CANARY CHAMPIONS CUP DELIVERS THE HEAT The Canary Islands continue to make their mark on the cannabis industry with the volcanic island chain now home to hundreds of dispensaries. One of the fastest-growing cannabis contests on the planet also calls the islands home. Tenerife, where we spent our adventure, popped a lot more than our…
CANARY CHAMPIONS CUP DELIVERS THE HEAT
The Canary Islands continue to make their mark on the cannabis industry with the volcanic island chain now home to hundreds of dispensaries.
One of the fastest-growing cannabis contests on the planet also calls the islands home.
Tenerife, where we spent our adventure, popped a lot more than our last visit. It seemed like the social clubs were starting to permeate more into the tourist-heavy parts of the area. Weed Island was the best view we’ve ever seen somewhere you can buy weed. As you sit down to rollup on the balcony at the shop, you are greeted by a stunning seascape.
Canary Champions Cup Flower Entries
Canary Social Club Culture
All the clubs come in various formats. They range from nightclub-style venues that can hold hundreds of people to more traditional Dutch-style coffee shops. These facilities continue to get nicer and nicer. This is because of how safe people feel spending cash to make their shop look nice. One club owner told me they spent six figures over the last few months ahead of its Grand Opening on 4/20.
California shops are currently facing some of their darkest days ever, Tenerife is another story. One club owner told us he’d never heard of a social club closing down because sales were bad. You’d think Tenerife might be hitting capacity for how many clubs the ecosystem can support, but each one we walked into was packed. Part of the reason for everyone’s success is the fact these tourists need somewhere to burn.
A rosin pressing demo at one of the after parties.
Why do they need somewhere to smoke? Because the rules on the island are so strict about cannabis possession and consumption. It’s technically against the law to bring it with you outside of the club and the police are hardcore. I was out raging with some locals last week and walking behind a bar on the boardwalk on one of the island’s popular beaches last week when five cops rolled on me. It was the most intense search I’ve experienced since I came back from Canada in ‘08 and declared my bong at the Vermont border. They went through my pockets and backpack, asking me questions. As they talked to me, they opened every bag I had in my backpack and asked me why I had a bunch of empties. I told them souvenirs. Eventually, they pulled out one of the TrapLoc bags I had with Grove Bags; once they saw my picture on the bag, there was a shocking attitude change from the cops. They thanked me for smoking all my cannabis inside clubs and not taking it outside.
And boy, did I. I smoked a ton of cannabis as I celebrated my first 4/20 there. The whole thing is an extra joke since the date starts with days in Europe and reads 20/4/2023. But everyone was certainly willing to pretend that 4/20 was a thing there.
Judging Flower at The Canary Champions Cup
One of my main responsibilities for the week was judging flowers at the sophomore installment of The Canary Islands Champions Cup. There ended up being over 50 samples of flower across the indoor and outdoor categories. The top flower in the contest mostly stood well above the competition. Big Bang Creations took third prize in indoor with Monkey Berries. RTZ was the first runner-up with Zowah. Fresh Farm’s topped the podium with their White Gold.
The Hash is Awesome
Finally, it’s really important to note how advanced the hash culture on the island,. There is a solid argument to be made that the quality of the concentrates there are better than what you’ll see in most U.S. states for sure. Hash culture has always been a thing there given it’s proximity to Morrocco, but the latest tech has made its way to the island with avengance. Hanami Gardens, who won the cup, could hold his own against any hash makers in the world without a doubt. His rosin was explosive terps when you open the jar and he even chopped up some piatella, U.S. headie boys favorite new solventless trend!
We’ll have more coverage from my travels in the weeks ahead.
For this week’s Women in Business issue, we reached out to the ladies of the cannabis industry to see what Mary Jane Rathbun, more famously known as Brownie Mary, means to them.
While Brownie Mary was most famously an activist providing thousands of brownies for San Francisco’s AIDS community in the 1980s and 1990s, it is important not to disenfranchise the fact she was one of the early female entrepreneurs of the game, too. After decades as a waitress, she started selling brownies in the 1970s to make an extra buck. She would go on to help a lot of people, too, but for the sake of this piece we were celebrating the business side of things.
These days, Lauren McNaughton is the director of brand marketing for Kiva and Lost Farms. In a past life, she helped build one of the largest infused baked goods companies California will ever see, Korova. McNaughton spent the tail end of the 215 era delivering boxes of cookies and brownies out of her trunk and being the boots on the ground for arguably the most bang-for-the-buck edible company ever in California.
“She was a beacon of compassion, activism and heroism,” McNaughton said of Brownie Mary. “Foundational to Prop 215, Brownie Mary represents the entirety of what built this “industry.” Compassionate care, not for profit. Not to mention the roads she paved for women in the industry. What an incredible influence to help guide us on this ever-changing landscape. And don’t get me started on what she meant to me when the beginning of my cannabis career was literally serving up brownies out of the trunk of my car.”
Cara Cordoni is the host of Dirty Bong Talk. She was also very connected with many of Rathbun’s surviving friends before she made the move to Humboldt from San Francisco. She spent countless hours with Brownie Mary’s peers from the fight for Proposition 215.
“Loudmouth for love, that’s one way I think about Mary Rathburn,” Cordoni said. “I love that she swore like a sailor! And my heart always aches when I think about her losing her only child, and then years later calling all her patients ‘her kids,’ mostly young men dying with AIDS, many of whom had been abandoned by their families. Compassion in action.”
Cordoni noted that as much as we celebrate Brownie Mary and as much as she was respected during her life, her end days sounded sad.
“The last bit that haunts me, and I’d be curious to find out if it’s true, is that it’s widely understood that she actually died alone. That she ended up in the hospital and her friends didn’t know. I hope that is not factual.” Cordoni said,
Jeany Zhou, the buyer and assistant manager at Berner’s on Haight, noted the San Francisco and then wider industry adopted her idea of compassion at The Hemp Center and donated cannabis to those who needed it.
Zhou went on to note, “The Brownie Mary Democrat Club is very active in the community and best represents her name; lobbying for safe cannabis access, shaping cannabis regulations, and educating the importance of cannabis and its properties.”
One of the greatest honors she has had since her passing was having the restoration of compassion programs in the age of legalization. The Dennis Peron and Brownie Mary Act was signed by Governor Gavin Newsom in 2019. It created a mechanism for dispensaries to legally give away product to sick people without having to pay a bunch of extra taxes.
The act has now facilitated millions of dollars worth of medicine being distributed to California’s low-income population that need help affording it in the years since it passed.
SB-58 Controlled substances: decriminalization of certain hallucinogenic substances.
CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2023–2024 REGULAR SESSION
SENATE BILL
NO. 58
Introduced by Senator Wiener (Principal coauthor: Assembly Member Kalra) (Coauthors: Senators Becker, Bradford, Newman, Skinner, and Smallwood-Cuevas) (Coauthors: Assembly Members Bryan, Haney, Jackson, Lee, Low, Lowenthal, Rendon, Wicks, and Wilson)
December 16, 2022
An act to amend Sections 11054, 11350, 11364, 11364.7, 11365, 11377, 11379, 11382, and 11550 of, to add Sections 11350.1 and 11377.1 to, to add and repeal Section 11214 of, and to repeal Section 11999 of, the Health and Safety Code, relating to controlled substances.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST
SB 58, Wiener. Controlled substances: decriminalization of certain hallucinogenic substances.
(1) Existing law categorizes certain drugs and other substances as controlled substances and prohibits various actions related to those substances, including their manufacture, transportation, sale, possession, and ingestion.
This bill would, on and after January 1, 2025, make lawful the possession, preparation, obtaining, or transportation of, specified quantities of psilocybin, psilocyn, dimethyltryptamine (DMT), and mescaline, for personal use, as defined, by and with persons 21 years of age or older. The bill would provide penalties for possession of these substances on school grounds, or possession by, or transferring to, persons under 21 years of age.
The bill would require the California Health and Human Services Agency to convene a workgroup to study and make recommendations on the establishment of a framework governing the therapeutic use, including facilitated or supported use, of those substances. The bill would require that workgroup to send a report to the Legislature containing those recommendations on or before January 1, 2025.
(2) Existing law prohibits the cultivation, transfer, or transportation, as specified, of any spores or mycelium capable of producing mushrooms or other materials that contain psilocybin or psilocyn.
This bill would, on and after January 1, 2025, make lawful the cultivation or transportation of specified quantities of spores or mycelium capable of producing mushrooms or other materials that contain psilocybin or psilocyn for personal use, as defined, by and with persons 21 years of age or older.
(3) Existing law prohibits the possession of drug paraphernalia, as defined.
This bill would exempt from this prohibition, paraphernalia related, as specified, to these specific substances. The bill would also exempt from the prohibition items used for the testing and analysis of controlled substances.
(4) Existing law states the intent of the Legislature that the messages and information provided by various state drug and alcohol programs promote no unlawful use of any drugs or alcohol.
This bill would repeal those provisions.
(5) By eliminating and changing the elements of existing crimes and creating new offenses, and by requiring new duties of local prosecutors, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program.
The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement.
This bill would provide that with regard to certain mandates no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.
With regard to any other mandates, this bill would provide that, if the Commission on State Mandates determines that the bill contains costs so mandated by the state, reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to the statutory provisions noted above.
(6) This bill would state that its provisions are severable.
DIGEST KEY
Vote: majority Appropriation: no Fiscal Committee: yes Local Program: yes
BILL TEXT
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1.
The Legislature finds and declares all of the following:
(a) For over fifty years, the War on Drugs has caused overwhelming financial and societal costs. The current United States drug control scheme does not reflect a modern understanding of the incentives, economics, or impacts of substance use, nor does it accurately reflect the risks or potential therapeutic benefits of many presently illicit substances.
(b) Drug prohibition has failed to deter drug use, and it has increased its danger. Criminalization of drug use has created an underground market in which difficult-to-verify dosages and the presence of adulterants increase the risks of illicit drugs.
(c) Lack of honest, evidence-based drug education has paved the way for decades of stigma and misinformation, which have contributed to increasing the dangers of drug use.
(d) Encouraging access to harm reduction tools like fentanyl test strips, drug-checking kits, gas chromatography mass spectrometry machines, and milligram scales increases public health and safety by allowing users to make more accurate decisions about their personal use.
(e) Clinical research demonstrates the potential use of some psychedelic compounds, in conjunction with therapy, for the treatment of mental health, such as end-of-life anxiety, depression, post-traumatic stress, and substance use disorders. Observational evidence and traditional uses of psychedelic plants and fungi demonstrate how ceremony and community are utilized to enhance the outcomes and increase the safety of spiritual practice, emotional healing, and responsible personal growth.
(f) Proposition 122 in Colorado, which passed in November 2022, with a 53 percent vote of the state population, will decriminalize the noncommercial, personal possession of psychedelic plants and fungi and establish a regulated therapy system to provide people with therapeutic access to psychedelic plants and fungi.
(g) Measure 109 in Oregon, which passed in November 2020, with a 56 percent vote of the state population, will establish a regulated psilocybin therapy system in Oregon to provide people therapeutic access to psilocybin.
(h) Measure 110 in Oregon, which passed in November 2020, with a 58 percent vote of the state population, decriminalized the personal possession of all drugs, and almost 20 countries around the world including Portugal, the Czech Republic, and Spain, have expressly or effectively decriminalized the personal use of illicit substances.
(i) The City Councils of the City of Oakland and the City of Santa Cruz and the Board of Supervisors of the City and County of San Francisco have all passed resolutions deprioritizing the enforcement of the possession, use, and propagation of psychedelic plants and fungi, effectively decriminalizing in those cities. Since June 2019, the City of Ann Arbor, Michigan, and the Cities of Somerville and Cambridge, Massachusetts have all decriminalized the possession, use, and propagation of psychedelic plants and fungi at the local level. In 2020, Washington, D.C., passed Initiative 81 to decriminalize and deprioritize the possession and use of psychedelic plants and fungi with 76 percent voter approval.
(j) This act will decriminalize the noncommercial, personal use of specified controlled substances. This provision would take effect on January 1, 2025. This act further decriminalizes the use of specified controlled substances for the purpose of group community-based healing, including facilitated and supported use, risk reduction, and other related services, but delays implementation of this provision until a framework for the therapeutic use, which would include community-based healing, facilitated and supported use, risk reduction, and other related services, of the specified controlled substances is developed and adopted. This bill lays the groundwork for California to develop a therapeutic access program for psychedelic plants and fungi.
(k) These changes in law will not affect any restrictions on the driving or operation of a vehicle while impaired, or an employer’s ability to restrict the use of controlled substances by its employees, or affect the legal standard for negligence.
(l) Peyote is specifically excluded from the list of substances to be decriminalized, and any cultivation, harvest, extraction, tincture or other product manufactured or derived therefrom, because of the nearly endangered status of the peyote plant and the special significance peyote holds in Native American spirituality. Section 11363 of the Health and Safety Code, which makes it a crime in California to cultivate, harvest, dry, or process any plant of the genus Lophophora, also known as Peyote, is not amended or repealed.
(m) The State of California fully respects and supports the continued Native American possession and use of peyote under federal law, Section 1996a of Title 42 of the United States Code, understanding that Native Americans in the United States were persecuted and prosecuted for their ceremonial practices and use of peyote for more than a century and had to fight numerous legal and political battles to achieve the current protected status, and the enactment of this legislation does not intend to undermine explicitly or implicitly that status.
SEC. 2.
Section 11054 of the Health and Safety Code is amended to read:
11054.
(a) The controlled substances listed in this section are included in Schedule I.
(b) Opiates. Unless specifically excepted or unless listed in another schedule, any of the following opiates, including their isomers, esters, ethers, salts, and salts of isomers, esters, and ethers whenever the existence of those isomers, esters, ethers, and salts is possible within the specific chemical designation:
(1) Acetylmethadol.
(2) Allylprodine.
(3) Alphacetylmethadol (except levoalphacetylmethadol, also known as levo-alpha-acetylmethadol, levomethadyl acetate, or LAAM).
(4) Alphameprodine.
(5) Alphamethadol.
(6) Benzethidine.
(7) Betacetylmethadol.
(8) Betameprodine.
(9) Betamethadol.
(10) Betaprodine.
(11) Clonitazene.
(12) Dextromoramide.
(13) Diampromide.
(14) Diethylthiambutene.
(15) Difenoxin.
(16) Dimenoxadol.
(17) Dimepheptanol.
(18) Dimethylthiambutene.
(19) Dioxaphetyl butyrate.
(20) Dipipanone.
(21) Ethylmethylthiambutene.
(22) Etonitazene.
(23) Etoxeridine.
(24) Furethidine.
(25) Hydroxypethidine.
(26) Ketobemidone.
(27) Levomoramide.
(28) Levophenacylmorphan.
(29) Morpheridine.
(30) Noracymethadol.
(31) Norlevorphanol.
(32) Normethadone.
(33) Norpipanone.
(34) Phenadoxone.
(35) Phenampromide.
(36) Phenomorphan.
(37) Phenoperidine.
(38) Piritramide.
(39) Proheptazine.
(40) Properidine.
(41) Propiram.
(42) Racemoramide.
(43) Tilidine.
(44) Trimeperidine.
(45) Any substance that contains any quantity of acetylfentanyl (N-[1-phenethyl-4-piperidinyl] acetanilide) or a derivative thereof.
(46) Any substance that contains any quantity of the thiophene analog of acetylfentanyl (N-[1-[2-(2-thienyl)ethyl]-4-piperidinyl] acetanilide) or a derivative thereof.
(c) Opium derivatives. Unless specifically excepted or unless listed in another schedule, any of the following opium derivatives, its salts, isomers, and salts of isomers whenever the existence of those salts, isomers, and salts of isomers is possible within the specific chemical designation:
(1) Acetorphine.
(2) Acetyldihydrocodeine.
(3) Benzylmorphine.
(4) Codeine methylbromide.
(5) Codeine-N-Oxide.
(6) Cyprenorphine.
(7) Desomorphine.
(8) Dihydromorphine.
(9) Drotebanol.
(10) Etorphine (except hydrochloride salt).
(11) Heroin.
(12) Hydromorphinol.
(13) Methyldesorphine.
(14) Methyldihydromorphine.
(15) Morphine methylbromide.
(16) Morphine methylsulfonate.
(17) Morphine-N-Oxide.
(18) Myrophine.
(19) Nicocodeine.
(20) Nicomorphine.
(21) Normorphine.
(22) Pholcodine.
(23) Thebacon.
(d) Hallucinogenic substances. Unless specifically excepted or unless listed in another schedule, any material, compound, mixture, or preparation that contains any quantity of the following hallucinogenic substances, or that contains any of its salts, isomers, and salts of isomers whenever the existence of those salts, isomers, and salts of isomers is possible within the specific chemical designation (for purposes of this subdivision only, the term “isomer” includes the optical, position, and geometric isomers):
(1) 4-bromo-2,5-dimethoxy-amphetamine—Some trade or other names: 4-bromo-2,5-dimethoxy-alpha-methylphenethylamine; 4-bromo-2,5-DMA.
(2) 2,5-dimethoxyamphetamine—Some trade or other names: 2,5-dimethoxy-alpha-methylphenethylamine; 2,5-DMA.
(3) 4-methoxyamphetamine—Some trade or other names: 4-methoxy-alpha-methylphenethylamine, paramethoxyamphetamine, PMA.
(4) 5-methoxy-3,4-methylenedioxy-amphetamine.
(5) 4-methyl-2,5-dimethoxy-amphetamine—Some trade or other names: 4-methyl-2,5-dimethoxy-alpha-methylphenethylamine; “DOM”; and “STP.”
(6) 3,4-methylenedioxy amphetamine.
(7) 3,4,5-trimethoxy amphetamine.
(8) Bufotenine—Some trade or other names: 3-(beta-dimethylaminoethyl)-5-hydroxyindole; 3-(2-dimethylaminoethyl)-5 indolol; N,N-dimethylserolonin, 5-hydroxy-N,N-dimethyltryptamine; mappine.
(9) Diethyltryptamine—Some trade or other names: N,N-Diethyltryptamine; DET.
(10) Dimethyltryptamine—Some trade or other names: DMT.
(11) Ibogaine—Some trade or other names: 7-Ethyl-6,6beta, 7,8,9,10,12,13-octahydro-2-methoxy-6,9-methano-5H-pyrido [1’,2’:1,2] azepino [5,4-b] indole; Tabernantheiboga.
(12) Lysergic acid diethylamide.
(13) Cannabis.
(14) Mescaline, derived from plants presently classified botanically in the Echinopsis or Trichocereus genus of cacti, including, without limitation, the Bolivian Torch Cactus, San Pedro Cactus, or Peruvian Torch Cactus, but not including mescaline derived from any plant described in paragraph (15).
(15) Peyote—Meaning all parts of the plant presently classified botanically as Lophophora williamsii Lemaire, whether growing or not, the seeds thereof, any extract from any part of the plant, and every compound, manufacture, salts, derivative, mixture, or preparation of the plant, its seeds or extracts (interprets 21 U.S.C. Sec. 812(c), Schedule 1(c)(12)).
(16) N-ethyl-3-piperidyl benzilate.
(17) N-methyl-3-piperidyl benzilate.
(18) Psilocybin.
(19) Psilocyn.
(20) Tetrahydrocannabinols. Synthetic equivalents of the substances contained in the plant, or in the resinous extractives of Cannabis, sp. and/or synthetic substances, derivatives, and their isomers with similar chemical structure and pharmacological activity such as the following: delta 1 cis or trans tetrahydrocannabinol, and their optical isomers; delta 6 cis or trans tetrahydrocannabinol, and their optical isomers; delta 3,4 cis or trans tetrahydrocannabinol, and its optical isomers.
Because nomenclature of these substances is not internationally standardized, compounds of these structures, regardless of numerical designation of atomic positions covered.
(21) Ethylamine analog of phencyclidine—Some trade or other names: N-ethyl-1-phenylcyclohexylamine, (1-phenylcyclohexyl) ethylamine, N-(1-phenylcyclohexyl) ethylamine, cyclohexamine, PCE.
(22) Pyrrolidine analog of phencyclidine—Some trade or other names: 1-(1-phenylcyclohexyl)-pyrrolidine, PCP, PHP.
(23) Thiophene analog of phencyclidine—Some trade or other names: 1-[1-(2 thienyl)-cyclohexyl]-piperidine, 2-thienyl analog of phencyclidine, TPCP, TCP.
(e) Depressants. Unless specifically excepted or unless listed in another schedule, any material, compound, mixture, or preparation that contains any quantity of the following substances having a depressant effect on the central nervous system, including its salts, isomers, and salts of isomers whenever the existence of those salts, isomers, and salts of isomers is possible within the specific chemical designation:
(1) Mecloqualone.
(2) Methaqualone.
(3) Gamma hydroxybutyric acid (also known by other names such as GHB; gamma hydroxy butyrate; 4-hydroxybutyrate; 4-hydroxybutanoic acid; sodium oxybate; sodium oxybutyrate), including its immediate precursors, isomers, esters, ethers, salts, and salts of isomers, esters, and ethers, including, but not limited to, gammabutyrolactone, for which an application has not been approved under Section 505 of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (21 U.S.C. Sec. 355).
(f) Unless specifically excepted or unless listed in another schedule, any material, compound, mixture, or preparation that contains any quantity of the following substances having a stimulant effect on the central nervous system, including its isomers:
(1) Cocaine base.
(2) Fenethylline, including its salts.
(3) N-Ethylamphetamine, including its salts.
SEC. 3.
Section 11214 is added to the Health and Safety Code, to read:
11214.
(a) The California Health and Human Services Agency shall convene a workgroup to study and make recommendations on the establishment of a framework governing the therapeutic use, including facilitated or supported use, as defined in paragraph (2) of subdivision (g) of Section 11350.1 and paragraph (2) of subdivision (g) of Section 11377.1, of mescaline, ibogaine, Dimethyltryptamine (DMT), and psilocyn or psilocybin.
(b) The Secretary of the California Health and Human Services Agency or their designee shall be the chairperson of the workgroup.
(c) The workgroup shall include, but not be limited to, all of the following:
(1) Persons with expertise in psychedelic therapy, medicine and public health, drug policy, harm reduction, and youth drug education.
(2) Law enforcement and emergency medical services or fire service first responders.
(3) People with experience with the traditional indigenous use of psychedelic substances, including representatives from the National Council of the Native American Church and Indian tribes in California.
(4) Veterans groups.
(5) University researchers with expertise in psychedelics.
(6) Research scientists with expertise in clinical studies and drug approval process under the federal Food and Drug Administration.
(7) Individuals from other states that have decriminalized psychedelics and established regulatory frameworks for the lawful use of psychedelics.
(d) The workgroup shall study subjects, including, but not limited to, all of the following:
(1) Research on the safety and efficacy of using each of the controlled substances specified in subdivision (a) in a therapeutic setting for treating post-traumatic stress disorder, depression, anxiety, addiction, and other mental health conditions.
(2) Long-term impact of supervised psychedelic or dissociative drug use with seeking and misusing other substances, including alcohol, cannabis, illicit substances, and unregulated psychedelic or dissociative drugs.
(3) Perceptions of harm of psychedelic or dissociative drugs following enactment of decriminalization both on a personal use and therapeutic use level.
(4) Impact of different regulatory frameworks on different health outcomes among vulnerable populations, including youth, people with substance use disorders, and minority or disenfranchised groups.
(5) Regulated use models for the controlled substances specified in subdivision (a) from other jurisdictions.
(6) Content and scope of educational campaigns that have proven effective in accurate public health approaches regarding use, effect, and risk reduction for the substances specified in subdivision (a), including, but not limited to, public service announcements, educational curricula, appropriate crisis response, and appropriate training for first responders and multiresponders, including law enforcement, emergency medical services, fire service, and unarmed coresponder units.
(7) Policies for minimizing use-related risks, including information related to appropriate use and impacts of detrimental substance use.
(8) Appropriate frameworks to govern the therapeutic use of controlled substances, including qualifications and training for therapists or facilitators.
(e) The workgroup shall develop policy recommendations regarding, but not limited to, all of the following:
(1) Development of a statewide program or programs for the training of individuals providing therapeutic psychedelic services in therapeutic settings, including facilitated and supported use settings.
(2) Development of a statewide credentialing process for individuals providing therapeutic psychedelic services in therapeutic settings, including facilitated or supported use settings.
(3) The content and scope of educational campaigns and accurate public health approaches regarding use, effect, risk reduction, and safety for the substances specified in subdivision (a).
(4) Policies for minimizing use-related risks, including information related to appropriate use and impacts of detrimental substance use.
(5) Policies for the regulation of controlled substances specified in subdivision (a), including responsible marketing, product safety, and cultural responsibility.
(6) Policies for the safe and equitable production, access, use, and delivery of the controlled substances specified in subdivision (a).
(f) Subsequent to the Legislature’s adoption of a framework governing therapeutic use of the substances described in subdivision (a), it is the intent of the Legislature that the transfer of a substance described in subdivision (a), without financial gain, in the context of therapeutic use, which includes facilitated or supported use, be decriminalized.
(g) As used in this section, “facilitated or supported use” means the supervised or assisted personal use of a substance described in subdivision (a) by an individual or group of persons 21 years of age or older, or the assisting or supervising of such persons in such use, within the context of spiritual guidance, community-based healing, or related services.
(h) (1) On or before January 1, 2025, the workgroup shall submit a report to the Legislature detailing its findings and recommendations.
(2) A report to be submitted pursuant to this subdivision shall be submitted in compliance with Section 9795 of the Government Code.
(i) This section shall remain in effect until January 1, 2026, and as of that date is repealed.
SEC. 4.
Section 11350 of the Health and Safety Code is amended to read:
11350.
(a) Except as otherwise provided in this division, every person who possesses (1) any controlled substance specified in subdivision (b), (c), (e), or paragraph (1) of subdivision (f) of Section 11054, specified in paragraph (15) or (20) of subdivision (d) of Section 11054, or specified in subdivision (b) or (c) of Section 11055, or specified in subdivision (h) of Section 11056, or (2) any controlled substance classified in Schedule III, IV, or V that is a narcotic drug, unless upon the written prescription of a physician, dentist, podiatrist, or veterinarian licensed to practice in this state, shall be punished by imprisonment in a county jail for not more than one year, except that such person shall instead be punished pursuant to subdivision (h) of Section 1170 of the Penal Code if that person has one or more prior convictions for an offense specified in clause (iv) of subparagraph (C) of paragraph (2) of subdivision (e) of Section 667 of the Penal Code or for an offense requiring registration pursuant to subdivision (c) of Section 290 of the Penal Code.
(b) Except as otherwise provided in this division, whenever a person who possesses any of the controlled substances specified in subdivision (a), the judge may, in addition to any punishment provided for pursuant to subdivision (a), assess against that person a fine not to exceed seventy dollars ($70) with proceeds of this fine to be used in accordance with Section 1463.23 of the Penal Code. The court shall, however, take into consideration the defendant’s ability to pay, and no defendant shall be denied probation because of their inability to pay the fine permitted under this subdivision.
(c) Except in unusual cases in which it would not serve the interest of justice to do so, whenever a court grants probation pursuant to a felony conviction under this section, in addition to any other conditions of probation that may be imposed, the following conditions of probation shall be ordered:
(1) For a first offense under this section, a fine of at least one thousand dollars ($1,000) or community service.
(2) For a second or subsequent offense under this section, a fine of at least two thousand dollars ($2,000) or community service.
(3) If a defendant does not have the ability to pay the minimum fines specified in paragraphs (1) and (2), community service shall be ordered in lieu of the fine.
(d) It is not unlawful for a person other than the prescription holder to possess a controlled substance described in subdivision (a) if both of the following apply:
(1) The possession of the controlled substance is at the direction or with the express authorization of the prescription holder.
(2) The sole intent of the possessor is to deliver the prescription to the prescription holder for its prescribed use or to discard the substance in a lawful manner.
(e) This section does not permit the use of a controlled substance by a person other than the prescription holder or permit the distribution or sale of a controlled substance that is otherwise inconsistent with the prescription.
SEC. 5.
Section 11350.1 is added to the Health and Safety Code, to read:
11350.1.
(a) Except as otherwise provided in subdivisions (b), (c), (d), and (e) of this section and notwithstanding any other law, all of the following shall be lawful for a natural person 21 years of age or older and shall not be a violation of state or local law:
(1) The possession, preparation, obtaining, or transportation, of no more than the allowable amount of mescaline, as described in paragraph (14) of subdivision (d) of Section 11054, for personal use.
(2) The ingesting of mescaline.
(3) The possession, planting, cultivating, harvesting, or preparation of plants capable of producing mescaline, except for the plant presently classified botanically as Lophophora williamsii Lemaire, on property owned or controlled by a person, for the purposes described in this subdivision by that person, and possession of any product produced by those plants.
(b) Possession of mescaline by a person 21 years of age or over on the grounds of any public or private elementary, vocational, junior high, or high school, during hours that the school is open for classes or school-related programs, or at any time when minors are using the facility is punishable as a misdemeanor.
(c) (1) A person who knowingly gives away or administers mescaline to a person who is under 18 years of age in violation of law shall be punished by imprisonment in a county jail for a period of not more than six months or by a fine of not more than five hundred dollars ($500), or by both that fine and imprisonment, or by imprisonment pursuant to subdivision (h) of Section 1170 of the Penal Code.
(2) Notwithstanding paragraph (1), a person 18 years of age or over who knowingly gives away or administers mescaline to a minor under 14 years of age in violation of law shall be punished by imprisonment in the state prison for a period of three, five, or seven years.
(3) A person who knowingly gives away or administers mescaline to a person who is at least 18 years of age, but under 21 years of age is guilty of an infraction.
(d) Except as otherwise provided, possession of mescaline by a person under 18 years of age is punishable as an infraction and shall require:
(1) Upon a finding that a first offense has been committed, four hours of drug education or counseling and up to 10 hours of community service over a period not to exceed 60 days, commencing when the drug education or counseling services are made available to them.
(2) Upon a finding that a second offense or subsequent offense has been committed, six hours of drug education or counseling and up to 20 hours of community service over a period not to exceed 90 days, commencing when the drug education or counseling services are made available to them.
(e) Except as otherwise provided, possession of mescaline by a person at least 18 years of age but less than 21 years of age is punishable as an infraction.
(f) Mescaline or related products involved in any way with conduct deemed lawful by this section are not contraband nor subject to seizure, and no conduct deemed lawful by this section shall constitute the basis for detention, search, or arrest, or the basis for the seizure or forfeiture of assets.
(g) As used in this section, the following terms are defined as follows:
(1) “Allowable amount” means four grams per person. “Allowable amount” does not include the weight of any material of which the substance is a part or to which the substance is added, dissolved, held in solution, or suspended, or any ingredient or material combined with the substance as part of a preparation.
(2) “Financial gain” means the receipt of money or other valuable consideration in exchange for the item being transferred.
(3) “Mescaline” does not include synthetic analogs of mescaline, including derivatives of mescaline that are produced using chemical synthesis, chemical modification, or chemical conversion.
(4) “Personal use” means for the personal ingestion or other personal and noncommercial use by the person in possession.
(5) “Preparation” means processing or otherwise preparing for use.
(h) This section shall take effect on January 1, 2025.
SEC. 6.
Section 11364 of the Health and Safety Code is amended to read:
11364.
(a) It is unlawful to possess an opium pipe or any device, contrivance, instrument, or paraphernalia used for unlawfully injecting or smoking (1) a controlled substance specified in subdivision (b), (c), or (e) or paragraph (1) of subdivision (f) of Section 11054, specified in paragraph (15) or (20) of subdivision (d) of Section 11054, specified in subdivision (b) or (c) of Section 11055, or specified in paragraph (2) of subdivision (d) of Section 11055, or (2) a controlled substance that is a narcotic drug classified in Schedule III, IV, or V.
(b) This section shall not apply to hypodermic needles or syringes that have been containerized for safe disposal in a container that meets state and federal standards for disposal of sharps waste.
(c) Until January 1, 2026, as a public health measure intended to prevent the transmission of HIV, viral hepatitis, and other bloodborne diseases among persons who use syringes and hypodermic needles, and to prevent subsequent infection of sexual partners, newborn children, or other persons, this section shall not apply to the possession solely for personal use of hypodermic needles or syringes.
SEC. 7.
Section 11364.7 of the Health and Safety Code is amended to read:
11364.7.
(a) (1) Except as authorized by law, any person who delivers, furnishes, or transfers, possesses with intent to deliver, furnish, or transfer, or manufactures with the intent to deliver, furnish, or transfer, drug paraphernalia, knowing, or under circumstances where one reasonably should know, that it will be used to plant, propagate, cultivate, grow, harvest, compound, convert, produce, process, prepare, pack, repack, store, contain, conceal, inject, ingest, inhale, or otherwise introduce into the human body a controlled substance, except as provided in subdivision (b), in violation of this division, is guilty of a misdemeanor.
(2) A public entity, its agents, or employees shall not be subject to criminal prosecution for distribution of hypodermic needles or syringes or any materials deemed by a local or state health department to be necessary to prevent the spread of communicable diseases, or to prevent drug overdose, injury, or disability to participants in clean needle and syringe exchange projects authorized by the public entity pursuant to Chapter 18 (commencing with Section 121349) of Part 4 of Division 105.
(3) This subdivision does not apply to any paraphernalia that is intended to be used to plant, propagate, cultivate, grow, harvest, compound, convert, produce, process, prepare, pack, repack, store, contain, conceal, inject, ingest, inhale, or otherwise introduce into the human body, any of the following substances:
(A) Dimethyltryptamine (DMT).
(B) Mescaline.
(C) Psilocybin.
(D) Psilocyn.
(b) Except as authorized by law, any person who manufactures with intent to deliver, furnish, or transfer drug paraphernalia knowing, or under circumstances where one reasonably should know, that it will be used to plant, propagate, cultivate, grow, harvest, manufacture, compound, convert, produce, process, prepare, test, analyze, pack, repack, store, contain, conceal, inject, ingest, inhale, or otherwise introduce into the human body cocaine, cocaine base, heroin, phencyclidine, or methamphetamine in violation of this division shall be punished by imprisonment in a county jail for not more than one year, or in the state prison.
(c) Except as authorized by law, any person, 18 years of age or over, who violates subdivision (a) by delivering, furnishing, or transferring drug paraphernalia to a person under 18 years of age who is at least three years younger, or who, upon the grounds of a public or private elementary, vocational, junior high, or high school, possesses a hypodermic needle, as defined in paragraph (7) of subdivision (a) of Section 11014.5, with the intent to deliver, furnish, or transfer the hypodermic needle, knowing, or under circumstances where one reasonably should know, that it will be used by a person under 18 years of age to inject into the human body a controlled substance, is guilty of a misdemeanor and shall be punished by imprisonment in a county jail for not more than one year, by a fine of not more than one thousand dollars ($1,000), or by both that imprisonment and fine.
(d) The violation, or the causing or the permitting of a violation, of subdivision (a), (b), or (c) by a holder of a business or liquor license issued by a city, county, or city and county, or by the State of California, and in the course of the licensee’s business shall be grounds for the revocation of that license.
(e) All drug paraphernalia defined in Section 11014.5 is subject to forfeiture and may be seized by any peace officer pursuant to Section 11471 unless its distribution has been authorized pursuant to subdivision (a).
(f) If any provision of this section or the application thereof to any person or circumstance is held invalid, it is the intent of the Legislature that the invalidity shall not affect other provisions or applications of this section that can be given effect without the invalid provision or application and to this end the provisions of this section are severable.
SEC. 8.
Section 11365 of the Health and Safety Code is amended to read:
11365.
(a) It is unlawful to visit or to be in any room or place where any controlled substances that are specified in subdivision (b), (c), or (e), or paragraph (1) of subdivision (f) of Section 11054, specified in paragraph (15) or (20) of subdivision (d) of Section 11054, or specified in subdivision (b) or (c) or paragraph (2) of subdivision (d) of Section 11055, or that are narcotic drugs classified in Schedule III, IV, or V, are being unlawfully smoked or used with knowledge that such activity is occurring.
(b) This section shall apply only where the defendant aids, assists, or abets the perpetration of the unlawful smoking or use of a controlled substance specified in subdivision (a). This subdivision is declaratory of existing law as expressed in People v. Cressey (1970) 2 Cal. 3d 836.
SEC. 9.
Section 11377 of the Health and Safety Code is amended to read:
11377.
(a) Except as authorized by law and as otherwise provided in subdivision (b) or Section 11375, or in Article 7 (commencing with Section 4211) of Chapter 9 of Division 2 of the Business and Professions Code, every person who possesses any controlled substance that is (1) classified in Schedule III, IV, or V, and that is not a narcotic drug, (2) specified in subdivision (d) of Section 11054, except paragraphs (10), (11), (13), (14), (15), (18), (19), and (20) of subdivision (d), (3) specified in paragraph (11) of subdivision (c) of Section 11056, (4) specified in paragraph (2) or (3) of subdivision (f) of Section 11054, or (5) specified in subdivision (d), (e), or (f) of Section 11055, unless upon the prescription of a physician, dentist, podiatrist, or veterinarian, licensed to practice in this state, shall be punished by imprisonment in a county jail for a period of not more than one year, except that such person may instead be punished pursuant to subdivision (h) of Section 1170 of the Penal Code if that person has one or more prior convictions for an offense specified in clause (iv) of subparagraph (C) of paragraph (2) of subdivision (e) of Section 667 of the Penal Code or for an offense requiring registration pursuant to subdivision (c) of Section 290 of the Penal Code.
(b) The judge may assess a fine not to exceed seventy dollars ($70) against any person who violates subdivision (a), with the proceeds of this fine to be used in accordance with Section 1463.23 of the Penal Code. The court shall, however, take into consideration the defendant’s ability to pay, and no defendant shall be denied probation because of their inability to pay the fine permitted under this subdivision.
(c) It is not unlawful for a person other than the prescription holder to possess a controlled substance described in subdivision (a) if both of the following apply:
(1) The possession of the controlled substance is at the direction or with the express authorization of the prescription holder.
(2) The sole intent of the possessor is to deliver the prescription to the prescription holder for its prescribed use or to discard the substance in a lawful manner.
(d) This section does not permit the use of a controlled substance by a person other than the prescription holder or permit the distribution or sale of a controlled substance that is otherwise inconsistent with the prescription.
SEC. 10.
Section 11377.1 is added to the Health and Safety Code, to read:
11377.1.
(a) Except as otherwise provided in subdivisions (b), (c), (d), and (e) of this section, and notwithstanding any other law, all of the following shall be lawful for a natural person 21 years of age or older and shall not be a violation of state or local law:
(1) The possession, preparation, obtaining, or transportation, of no more than the allowable amount of any of the following substances for personal use:
(A) The controlled substance specified in paragraph (10) of subdivision (d) of Section 11054.
(B) The controlled substance specified in paragraph (18) of subdivision (d) of Section 11054.
(C) The controlled substance specified in paragraph (19) of subdivision (d) of Section 11054.
(D) Spores or mycelium capable of producing mushrooms or other material which contains the controlled substance specified in paragraph (18) or (19) of subdivision (d) of Section 11054.
(2) The ingesting of a substance described in paragraph (1).
(3) The possession, planting, cultivating, harvesting, or preparation of plants capable of producing a substance described in paragraph (1), on property owned or controlled by a person, for the uses described in this subdivision by that person, and possession of any product produced by those plants including spores or mycelium capable of producing mushrooms or other materials that contain a controlled substance specified in paragraph (18) or (19) of subdivision (d) of Section 11054, for that purpose.
(b) Possession of a controlled substance specified in paragraph (1) of subdivision (a) by a person 21 years of age or over, on the grounds of any public or private elementary, vocational, junior high, or high school, during hours that the school is open for classes or school-related programs, or at any time when minors are using the facility is punishable as a misdemeanor.
(c) (1) A person who knowingly gives away or administers a controlled substance specified in paragraph (1) of subdivision (a) to a person who is under 18 years of age in violation of law shall be punished by imprisonment in a county jail for a period of not more than six months or by a fine of not more than five hundred dollars ($500), or by both that fine and imprisonment, or by imprisonment pursuant to subdivision (h) of Section 1170 of the Penal Code.
(2) Notwithstanding paragraph (1), a person 18 years of age or over who knowingly gives away or administers a substance described in paragraph (1) to a minor under 14 years of age in violation of law shall be punished by imprisonment in the state prison for a period of three, five, or seven years.
(3) A person who knowingly gives away or administers a substance described in paragraph (1) to a person who is at least 18 years of age, but under 21 years of age is guilty of an infraction.
(d) Except as otherwise provided, possession of a controlled substance specified in paragraph (1) of subdivision (a) by a person under 18 years of age is punishable as an infraction and shall require:
(1) Upon a finding that a first offense has been committed, four hours of drug education or counseling and up to 10 hours of community service over a period not to exceed 60 days, commencing when the drug education or counseling services are made available to them.
(2) Upon a finding that a second offense or subsequent offense has been committed, six hours of drug education or counseling and up to 20 hours of community service over a period not to exceed 90 days, commencing when the drug education or counseling services are made available to them.
(e) Except as otherwise provided, possession of a controlled substance specified in paragraph (1) of subdivision (a) by a person at least 18 years of age but less than 21 years of age is punishable as an infraction.
(f) A controlled substance described in this section or any related product involved in any way with conduct deemed lawful by this section are not contraband nor subject to seizure, and no conduct deemed lawful by this section shall constitute the basis for detention, search, or arrest, or the basis for the seizure or forfeiture of assets.
(g) As used in this section, the following terms are defined as follows:
(1) “Allowable amount” means the following quantities of a substance per person. “Allowable amount” does not include the weight of any material of which the substance is a part or to which the substance is added, dissolved, held in solution, or suspended, or any ingredient or material combined with the substance specified in this subdivision as part of a preparation:
(A) One gram of dimethyltryptamine, otherwise known as DMT.
(B) One gram of psilocybin or one ounce of a plant or fungi containing psilocybin.
(C) One gram of psilocyn or one ounce of a plant or fungi containing psilocyn.
(D) The amount of spores or mycelium capable of producing an allowable amount of a plant or fungi which contain a controlled substance specified in paragraph (18) or (19) of subdivision (d) of Section 11054.
(2) “Controlled substances” in this section does not include synthetic analogs of these substances, including derivatives of these substances that are produced using chemical synthesis, chemical modification, or chemical conversion.
(3) “Financial gain” means the receipt of money or other valuable consideration in exchange for the item being transferred.
(4) “Personal use” means for the personal ingestion or other personal and noncommercial use by the person in possession.
(5) “Preparation” means processing or otherwise preparing for use.
(h) This section shall take effect on January 1, 2025.
SEC. 11.
Section 11379 of the Health and Safety Code is amended to read:
11379.
(a) Except as otherwise provided in subdivision (b), in Section 11377.1, and in Article 7 (commencing with Section 4211) of Chapter 9 of Division 2 of the Business and Professions Code, every person who transports, imports into this state, sells, furnishes, administers, or gives away, or offers to transport, import into this state, sell, furnish, administer, or give away, or attempts to import into this state or transport any controlled substance that is (1) classified in Schedule III, IV, or V and that is not a narcotic drug, except subdivision (g) of Section 11056, (2) specified in subdivision (d) of Section 11054, except paragraphs (13), (14), (15), (20), (21), (22), and (23) of subdivision (d), (3) specified in paragraph (11) of subdivision (c) of Section 11056, (4) specified in paragraph (2) or (3) of subdivision (f) of Section 11054, or (5) specified in subdivision (d) or (e), except paragraph (3) of subdivision (e), or specified in subparagraph (A) of paragraph (1) of subdivision (f), of Section 11055, unless upon the prescription of a physician, dentist, podiatrist, or veterinarian, licensed to practice in this state, shall be punished by imprisonment pursuant to subdivision (h) of Section 1170 of the Penal Code for a period of two, three, or four years.
(b) Notwithstanding the penalty provisions of subdivision (a), any person who transports any controlled substances specified in subdivision (a) within this state from one county to another noncontiguous county shall be punished by imprisonment pursuant to subdivision (h) of Section 1170 of the Penal Code for three, six, or nine years.
(c) For purposes of this section, “transports” means to transport for sale.
(d) Nothing in this section is intended to preclude or limit prosecution under an aiding and abetting theory, accessory theory, or a conspiracy theory.
SEC. 12.
Section 11382 of the Health and Safety Code is amended to read:
11382.
Except as otherwise provided in Section 11377.1, every person who agrees, consents, or in any manner offers to unlawfully sell, furnish, transport, administer, or give any controlled substance that is (a) classified in Schedule III, IV, or V and that is not a narcotic drug, or (b) specified in subdivision (d) of Section 11054, except paragraphs (13), (14), (15), and (20) of subdivision (d), specified in paragraph (11) of subdivision (c) of Section 11056, or specified in subdivision (d), (e), or (f) of Section 11055, to any person, or offers, arranges, or negotiates to have that controlled substance unlawfully sold, delivered, transported, furnished, administered, or given to any person and then sells, delivers, furnishes, transports, administers, or gives, or offers, or arranges, or negotiates to have sold, delivered, transported, furnished, administered, or given to any person any other liquid, substance, or material in lieu of that controlled substance shall be punished by imprisonment in the county jail for not more than one year, or pursuant to subdivision (h) of Section 1170 of the Penal Code.
SEC. 13.
Section 11550 of the Health and Safety Code is amended to read:
11550.
(a) A person shall not use, or be under the influence of any controlled substance that is (1) specified in subdivision (b), (c), or (e), or paragraph (1) of subdivision (f) of Section 11054, specified in paragraph (15), (21), (22), or (23) of subdivision (d) of Section 11054, specified in subdivision (b) or (c) of Section 11055, or specified in paragraph (1) or (2) of subdivision (d) or in paragraph (3) of subdivision (e) of Section 11055, or (2) a narcotic drug classified in Schedule III, IV, or V, except when administered by or under the direction of a person licensed by the state to dispense, prescribe, or administer controlled substances. It shall be the burden of the defense to show that it comes within the exception. A person convicted of violating this subdivision is guilty of a misdemeanor and shall be sentenced to serve a term of not more than one year in a county jail. The court may also place a person convicted under this subdivision on probation for a period not to exceed five years.
(b) (1) A person who is convicted of violating subdivision (a) when the offense occurred within seven years of that person being convicted of two or more separate violations of that subdivision, and refuses to complete a licensed drug rehabilitation program offered by the court pursuant to subdivision (c), shall be punished by imprisonment in a county jail for not less than 180 days nor more than one year. In no event does the court have the power to absolve a person convicted of a violation of subdivision (a) who is punishable under this subdivision from the obligation of spending at least 180 days in confinement in a county jail unless there are no licensed drug rehabilitation programs reasonably available.
(2) For the purpose of this section, a drug rehabilitation program is not reasonably available unless the person is not required to pay more than the court determines that they are reasonably able to pay in order to participate in the program.
(c) (1) The court may, when it would be in the interest of justice, permit a person convicted of a violation of subdivision (a) punishable under subdivision (a) or (b) to complete a licensed drug rehabilitation program in lieu of part or all of the imprisonment in a county jail. As a condition of sentencing, the court may require the offender to pay all or a portion of the drug rehabilitation program.
(2) In order to alleviate jail overcrowding and to provide recidivist offenders with a reasonable opportunity to seek rehabilitation pursuant to this subdivision, counties are encouraged to include provisions to augment licensed drug rehabilitation programs in their substance abuse proposals and applications submitted to the state for federal and state drug abuse funds.
(d) In addition to any fine assessed under this section, the judge may assess a fine not to exceed seventy dollars ($70) against a person who violates this section, with the proceeds of this fine to be used in accordance with Section 1463.23 of the Penal Code. The court shall, however, take into consideration the defendant’s ability to pay, and a defendant shall not be denied probation because of their inability to pay the fine permitted under this subdivision.
(e) (1) Notwithstanding subdivisions (a) and (b) or any other law, a person who is unlawfully under the influence of cocaine, cocaine base, heroin, methamphetamine, or phencyclidine while in the immediate personal possession of a loaded, operable firearm is guilty of a public offense punishable by imprisonment in a county jail for not exceeding one year or in state prison.
(2) As used in this subdivision “immediate personal possession” includes, but is not limited to, the interior passenger compartment of a motor vehicle.
(f) Every person who violates subdivision (e) is punishable upon the second and each subsequent conviction by imprisonment in the state prison for two, three, or four years.
(g) This section does not prevent deferred entry of judgment or a defendant’s participation in a preguilty plea drug court program under Chapter 2.5 (commencing with Section 1000) of Title 6 of Part 2 of the Penal Code unless the person is charged with violating subdivision (b) or (c) of Section 243 of the Penal Code. A person charged with violating this section by being under the influence of any controlled substance that is specified in paragraph (21), (22), or (23) of subdivision (d) of Section 11054 or in paragraph (3) of subdivision (e) of Section 11055 and with violating either subdivision (b) or (c) of Section 243 of the Penal Code or with a violation of subdivision (e) shall be ineligible for deferred entry of judgment or a preguilty plea drug court program.
SEC. 14.
Section 11999 of the Health and Safety Code is repealed.
SEC. 15.
The provisions of this act are severable. If any provision of this act or its application is held invalid, that invalidity shall not affect other provisions or applications that can be given effect without the invalid provision or application.
SEC. 16.
No reimbursement is required by this act pursuant to Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California Constitution for certain costs that may be incurred by a local agency or school district because, in that regard, this act creates a new crime or infraction, eliminates a crime or infraction, or changes the penalty for a crime or infraction, within the meaning of Section 17556 of the Government Code, or changes the definition of a crime within the meaning of Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California Constitution.
However, if the Commission on State Mandates determines that this act contains other costs mandated by the state, reimbursement to local agencies and school districts for those costs shall be made pursuant to Part 7 (commencing with Section 17500) of Division 4 of Title 2 of the Government Code.
As is tradition, with this list we present a holiday-size helping of the heat we’ve found in the past couple of months following the harvest and trips to scope out the marketplaces in Vegas, abroad in the Canary Islands and Thailand.
The 12 Strains of Christmas also is our most extensive flower list of the year. It’s always a pleasure to highlight some killers so they have one more thing to share with their families during whatever holiday they might enjoy together.
Here are the strains you should leave out for Santa in 2023.
Red Pop S1 #37 (Riddles) – Royal Key Organics
As with many strains from breeders that offer as extensive a catalog as Exotic Genetix, it can take a couple of years to get the full wind in their sales. Red Pop has had a fantastic 2022. Its offspring, Red Runtz, is entering its own hype wave, but the Red Pop is still elite and 2022 was the first year many had the chance to try it. One of our favorite phenos of anything Red Pop belongs to Royal Key Organics in Humboldt County. In particular, their Red Pop S1 #37 they named Riddles. It smells like buttery popcorn with cherry Kool-Aid sprinkled on top.
Zkittelz – Alien Labs
The Alien Labs rendition of Zkittlez is tied with IC Collective for the best Z terps we’ve ever seen grown outside of Mendocino County. We got our first peek at it during Las Vegas Heat Quest on MJ Biz Con Eve. As people approached us with their versions of Z throughout the week, nothing else came close. Back home here in California, few can produce Z terps at this level commercially.
Flowers of Zion – Fidels
Courtesy of Fidels
On the heels of his self-made docuseries and summer win at the Transbay Challenge I threw in L.A. for his KMZ, Flowers of Zion is the next one to keep an eye on from Fidel. The Flowers of Zion brings together Garlic Cocktail with Symbiotic Genetics’s timeless classic Mimosa. With his cultivation site operational, expect to see even more of Fidels Flower throughout the state.
Seed Junky and Fidel Buds took top honors at Ego Clash a couple of weeks ago on the eve of The Emerald Cup’s Harvest Ball, thanks to some ultra-elite hash from Simply Adam that topped the uber-competitive contest where many of the world’s best hash makers score each other. The Banana God is a pairing of Wilson and Banana OG. The version that won Ego Clash was a Banana God F2 that was done by @ibean_poppin2much and then grown by Simpleeadam.
Cap Junky – Capulator x Seed Junky
Courtesy of Capulator
A collaboration between two Los Angeles heavyweights, Capulator and Seed Junkie’s CapJunky was certainly a favorite for us in 2022. It’s among the gassiest offerings from both breeders and is an absolute ripper. It has limited availability in town, but you can score some at Peace of Green at 1155 East Pico Blvd., in DTLA.
Stardawg x Gelato 41 – Doja Pak
Ever since we first covered the original RS11 drop in LA a couple of years back, it feels like you’d need one of those NASA cameras that tracks the rockets after launch to keep pace with what they’ve been up to. While strains named after art supplies and animals are dope, we think the Stardawg x Gelato 41 was a pinch underrated during the hype storm this year and wanted to give it some extra love.
Blackberry Gary – Serge Cannabis x Powerzzzup
Courtesy of Serge Cannabis
Arguably the biggest strain to drop in California this fall, Blackberry Gary has lived up to the hype. The rare collaboration from Powerzzzup is an absolute killer. Most of the Cereal Milk and Gary Crosses out there are from reversals, but Serge was able to work with the real gear and get the Powerzzzup team’s blessings on the final product. It carries on the flavor and impact tradition of the Gary Payton line.
DEO – 580
Courtesy of DEO
580 is the most underrated strain from Deep East Oakland Farms. Everyone is tripping balls. I’m not saying it’s RS or Zoap, but saying it’s not special is batshit crazy to me. It tastes so much different from the rest of their pack. Now I love me some dessert weed, but the smell of nail polish is one of my favorite things. The freshest batches of 580 have it in abundance. It smashes into your sinuses when you open a bag.
Red Bullz x Fishscale – High Rhythm Farm
The Santa Cruz-hunted version of the Compound Genetics heater was certainly on the podium for us at The Emerald Cup Harvest Ball. Few things came close in the quality of the terpene or look. The impact was great, too, when we got the chance to try it. We highly recommend keeping an eye out for this one.
Prism OZ – Cipher Genetics
Courtesy of Cipher Genetics
An offering from the newest company on The 12 Strains of Christmas, Cipher Genetics is the latest project from Compound Genetics founder Chris Lynch. Our favorite offering from the launch drop is looking to be the Prism OZ. While we haven’t seen the finished product yet, we’re very excited for the recipe of SFV OG x ( Zkittelz x (Zkittelz x Gelato 41)). We’re convinced it’ll be a heater, much like a lot of Lynch’s past classics.
OZ Kush BX1 – 3rd Gen Family
Courtesy of 3rd Gen Family
Numerous companies in the cannabis space got their start with a pack of 3rd Gen Family’s Dying Breed Seeds, and one of the strains that launched the most or helped take things to a new level was OZ Kush. It brought together the Eddy OG and Zkittelz and the first packs sold five years ago. As I look at their current lineup, if I’m a cannabis company desperate for an epic house flavor to help me stay afloat in the darkest times ever for the marketplace, I’m buying as many packs of OZ Kush Bx1 seeds as I can and finding myself a little bit of hope.
Double Dawg – Dr. Dope Bangkok
On our recent adventure to Thailand alongside High Times and High Rise TV, we went to a ton of spots and looked at a bunch of Thai weed. With the exception of the 100 Hands at Phandee in Japan Village in Bangkok, none of it could compare to what Dr. Dope was doing. I would say thanks to Dr. Dope’s Double Dawg, the best weed I’ve seen grown in Thailand is better than the best weed I saw grown in Las Vegas during MJ Bizcon last month.
The Weed, Sex, and Chocolate Guide is back to help you with your quest to enhance the Valentine’s Day festivities.
Weed is one of the greatest Valentine’s Day gifts of all, regardless of your plumbing. You can buy it for the person you started dating last week or last decade and you never have to worry about it being too over the top. Not the lube, but the other stuff.
We’ve always used this list to highlight the chocolate of the moment. We’re also trying to include plenty of new faces this year, but you’ll certainly recognize a couple of OGs that just have it down. Nevertheless, we’re sure this lineup of cocoa in all its glory produced all over California will fill the air with, at the very least, a love of weed chocolate.
The Weed
Alien Labs – Super Silver Haze x Xeno
The pheno of SSH x Xeno that we tried was probably the haziest American thing we’ve ever had the chance to sample. It tastes more like something from Europe than Sacramento. I think the thing that shocked us the most was just how overpowering the Haze terps were over the complexity of Xeno. A lot of people would argue hazes are some of the best sex weeds with the exception of this dominatrix I knew from San Francisco who said Blue Moonshine. But I think she just wanted a heavy indica to make it easier to tie people up.
Symbiotic Genetics Rosin
Courtesy of Kalya Extracts
Symbiotic Genetics is one of the most stored seed companies of the decade. In addition to its genetics taking top honors at Chalice, its work has dotted podiums all over the world for years. I even saw some Mimosa grown in Africa that would be competitive. As luck would have it, the amazing flavors are now available in hash made by some of the world’s best extractors. Keep an eye out for their work with Royal Key Organics and Kalya.
The Chocolate
Fig Farms – High Flyin Chocolates
Courtesy of Fig Farms
The first-ever Emerald Cup indoor flower champions are diving into the world of edibles with a new chocolate offering. Made from the same quality material that’s taken home a podium spot in every contest it has ever entered, you’ll certainly be able to feel the difference. But the actual flavor of the Cookies and Cream rosin-infused chocolates is spot on, too, with no weedy flavor to it at all.
Oui’d Confections
Courtesy of Ouid
Is another rosin chocolate starting to make waves, Ouid is owned and operated by Michelin and James Beard Award-winning chefs Matthew Kim and Matt Rowbotham. The pair strived to bring their high-end cooking experience to the world of cannabis edibles. They argue that they are putting out restaurant-quality confections and it would be hard to say otherwise. Ouid Confections is available all over Los Angeles.
Cosmic Cookie Dough
Courtesy of Cosmic
We covered the tale of Cosmic Cookie Dough last year, and they remain one of the easiest ways to please vegan edible lovers. If you want to show your vegan lover you care, bake some up for the holiday or just bring two spoons and raw dog it. There are no eggs, so you don’t have to worry about food poisoning.
Punch Edibles
Courtesy of Punch Edibles
Punch always has a Valentine’s day offering, but this year, the new half cookie bar is definitely our pick. Punch is a company that was made famous during the medical era for its potency but had to fall back on quality alone once the value buying aspect of cannabis edibles was lost to the 100mg THC cap that came with Prop 64. This year the company celebrates a decade of getting Southern California lit with its exceptional edibles.
Native Humboldt
Courtesy of Native Humboldt
Want to get your V-day chocolate from a women-owned farm in the heart of The Emerald Triangle? Look no further than Native Humboldt. The bars are filled with the quality and love of the game it takes to be a survivor up north these days. With so many farms devastated over the past few years up north, it’s important to support the farmers up there when you get the chance, but we’re not telling you to buy it out of sympathy. It’s great chocolate.
Jelly Wizard Magic Morsels
Courtesy of Jelly Wizard
We have been a wizard gang since the moment they entered the recreational market. We were literally standing at the booth smoking a blunt with them when they made their first legal sale at Kushstock a couple of years ago. While the gummies helped put them on the map along with some killer hash and flower, do not sleep on Jelly Wizard’s chocolate offering. You can truly taste the hype in The Magic Morsels.
The Sex
Flora + Bast Aphrodisia Intimate Arousal Oil
Courtesy of Fiona + Bast
The dual purpose oil is designed for both topical and edible adventures in the bedroom. Now is the $77 price tag steep for 1,700mg CBD and 1,000mg CBG? Maybe that’s just the cost of great cannabinoid-laced sex these days. Flora + Blast note when applied topically it makes you slippery and stimulates the libido. If you eat it, the CBD makes your Valentine’s Day hookup less regrettable. The oil also comes in a Sex System they call “the kit” (not my quotations) because why not, right? That set features a QR code to download the book “Becoming Cliterate” by author and sex educator, Laurie Mintz, Lelo’s sonic massager Sona II Cruse and the Aphrodisia Oil for $149.
Lavinia Oh.Hi Lubricant
Courtesy of Lavinia
In one of this year’s list’s most heartwarming tales, here is Lavinia’s backstory that I couldn’t possibly word better:
“The brand was founded in 2021 by Katie Enright, a former celibate studying to be a nun. In a quest to help herself and others obtain easy, powerful, multiple orgasms, Enright began by studying cannabis and sex, and created her first product for herself, then for friends, then friends of friends. After an earth-shattering orgasm, Lavinia’s first product, oh.hi, was born.”
The company claims the THC and CBD-infused lube increases blood flow for heightened sensation when applied vaginally or for Valentine’s Day butt stuff. Oh.hi is latex friendly, glycerin-free, glycol-free, paraben-free, hypoallergenic, unscented, unflavored, and 100% vegan. It’ll take about 15 minutes to work, not the slippery part, the weed part. Oh.hi is available at dispensaries all over California.
The nearly decade-long battle to get American veterans access to medical cannabis continued on Capitol Hill this week.
With the exception of seeing little kids with extreme forms of epilepsy like Dravet’s Syndrome, nothing went further in changing the national conversation around medical cannabis than supporting vets with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. This movement was a direct result of first-hand experiences with medical cannabis safety and efficacy when it came to PTSD, as more veterans continue to take their own lives. In its own 2017 study on cannabis and PTSD, the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) noted over one-third of patients seeking cannabis for medical purposes list PTSD as the primary reason for the request, and 15% of VA patients at outpatient clinics are using medical cannabis in the last six months.
Cannabis Caucus founder Rep. Earl Blumenauer picked the fight up this week, to get vets access to cannabis. He originally started pushing the effort in 2014. In 2016, things looked great, but the language ended up getting stripped in final negotiations by then-Illinois Senator Mark Kirk.
At the time, Blumenauer noted, “It’s incredibly frustrating and disappointing that despite broad bipartisan, bicameral support, a handful of out-of-touch lawmakers put politics over the well-being of America’s wounded warriors. Our veterans deserve better. We will continue to seek every opportunity to make sure they have fair and equal treatment and the ability to consult with, and seek a recommendation from, their personal VA physician about medical marijuana.”
But things are looking up. On Wednesday, Blumenauer passed an amendment to end the VA’s prohibition on providers assisting veterans in accessing state-legal medical cannabis. Not only did it pass, it passed unanimously in a voice vote. In this heavily divided Congress, surely that is a reasonable sign of how bipartisan supporting veterans is.
After the amendment passed on Wednesday, Blumenauer told L.A. Weekly,
“Veterans in Oregon and across the country have shared with me how medical cannabis has literally saved their lives. It is a gross injustice that the VA continues to prohibit its providers from helping veterans access medical cannabis. My amendment with Brian Mast would finally allow the VA to help veterans complete forms in compliance with state-legal cannabis programs, allowing them to access a far less addictive alternative to opioids in managing PTSD, anxiety, depression, and other chronic conditions.”
Blumenauer also came out against the VA’s move to strongly advocate against medical cannabis as a treatment for PTSD this week. This recommendation came despite the VA noting some participants from its own focus groups, “spoke about the benefits of newer pharmacologic treatments (e.g., ketamine) and were interested in exploring other newer treatments such as psilocybin, cannabis, LSD, and other psychedelics.”
The VA cited that same 2017 study we mentioned before when it came out strongly against using cannabis for PTSD. But that study’s own authors noted there are very few methodologically rigorous studies examining the effects of cannabis in patients with PTSD.
“We found only two observational studies, which suggest that cannabis is potentially associated with neutral effects on PTSD or depression symptom severity, and employment status, and negative effects in terms of violent behavior, drug and alcohol abuse, and suicidal ideation,” the authors noted in their findings. “However, the strength of evidence is rated as insufficient due to the potential for bias in the two included studies in this review and the small number of controlled studies reporting data on benefits and harms of cannabis for treating PTSD symptoms.”
So how can something that notes how limited the information being used is be the ethos for the VA’s prohibition on medical cannabis for PTSD? And with all the discussion around vets and cannabis, how is this still what they are citing in the debate all these years later? How has the VA not pushed this research further in that time period?
In a letter to the VA’s leadership, Blunenauer said, “The Departments of Veterans Affairs and Defense have a long history of claiming the best interest of our veterans and servicemembers only to deny the reality of medical marijuana as a key treatment option for those impacted by post-traumatic stress disorder.”
Blumenauer went on to note the updated June 2023 VA/DoD Clinical Practice Guideline for Management of PTSD perpetuates this misguided denial of services to our nation’s veterans.
“For decades, I have heard from veterans across the country that medical cannabis has been a life-saving treatment for PTSD,” Blumensauer told the VA and DOD leadership. “I urge you to reconsider the antiquated and insufficient recommendation against the use of cannabis or cannabis derivatives in treating patients with PTSD.”
Etienne Fontan of Berkeley Patients Group and Veterans Action Council was pleased with Blumenauer’s success.
“We want to thank Blumeneur and the Cannabis Caucus for keeping true to their words to help veterans gain cannabis access via the VA. Many politicians talk a lot of talk, but very few walk the line like they have for us. We are grateful for their continued support on this issue,” Fontan told L.A. Weekly, “This has been the work of many hands and organizations to get us to this point, and we are not across the line yet. This is a significant first step in the direction that many veterans want to see nationwide. It must still get through the House, and the President must sign it, and we will remain skeptical until the process plays out fully.”
Fontan closed by noting activists have been disappointed too many times in the past with promises that never see fruition.
We’re deep into summer, and it’s time to celebrate The Strains of Summer we’re most excited to take with us to the beach, ballpark, and beyond.
Los Angeles has no shortage of heaters to be pumped on, but we grabbed some other flavors from around California we’re sure you’ll find up to the task. There are a lot of new flavors on the list and some more established hitters we couldn’t leave out.
The Strains of Summer 2023
CAM – Biscotti BX1
The Biscotti BX1 coming out of CAM’s Sacramento facilities is easily some of our favorite cannabis we got to sample in recent months. The BX stands for backcross. The terpene profile is a trip down memory road to the Biscotti flavors that made the strain famous, but one might argue the backcross is even louder than the original.
Alien Labs – Dark Web
The new flavor Alien Labs used to qualify for the Transbay Challenge main event was a super hitter. While the green weed movement recently got some wind in its sails, Alien Labs is here to remind you of the power of purple in a way that brings you to the borderline of function and couch lock. There is no trade-off for flavor and potency either with Dark Web — it certainly checks all the boxes.
Fiore – Gary Z
Do you like Gary Payton and Zkittelz? Boy, do we have some great news for you. The new pairing of the two from Fiore is simply awesome; we recommend still trying it even if you didn’t like the original. And someone at Fiore absolutely nailed it on the phenotype selection, you can pick out both flavors really specifically. This is a great start to the day without a panic attack weed with a bit of body to it to pair with the relaxed but now slouchy high.
Green Dawg – D1
D1 – Courtesy of Green Dawg
We love Diesel here at L.A. Weekly. We’re sad to see where things have gone in recent years. Thankfully the Vermont-born leadership team at Green Dawg also missed the famous east coast flavor. Their new strain D1 is a testament to that diesel of years past. It’s not quite as fuely as some of the old cuts, but it certainly smells and tastes right, so we understand the enthusiasm for the new strain.
Connected – (Forbidden Fruit x Gelato 41) x Atomic Apple
The trophy shelf at Connected has run deep over the years. We certainly think the new (Forbidden Fruit x Gelato 41) x Atomic Apple they found will be added to the collection in the not-to-distant future. I’m not even a Forbidden Fruit guy, but boy does the flavor profile on this one absolutely hit the mark as some weird Forbidden Fruit x Dessert Weed symphony. While it’s still in the brown tester jars around the state, the word is, Connected already moved it into full production.
Cookies Maywood – House Strains
Courtesy of Cookies Maywood
The best bang for the buck on this list is the house strains at Cookies Maywood. I didn’t realize they were a thing until earlier this month when I stopped by to see all the new flavors. I ended up leaving with a quarter of the Sunset Z. Probably my best buy of that weekend for sure since it was heat. I’m looking forward to heading back to try the other flavors. Hit me up and let me know what you think of them.
The Ten Co – Blue Zushi
Courtesy of Brandon Mayfield
A Strains of Summer list without Blue Zushi on it would be garbage, so we’re certainly not treading into those waters. The two-time Zalympix winner, the second time beating out over 120 competitors to reaffirm their glory, keeps hitting the mark on fantastic flavors and excellent branding. It’s hard to name a company that has been able to hit the mark better on both of those things than The Ten Co.
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