user confirmation, birth date disclosure, or other similar registration method.
(d) All advertising shall be truthful and appropriately substantiated.

SEC. 3.

 The Legislature finds and declares that Sections 1 and 2 of this act, amending Sections 26150 and 26151 of the Business and Professions Code, implement Section 6.1 of the Control, Regulate and Tax Adult Use of Marijuana Act of 2016 and are consistent with and further the purposes and intent of that act as stated in Section 3 of that act.

SEC. 4.

 This act is an urgency statute necessary for the immediate preservation of the public peace, health, or safety within the meaning of Article IV of the California Constitution and shall go into immediate effect. The facts constituting the necessity are:
In order to stop the illegal distribution and sale of cannabis, and to promote the regulated cannabis licensing scheme within the state, it is necessary for this act to go into immediate effect.