2016 California Code
Business and Professions Code - BPC
DIVISION 8 - SPECIAL BUSINESS REGULATIONS
CHAPTER 3.5 - Medical Cannabis Regulation and Safety act
ARTICLE 1 - Definitions
Section 19300.5.

19300.5. For purposes of this chapter, the following definitions shall apply:

(a) Accrediting body means a nonprofit organization that requires conformance to ISO/IEC 17025 requirements and is a signatory to the International Laboratory Accreditation Cooperation Mutual Recognition Arrangement for Testing.

(b) Applicant, for purposes of Article 4 (commencing with Section 19320), includes the following:

(1) Owner or owners of the proposed premises, including all persons or entities having ownership interest other than a security interest, lien, or encumbrance on property that will be used by the premises.

(2) If the owner is an entity, owner includes within the entity each person participating in the direction, control, or management of, or having a financial interest in, the proposed premises.

(3) If the applicant is a publicly traded company, owner means the chief executive officer or any person or entity with an aggregate ownership interest of 5 percent or more.

(c) Batch means a specific quantity of homogeneous medical cannabis or medical cannabis product and is one of the following types:

(1) Harvest batch means a specifically identified quantity of dried flower or trim, leaves, and other cannabis plant matter that is uniform in strain, harvested at the same time, and, if applicable, cultivated using the same pesticides and other agricultural chemicals, and harvested at the same time.

(2) Manufactured cannabis batch means either:

(A) An amount of cannabis concentrate or extract produced in one production cycle using the same extraction methods and standard operating procedures, and is from the same harvest batch.

(B) An amount of a type of manufactured cannabis produced in one production cycle using the same formulation and standard operating procedures.

(d) Bureau means the Bureau of Medical Cannabis Regulation within the Department of Consumer Affairs.

(e) Cannabinoid or phytocannabinoid means a chemical compound that is unique to and derived from cannabis.

(f) Cannabis means all parts of the plant Cannabis sativa Linnaeus, Cannabis indica, or Cannabis ruderalis, whether growing or not; the seeds thereof; the resin, whether crude or purified, extracted from any part of the plant; and every compound, manufacture, salt, derivative, mixture, or preparation of the plant, its seeds, or resin. Cannabis also means the separated resin, whether crude or purified, obtained from cannabis. Cannabis also means marijuana as defined by Section 11018 of the Health and Safety Code as enacted by Chapter 1407 of the Statutes of 1972. Cannabis does not include the mature stalks of the plant, fiber produced from the stalks, oil or cake made from the seeds of the plant, any other compound, manufacture, salt, derivative, mixture, or preparation of the mature stalks (except the resin extracted therefrom), fiber, oil, or cake, or the sterilized seed of the plant which is incapable of germination. For the purpose of this chapter, cannabis does not mean industrial hemp as defined by Section 81000 of the Food and Agricultural Code or Section 11018.5 of the Health and Safety Code.

(g) Cannabis concentrate means manufactured cannabis that has undergone a process to concentrate one or more active cannabinoids, thereby increasing the product s potency. Resin from granular trichomes from a cannabis plant is a concentrate for purposes of this chapter. A cannabis concentrate is not considered food, as defined by Section 109935 of the Health and Safety Code, or a drug, as defined by Section 109925 of the Health and Safety Code.

(h) Certificate of accreditation means a certificate issued by an accrediting body to a testing laboratory.

(i) Chief means Chief of the Bureau of Medical Cannabis Regulation within the Department of Consumer Affairs.

(j) Commercial cannabis activity includes cultivation, possession, manufacture, processing, storing, laboratory testing, labeling, transporting, distribution, delivery, or sale of medical cannabis or a medical cannabis product, except as set forth in Section 19319, related to qualifying patients and primary caregivers.

(k) Cultivation means any activity involving the planting, growing, harvesting, drying, curing, grading, or trimming of medical cannabis.

(l) Cultivation site means a location where medical cannabis is planted, grown, harvested, dried, cured, graded, or trimmed, or that does all or any combination of those activities.

(m) Delivery means the commercial transfer of medical cannabis or medical cannabis products from a dispensary, up to an amount determined by the bureau to a primary caregiver or qualified patient as defined in Section 11362.7 of the Health and Safety Code, or a testing laboratory. Delivery also includes the use by a dispensary of any technology platform owned and controlled by the dispensary, or independently licensed under this chapter, that enables qualified patients or primary caregivers to arrange for or facilitate the commercial transfer by a licensed dispensary of medical cannabis or medical cannabis products.

(n) Dispensary means a premises where medical cannabis, medical cannabis products, or devices for the use of medical cannabis or medical cannabis products are offered, either individually or in any combination, for retail sale, including an establishment that delivers, pursuant to Section 19340, medical cannabis and medical cannabis products as part of a retail sale.

(o) Dispensing means any activity involving the retail sale of medical cannabis or medical cannabis products from a dispensary.

(p) Distribution means the procurement, sale, and transport of medical cannabis and medical cannabis products between entities licensed pursuant to this chapter.

(q) Distributor means a person licensed under this chapter to engage in the business of purchasing medical cannabis from a licensed cultivator, or medical cannabis products from a licensed manufacturer, for sale to a licensed dispensary.

(r) Dried flower means all dead medical cannabis that has been harvested, dried, cured, or otherwise processed, excluding leaves and stems.

(s) Edible cannabis product means manufactured cannabis that is intended to be used, in whole or in part, for human consumption, including, but not limited to, chewing gum, but excluding products set forth in Division 15 (commencing with Section 32501) of the Food and Agricultural Code. An edible medical cannabis product is not considered food as defined by Section 109935 of the Health and Safety Code or a drug as defined by Section 109925 of the Health and Safety Code.

(t) Fund means the Medical Cannabis Regulation and Safety Act Fund established pursuant to Section 19351.

(u) Identification program means the universal identification certificate program for commercial medical cannabis activity authorized by this chapter.

(v) Labeling means any label or other written, printed, or graphic matter upon a medical cannabis product, or upon its container or wrapper, or that accompanies any medical cannabis product.

(w) Labor peace agreement means an agreement between a licensee and a bona fide labor organization that, at a minimum, protects the state s proprietary interests by prohibiting labor organizations and members from engaging in picketing, work stoppages, boycotts, and any other economic interference with the applicant s business. This agreement means that the applicant has agreed not to disrupt efforts by the bona fide labor organization to communicate with, and attempt to organize and represent, the applicant s employees. The agreement shall provide a bona fide labor organization access at reasonable times to areas in which the applicant s employees work, for the purpose of meeting with employees to discuss their right to representation, employment rights under state law, and terms and conditions of employment. This type of agreement shall not mandate a particular method of election or certification of the bona fide labor organization.

(x) Licensee means a person issued a state license under this chapter to engage in commercial cannabis activity.

(y) Licensing authority means the state agency responsible for the issuance, renewal, or reinstatement of the license.

(z) Live plants means living medical cannabis flowers and plants, including seeds, immature plants, and vegetative stage plants.

(aa) Local license, permit, or other authorization means an official document granted by a local jurisdiction that specifically authorizes a person to conduct commercial cannabis activity in the local jurisdiction.

(ab) Lot means a batch or a specifically identified portion of a batch.

(ac) Manufactured cannabis means raw cannabis that has undergone a process whereby the raw agricultural product has been transformed into a concentrate, an edible product, or a topical product.

(ad) Manufacturer means a person that conducts the production, preparation, propagation, or compounding of manufactured medical cannabis, as described in subdivision (ae), or medical cannabis products either directly or indirectly or by extraction methods, or independently by means of chemical synthesis or by a combination of extraction and chemical synthesis at a fixed location that packages or repackages medical cannabis or medical cannabis products or labels or relabels its container.

(ae) Manufacturing site means the premises that produces, prepares, propagates, or compounds manufactured medical cannabis or medical cannabis products, directly or indirectly, by extraction methods, independently by means of chemical synthesis, or by a combination of extraction and chemical synthesis, and is owned and operated by a licensee for these activities.

(af) Medical cannabis, medical cannabis product, or cannabis product means a product containing cannabis, including, but not limited to, concentrates and extractions, intended to be sold for use by medical cannabis patients in California pursuant to the Compassionate Use Act of 1996 (Proposition 215), found at Section 11362.5 of the Health and Safety Code. For the purposes of this chapter, medical cannabis does not include industrial hemp as defined by Section 81000 of the Food and Agricultural Code or Section 11018.5 of the Health and Safety Code.

(ag) Nursery means a licensee that produces only clones, immature plants, seeds, and other agricultural products used specifically for the planting, propagation, and cultivation of medical cannabis.

(ah) Person means an individual, firm, partnership, joint venture, association, corporation, limited liability company, estate, trust, business trust, receiver, syndicate, or any other group or combination acting as a unit and includes the plural as well as the singular number.

(ai) Primary caregiver has the same meaning as that term is defined in Section 11362.7 of the Health and Safety Code.

(aj) State license or license means a state license issued pursuant to this chapter.

(ak) Testing laboratory means the premises where tests are performed on medical cannabis or medical cannabis products and that holds a valid certificate of accreditation.

(al) Topical cannabis means a product intended for external use. A topical cannabis product is not considered a drug as defined by Section 109925 of the Health and Safety Code.

(am) Transport means the transfer of medical cannabis or medical cannabis products from the permitted business location of one licensee to the permitted business location of another licensee, for the purposes of conducting commercial cannabis activity authorized pursuant to this chapter.

(an) Transporter means a person who holds a license by the bureau to transport medical cannabis or medical cannabis products in an amount above a threshold determined by the bureau between licensees that have been issued a license pursuant to this chapter.

(Repealed and added by Stats. 2016, Ch. 32, Sec. 8. Effective June 27, 2016.)