Marijuana Business Magazine

116 • Marijuana Business Magazine • November / December 2017 Data crunching will be crucial to improve sales and other metrics. Good record-keeping and seed-to- sale tracking will provide a trove of data that can help marijuana growers boost their performance. “Growers are going to need data on what happens to their product if they’re going to be able to cultivate as effi- ciently as possible.They’ll need to start asking those questions,” Allen said. “Producers are going to be able to track their product all the way through the supply chain now,” he added. “That means that if it’s being sold on the top shelf, the grower should be seeing some of that premium at the wholesale level.” TIPS FOR EDIBLES COMPANIES Prepare for a major change in the regulatory landscape that could result in fewer edibles being allowed for sale. While edibles regulations have yet to be finalized, Julianna Carella – the CEO of Auntie Dolores’ edibles com- pany in Oakland, California – believes regulators will automatically disqualify some products. As a result, Carella anticipates having to reduce the number of products her firm will manufacture. She also will put greater focus on her CBD products, because those face fewer constraints and therefore lower costs. Carella also believes regulators could ban perishable items from being infused C alifornia D reamin' KEY DATES FOR CALIFORNIA'S MARIJUANA PROGRAM T he California Legislature put the state’s medical and recreational marijuana programs under one umbrella with the passage of a key bill in 2017. So most of the following dates apply to both medical and recreational cannabis: Early December 2017: Though no specific date had been set as of press time, Lori Ajax, chief of the Bureau of Cannabis Control, said in September this is when the state will begin accepting applications for temporary business licenses to help ease the transition to the regulated market for existing MJ companies. Jan. 1, 2018: Program launches. Licenses start to be issued, including temporary permits that expire after 120 days. Jan. 1, 2019: The Cannabis Advisory Committee, which reports to the bureau, must publish an annual public report describing its activities, including recommendations made to licensing authorities during the preceding calendar year and whether those recommendations were implemented. Jan. 1, 2019, and every third year after that: The Office of State Audits and Evaluations within the Department of Finance must conduct a performance audit of the bureau’s activities and report its findings to the bureau and the state legislature by July 1 of that same year. Jan. 1, 2020: The bureau by this date must investigate the feasibility of creating one or more classifications of nonprofit licenses. Jan. 1, 2021: The Department of Food and Agriculture must establish a program for cannabis comparable to the federal National Organic Program and the California Organic Food and Farming Act. Jan. 1, 2021: The Department of Food and Agriculture must establish a process by which licensed cultivators may establish appellations of standards, practices and varietals applicable to cannabis grown in a certain geographical area in California. This would be much like the wine industry. Jan. 1, 2023: Specialized cultivation licenses for cottage and micro- growers as well as large growers and transporting licenses can start to be issued. March 1, 2023 and on/before March 1 in subsequent years: The medical cannabis and adult-use licensing authorities must submit to the state legislature an annual report on their activities. Jan. 1, 2026: Restrictions on the combinations of medical marijuana business licenses a person can hold are lifted. Julianna Carella