Cannabis Practitioners Group
Interested in receiving content and communications from the Cannabis Practitioners Group?
Cannabis Practitioners Group Officers
Cannabis Practitioners Group Mission Statement
The Cannabis Practitioners Group (CPG) of the California Lawyers Association is a CLA-wide group of voluntary attorneys who currently – or would like to – practice law in service of the cannabis industry and movement in California. The mission of the CPG is to:
- Provide legal education on cannabis law issues to California lawyers who are not already practicing in this area.
- Develop networking opportunities among current cannabis law practitioners and other attorneys and professionals whose work may cross-over with cannabis law issues.
- Support California law students and newer attorneys who are interested in practicing law within the cannabis industry and movement in California.
- Articulate policy positions of California lawyers on legislative and regulatory issues impacting the cannabis industry and movement.
Upcoming Events
California Legislation 2025
The 2025 California Legislative Session convened on January 6, 2025, and it will adjourn on September 13, 2025.
| BILL NO. | SUMMARY | STATUS |
|---|---|---|
| AB 564 (Haney) | To retain the existing cannabis excise tax rate of 15% of the gross receipts of any retail sale by a cannabis retailer. | 03/10/25 Re-referred to Coms. on B. & P. and Rev. & Tax. pursuant to Assembly Rule 96. |
| AB 1065 (Ortega) | To require that the calculation of interchange fees charged by a issuer, a payment card network, an acquirer bank, or a processor not take into account gratuity or certain state taxes, including the cannabis excise tax. | 03/10/25 Referred to Coms. on B.&F. and JUD. |
| AB 1332 (Ahrens) | To authorize a licensed microbusiness with an M-license whose licensed activities include retail sale, distribution, and outdoor cultivation to directly ship medicinal cannabis to a medicinal cannabis patient in the state, and to authorize free medicinal cannabis or medicinal cannabis products provided to medicinal cannabis patients in compliance with MAUCRSA to be shipped to those patients by a licensed microbusiness with an M-license. | 03/10/25 Referred to Com. on B. & P. |
| AB 998 (Hadwick) | To make a vape pen confiscated by a school as contraband presumed to have been generated by a household and presumed to be household hazardous waste when properly managed and disposed of at a household hazardous waste collection facility or through a household hazardous waste collection program, and to prohibit a public agency from including vape pens in a materials exchange program at a household hazardous waste collection facility to make reusable household hazardous products or materials available to recipients, as a part of its household hazardous waste collection program. | 03/10/25 Referred to Com. on E.S & T.M. |
| AB 686 (Berman) | To add DCC chief deputy director, deputy director of equity and inclusion, deputy director of legal affairs and chief counsel to the DCC to the list of individuals prohibited from engaging in certain activities, including from receiving any commission or profit whatsoever, directly or indirectly, from any person applying for or receiving any license or permit. | 03/03/25 Referred to Com. on B. & P. |
| AB 632 (Hart) | To streamline the process for a local agency to obtain a court judgment for payment of fine and penalties for unlicensed commercial cannabis activity, and to establish a procedure to collect administrative fines or penalties by lien upon the parcel of land on which the unlicensed commercial cannabis activity occurred. | 03/03/25 Referred to Coms. on L. GOV. and JUD. |
| SB 378 (Wiener) | To make online cannabis and hemp marketplaces strictly liable for damages; to require online sellers to create a reporting system enabling people to flag an unlicensed product or seller; and to require marketplaces that don’t verify California cannabis seller licenses to post a disclaimer. | 02/26/25 Referred to Com. on JUD. |
| SB 501 (Allen) | To create a producer responsibility program to require a producer responsibility organization (PRO) to ensure the safe and convenient collection and management of covered products, including electronic cigarettes and vape pens, and to require the PRO to submit a producer responsibility plan to the Department of Toxic Substances Control (DTSC) and to implement its plan within 90 days of approval. | 02/26/25 Referred to Coms. on E.Q. and JUD. |
| SB 479 (Arreguin) | To state the intent of the Legislature to enact legislation relating to cannabis. | 02/26/25 Referred to Com. on RLS. |
| AB 1209 (Rodriguez) | To require an employer that is licensed under MAUCRSA annually to provide proof that it has secured payment of workers’ compensation to the administrative director, and to require the administrative director to provide assistance to any employer that notifies the administrative director that it has insufficient workers’ compensation coverage or has been unable to obtain coverage. | 02/24/25 Read first time. |
| AB 1397 (Flora) | To authorize a hemp manufacturer to produce and sell low-dose hemp drinks, and to impose a low-dose hemp drink excise tax upon purchasers of low-dose hemp drinks sold in the state at 10% of the gross receipts of any retail sale of low-dose hemp drinks, and to require the tax, and interest, penalties, and other amounts collected and paid to the department pursuant to the tax, to be deposited into the Low-Dose Hemp Drink Excise Tax Fund, which the bill would establish. | 02/24/25 Read first time. |
| AB 1496 (Rubio) | To reinstate the task force on state and local regulation of commercial cannabis activity, which was repealed on January 1, 2025, and to expand the task force to include representatives from tribal governmental entities regulating commercial cannabis activity. | 02/24/25 Read first time. |
| AB 1027 (Sharp-Collins) | To make a non-substantive change to the existing prohibition on cannabis or cannabis products from being sold pursuant to a license provided for under MAUCRSA unless a representative sample of the cannabis or cannabis products has been tested by a licensed testing laboratory. | 02/21/25 From printer. May be heard in committee March 23. |
| AB 895 (Rubio) | To make a non-substantive change to an exception to the prohibition on a licensee from giving away any amount of cannabis or cannabis product as part of a business promotion or other commercial activity. | 02/20/25 From printer. May be heard in committee March 22. |
| AB 762 (Irwin and Wilson) | To prohibit, beginning January 1, 2026, a person from selling, distributing, or offering for sale a new or refurbished disposable, battery-embedded vapor inhalation device in this state. | 02/19/25 From printer. May be heard in committee March 21. |
| AB 8 (Aguiar-Curry) | To authorize DCC licensees to manufacture, distribute, or sell products that contain industrial hemp or cannabinoids, extracts, or derivatives from industrial hemp, and to require out-of-state hemp manufacturers who produce an industrial hemp product that is a food or beverage for sale in this state to register with the DCC. | 02/03/25 Referred to Com. on B. & P. |
California Regulations
California Case Law
| Court | Case |
|---|---|
| California Court of Appeal, 2nd District | JCCrandall v. County of Santa Barbara (Jan. 3, 2025) |
| United States Court of Appeals, 9th Circuit | Thomas v. County of Humboldt (Dec. 30, 2024) |
| California Court of Appeal, 3rd District | Sacramento Municipal Utility District v. David Kwan (Apr. 30, 2024) |
| California Court of Appeal, 1st District | Apex Solutions v. Falls Lake Insurance Management Co., Inc. (Apr. 16, 2024) |
| United States Court of Appeals, 9th Circuit | Peridot Tree, Inc. v. City of Sacramento (Mar. 4, 2024) |
California Ethics Opinions
| Bar Association | Ethics Opinion |
|---|---|
| State Bar of California | Committee on Professional Responsibility and Conduct Opinion Formal Opinion No. 2020-202 (May 2020) |
| Los Angeles County Bar Association | Professional Responsibility and Ethics Committee Opinion No. 527 (Aug. 2015) |
| Bar Association of San Francisco | Ethics Committee Opinion No. 2015-1 (Jun. 2015) |
Webinars and Other Resources
Antitrust and Unfair Competition Law
Business Law
Original Air Date: 4/27/2023
California Cannabis Social Equity Provisions and the Dormant Commerce Clause
Original Air Date: 11/8/2023
California Cannabis Corporate Law: Navigating the Way Forward
Civility in the Legal Profession
Original Date: January 22, 2025
Navigating Cannabis Law and Arbitration: Real-World Challenges
Competence
Criminal Law
Original Air Date: 8/5/2021
True Color of Marijuana – Stirring the Racial Justice Pot
Environmental Law
Original Air Date: 8/12/2021
The California Cannabis Rush: The Interplay Between Cannabis, Environmental Laws and Regulations
Family Law
Intellectual Property Law
Original Air Date: 10/10/20
Cannabis Intellectual Property Law Nuts & Bolts
Original Air Date: 11/9/2020
Shelter In Place Institute: Cannabis & IP Law Litigation 2020 Update
Original Air Date: 3/10/2020
Trademarks & Cannabis Law
Original Air Date: 1/29/2020
Introduction to IP & Cannabis Law
Original Air Date: 10/21/2020
Trade Secrets in Cannabis
Original Air Date: 11/10/2021
45th Annual IP Institute: Shifting Tokes — Cannabis-Related Patents in a Changing World
Original Air Date: 4/22/2021
Rolling with Patents: IP in Cannabis and Recent Cannabis Patent Litigation
Original Air Date: 7/1/2021
Summer Cannabis (Law) Series: Protecting Cannabis IP in an Uncertain Legal Landscape
Intellectual Property Cannabis Interest Group
Participate in the IP Property Cannabis Interest Group which offers frequent webinar presentations and community discussions of hot topics and practice tips.
The Interest Groups of the IP Section are open to all IP Section members interested in participating. The groups have regular meetings open to all members of the IP Section. They also present educational programs focused on the needs of various IP practices.
All of the interest groups send periodic e-mail bulletins to their members. As an IP Law Section member, you can sign up for the IP Cannabis Interest Group to receive notifications in all areas that interest you.
For more information, contact the Intellectual Property Law Section at IP@calawyers.org.
Announcements of meetings and CLE programs are included in Inevitable Disclosures, which is sent to all members of the Section.
Not a member of the IP Section and want to join the Interest Group? Join IP Section Here and then sign up for the Interest Group Here.
San Francisco Crosstown Trail Hike and Discussion
This will be a relatively flat but somewhat long urban hike, starting at Fort Funston, cutting a diagonal across San Francisco, and ending at the Ferry Building, in the Embarcadero. The hike will be about 15 miles. We will stop for lunch along the route. We did the crosstown trail last in June of 2024, from Candlestick Point to Land's End. This will be another fantastic opportunity to experience San Francisco's green spaces and unique character.
Webinar: Uruguay as a Member of the PCT
This program will provide the audience an overview andgeneral information about Uruguay as a party to thePatent Cooperation Treaty (PCT). This program will go into the details about why Uruguay took so long tosign and join the PCT Agreement. The goal is to share information on the
Webinar: Demystifying Attorneys’ Fee Awards in IP and Contract Cases: What Every In-House Counsel Needs to Know
As in-house counsel, navigating the complexities of intellectual property (IP) and complex commercial litigation is an integral part of your role – especially when it comes to managing the financial aspects of these cases. Transactional attorneys must also consider attorneys fees and indemnification provisions when negotiating contracts
We are committed to accessibility! Virtual events are equipped with closed captioning. To request an in-person accommodation, send us a note at accessibility@calawyers.org or contact us at 916-516-1760 for assistance.
International Law and Immigration
Original Air Date: 1/19/2022
Cannabis and Hemp: Opportunities and Pitfalls for the Foreign Investor
Original Air Date: Summer 2019
Immigrant Investors and Cannabis Business Opportunities in the United States
Labor and Employment Law
Original Air Date: 9/3/2020
Work and Weed: What Lawyers Need to Know about Cannabis in the Workplace
Law Practice Management and Technology
Legal Ethics
Litigation
Original Date: January 22, 2025
Navigating Cannabis Law and Arbitration: Real-World Challenges
New Lawyers
Original Air Date: 2/7/2025
Practicing Law in the Cannabis and Hemp Space in California
Privacy Law
Original Air Date: 11/19/2024
Privacy Law Issues Confronting the Cannabis and Hemp Economy
Public Law
Original Air Date: 10/22/2021
Hot Topics in Cannabis Licensing and Regulatory Activity-What Every Cannabis Lawyer Should Know
Real Property Law
Original Air Date: 8/5/2021
Summer Cannabis (Law) Series: Practical Advice for Representing Clients in the Sale and Lease of Real Estate for Cannabis Use
Original Release Date: 2020
Attorney Ethics and Cannabis: Conflicts of Laws, Conflicts of Interest, and Attorney-Client Privilege for Cannabis Practitioners
Recognition and Elimination of Bias
Solo and Small Firm
Original Air Date: 9/25/2024
Cannabis and Hemp Law as it Applies to Solo and Small Firm Lawyers