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 2026
The 2026 California Legislative Session convened on January 5, 2026, and the session is scheduled to adjourn on August 31, 2026.
| Bill No. | Summary | Status | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | AB 2532 (Irwin) | Placeholder bill for legislation regarding cannabis. | 02/20/26 Read first time. To print. |
| 2 | AB 2420 (Caloza) | To state the Legislature’s plan to enact future legislation authorizing licensed cannabis retailers to donate cannabis or cannabis products to persons 65 years of age and older and to exempt those donations from the cannabis excise tax. | 02/20/26 Read first time. To print. |
| 3 | AB 2617 (Schiavo) | Placeholder bill for legislation regarding cannabis. | 02/20/26 Read first time. To print. |
| 4 | AB 2494 (Rogers) | To preserve an existing provision in the Timber Regulation and Forest Restoration Fund that authorizes up to $500,000 per fiscal year to be loaned to the Department of Fish and Wildlife specifically to address environmental damage on forest lands caused by marijuana cultivation, meaning the bill maintains a dedicated funding mechanism for remediating the ecological harm—such as water diversion, pesticide contamination, and habitat destruction—associated with illicit cannabis grows on state forest lands. | 02/20/26 Read first time. To print. |
| 5 | AB 2667 (Hadwick) | To prohibit marketing or selling vape products that imitate non-vape items, use branding appealing to minors, or include videogame capabilities, and to require the Department of Cannabis Control to revoke or suspend the license of any cannabis licensee who violates these prohibitions—exposing licensed cannabis operators who sell cannabis vape products to potential license revocation, civil penalties up to $5,000 per violation (or $50,000 for distributors), criminal infraction fines, and product seizure. | 02/20/26 Read first time. To print. |
| 6 | AB 2506 (Hart) | Placeholder bill for legislation regarding cannabis. | 02/20/26 Read first time. To print. |
| 7 | AB 2537 (Chen) | Placeholder bill for legislation regarding cannabis. | 02/20/26 Read first time. To print. |
| 8 | AB 2249 (Irwin) | Placeholder bill for legislation regarding the Department of Cannabis Control’s youth advertising and marketing enforcement. | 02/20/26 From printer. May be heard in committee March 22. |
| 9 | AB 2489 (Lowenthal) | To streamline California’s controlled‑substance research approval process by allowing expedited state review of certain Schedule I and II studies, making it easier for clinical research involving cannabis to include California veterans as participants in trials for conditions such as PTSD and chronic pain. | 02/20/26 Read first time. To print. |
| 10 | AB 2250 (Aguiar-Curry) | To make technical revisions to the definitions that AB 8 (2025) added to the Cannabis Tax Law concerning cannabis and cannabinoids. | 02/20/26 From printer. May be heard in committee March 22. |
| 11 | AB 2246 (Wicks) | To make a nonsubstantive change the MAUCRSA requirement that a licensed manufacturer only use only cannabinoid concentrates and extracts that are manufactured or processed exclusively from cannabis obtained from a licensed cannabis cultivator. | 02/19/26 Read first time. To print. |
| 12 | AB 1965 (Sharp-Collins) | To revise how licensed laboratories sample and test cannabis and cannabis products, including updating batch and sampling definitions, clarifying when and how retesting may occur, and adjusting related Department of Cannabis Control oversight provisions. | 02/14/26 From printer. May be heard in committee March 16. |
| 13 | AB 1826 (Lackey) | To require the Department of Cannabis Control to provide supporting evidence and an opportunity to meet-and-confer before recalls, embargoes, or destructions proceed; to set deadlines for embargo and condemnation decisions (including expedited timelines for perishables); and to bar the DCC from conditioning corrective actions on waivers of licensees’ rights or on premature product destruction. | 02/12/26 From printer. May be heard in committee March 14. |
| 14 | SB 936 (Blakespear) | To prohibit retailers, including licensed cannabis retailers, from selling most flavored nitrous oxide, nitrous oxide in containers larger than 8 grams, and devices used to inhale nitrous oxide, and to authorize courts to suspend a business’s cannabis license for repeated violations of these prohibitions. | 02/11/26 Referred to Coms. on PUB. S. and B. P. & E.D. |
| 15 | AB 1564 (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. | 02/02/26 Referred to Com. on B. & P. |
| 16 | AB 762 (Irwin and Wilson) | To prohibit, beginning January 1, 2027, a person from importing or manufacturing for sale in this state a new or refurbished disposable, battery-embedded vapor inhalation device, and, beginning January 1, 2028, a person from selling, distributing, or offering for sale a new or refurbished disposable, battery-embedded vapor inhalation device in this state. | 01/29/26 In Senate. Read first time. To Com. on RLS. for assignment. Read third time. Passed. Ordered to the Senate. (Ayes 50. Noes 17.) |
California Regulations
California Case Law
| Court | Case |
|---|---|
| Supreme Court of California | Sellers v. Superior Court of Sacramento County (Jan. 29, 2026) |
| United States Court of Appeals, 9th Circuit | Peridot Tree WA, Inc. v. Washington State Liquor and Cannabis Control Board (Jan. 2, 2026) |
| United States Bankruptcy Appellate Panel, 9th Circuit | In re Griffithe (Oct. 30, 2025) |
| Supreme Court of the United States | Medical Marijuana, Inc. v. Horn (Apr. 2, 2025) |
| California Court of Appeal, 4th District | Murphy v. AAA Auto Insurance of Southern California (Jan. 24, 2025) |
| United States Court of Appeals, 9th Circuit | Thomas v. County of Humboldt (Dec. 30, 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 Consumer Protection 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
Environmental Law
Family Law
Original Air Date: 12/16/2025
From Bud to Battle: Cannabis Issues in Family Court, Part 1
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: 10/21/2020
Trade Secrets in Cannabis
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.
Events
Webinar: Digital Incivility: The “Bits and Bytes” of Uncivil Communications
Explore how technology impacts professional conduct, especially lawyer communications in email, social media, chats, and text. Learn best practices for maintaining civility on-line.Â
Webinar: Avoiding Conflicts of Interest When Corporate Constituents Disagree
The purpose of the webinar is to discuss the various conflicts of interest that arise when representing organizations or corporate clients.
49th IP Institute
Our event is one of the nation’s premier IP conferences, offering access to top industry leaders and sessions, in a relaxed coastal atmosphere. It will cover a wide range of cutting-edge and compelling topics of intellectual property law and feature our popular IP Vanguard Awards event.
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: 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
Real Property Law
Recognition and Elimination of Bias
Original Air Date: 7/8/2025
Cannabis Social Equity: How It Started and How It’s Going
Solo and Small Firm
Original Air Date: 9/25/2024
Cannabis and Hemp Law as it Applies to Solo and Small Firm Lawyers