CDFA Organics Program -The California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) recently released the modified proposed regulations for the OCal Program, a statewide certification program that will establish and enforce comparable-to-organic cannabis standards. The release of these modified regulations marks the official start of the 15-day public comment period provided under California law. All interested parties are encouraged to submit comments about the proposed cannabis regulations by 11:59 pm on Tuesday, September 15, 2020.
The OCal Program will ensure that cannabis products bearing the OCal seal have been certified to consistent, uniform standards comparable to the National Organic Program.
CDFA Organics Program
Per Business and Professions Code Section 26062(a)(1), CDFA is required to establish a certification program for cannabis that is comparable to the National Organic Program and the California Organic Food and Farming Act by January 1, 2021. CDFA proposes the adoption of Chapter 3, within Title 3 of the California Code of Regulations, to establish the OCal Program for cannabis.
The proposed cannabis regulations and additional information are posted on the CalCannabis Cultivation Licensing Division’s OCal Program web page
The text of the Proposed Regulations can be found here.
On October 9, 2015, Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr. signed Assembly Bill 243, Assembly Bill 266, and Senate Bill 643, establishing a comprehensive regulatory framework for the cultivation, processing, transportation, and sale of medical cannabis (MCRSA). On November 8, 2016, California voters passed Proposition 64, the ballot initiative known as the Adult Use of Marijuana Act (AUMA). This measure allowed adults aged 21 years old or older to possess and use cannabis for recreational purposes. The statute consolidated and streamlined regulation and taxation for both nonmedical and medical cannabis. The AUMA created a comprehensive system to legalize, control, and regulate the cultivation, processing, manufacture, distribution, testing, and sale of nonmedical cannabis for use by adults 21 years and older, and to tax the commercial growth and retail sale of cannabis. The Bureau of Cannabis Control, housed in the Department of Consumer Affairs, oversees the whole system. On June 27, 2017, Governor Edmund Brown Jr. signed California Senate Bill 94, which effectively merged two existing laws –MCRSA and AUMA – into one streamlined law: The Medicinal and Adult-Use Cannabis Regulation and Safety Act (MAUCRSA)