Photos courtesy of Ted’s Bud Co

TED’S BUDZ CO PREPS FOR TED FEST 2 IN DTLA

Ted’s Budz Co and its stable of heaters are prepping to take over the roof of Cookied DTLA this weekend. 

This will be the second annual edition of Ted Fest and the biggest ever. Ted’s is moving to a model where it’s going to start hosting its own events more, to give the brands the company is distributing a chance to get out into the community without getting taxed by event producers. This edition will feature The Gooniez, Super Dope, Blackleaf, Zatix and a host of other SoCal heat cultivators. 

We sat down with Ted this week as he was preparing for the festivities Saturday night from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m., at 921 Venice Blvd. 

“I’m going to start throwing events myself instead of going to other people’s events since we distribute for so many really good cultivators and really good brands,” Ted told L.A. Weekly. “Everyone that I worked with works really hard. It’s hard to get them to come out because they’re so stuck in daily tasks.”

Those little things that keep the farmers he works with busy are what make the difference between Ted’s and a lot of other distributors. With the exception of cup winner verticals that are distributing themselves, it is hard to point to a distributor with that level of Ted’s quality across the menu all the way through.

And as we see the big dogs of California cannabis fall, small boutique distros like Ted’s that specialize in quality high enough to hold the line with its other products are faring better and better as time goes on. Just this week we’ve seen distros picking up some big brands from all the fallout from closures. 

One of the things that pushed Ted to throw more parties is the ability to curate musical performances. He tried to perform or push his friends’ music to a lot of cannabis events over the years. 

“Everyone’s like, no, no, no, I’m like fuck it, I’ll throw my own,” Ted said. “And then you have so many lounges and shops that are like begging us to come out and do events. When we do takeovers, they are not like anyone else’s event. There is a good amount of people that come out when we do strain releases. So I mean, that’s kind of what we’ve been on.”

In addition to those lively happenings, some of the collaborations Ted’s Bud Co has lined up are starting to gain steam. Two of the most prominent are offerings with Lamar Odom and Birdman of Cash Money Records. Ted said Cream City’s CEO, Lil Ki, was instrumental in helping land the deal with Birdman. 

“Those are just things that were kind of thrown into my lap,” Ted said of the collabs. “If it wasn’t for my buddy Ki, the Cash Money collab wouldn’t be the one that was thrown my way. He knows that I’m probably one of the most solid people to start a brand with, as far as an influencer.” 

He noted lots of influencers he ended up working with because they had previous bad experiences. 

“They ended up coming over because, I mean, I’m more straightforward,” Ted said. 

One of the things Ted is most excited about is an upcoming drop from gear he got from Wyeast Farms. Wyeast provided a lot of the gear that backboned Compound Genetics before the split. Ted scored a super exclusive drop Wyest in collaboration with Oregon Elite Seeds. 

He’s currently searching through the new gear for winners. 

“I was really in love with his Cold Snaps. I was really in love with Horchata and Apricot Gelato. You know, I’ve always been a fan,” Ted said of Wyeast. “Now I finally got my hands on some of those seeds. I’m looking forward to having these cloned and flowers. I’m looking forward to that and bringing some different shit because I mean, right now, the industry is kind of on a superduper candy wave, but I can see it going back. They’re looking for something different as we speak and the market is changing. People are looking for that fuel again.”

THE DREADED REBRAND

Rebranding, whether it applies to products or individuals, poses a significant challenge within the cannabis industry.

As the California cannabis sector gradually emerges from the turmoil of recent years, those who contributed to its struggles seek to join the soon-thriving market. They endeavor to conceal their involvement in the previous failures.

The detrimental effects of rebranding permeate every aspect of the marketplace, extending beyond the legal domain.

The Ambition of the Shady Players in the Recreational Market

Individuals who exploited the industry until now, leaving behind the chaos we find ourselves in, are observing the end of the dark times as bulk prices creep up. They are now witnessing the resurgence of value as the post-pandemic price crash subsides. Who would have predicted that the cannabis industry, only three years later, would find itself in such a predicament after experiencing its most prosperous sales period? However, sales eventually began to decline, and numbers were down for years until we started our recent climb out of the hole. 

But back then, prices continued to plummet, with a market oversupply devastating pound prices. If a product made it to the shelves, one prayed that the dispensary could afford to pay the distributor. You would assume that partnering with major distributors would secure access to the most shelves—a safe bet, right? Nevertheless, we recently witnessed the demise of Herbl, causing a considerable loss of livelihoods. As the company was on the brink of collapse, more aware brands swiftly switched distributors, demanding payment for their products directly from retailers. Unfortunately, it seems that the rest are left empty-handed for now.

I spoke with an entrepreneur who faced the perfect storm caused by the collapse of Herbl. First, he claimed that he was charged an additional $30,000 due to discounts on products that were initially paid on delivery with cash. Furthermore, one of his tenants lost everything in the collapse and hasn’t paid rent for two months, struggling to stay afloat. Lastly, the entrepreneur is unable to obtain the products he needs for his shelves until new distributors pick them up or he figures out how to handle distribution himself. Both options are time-consuming.

It is disheartening to consider that those responsible for inflicting these hardships on so many people may evade accountability. While retailers bear some responsibility for not settling their debts, should we allow those who perpetuated an unsustainable system, which lacks bailouts like the banking industry, to absolve themselves of the sweat, money, and time lost in this ordeal?

Certainly, the blame does not lie with the young individuals manning the booths or attempting to sell the products. They had no say in how far the company would stretch itself before the disaster that unfolded this week. Perhaps only a few individuals bear true responsibility. Understanding each person’s role in that current cannabis tragedy is crucial.

Although Herbl stands out as a recent catastrophe, numerous other companies also mistreated people. Some caused harm inadvertently, while others acted out of misplaced self-belief. However, the most egregious offenders are schemers who are eager to reenter the market, while the other two likely bear some trauma from their actions. We must not allow them to return solely to line their pockets and inflict further damage.

However, the issue extends beyond distributors.

Questionable Retail Operators Sold Shelf Space to Busters

These individuals are the ones who secured shelf space at corporate dispensaries, thereby overshadowing small, high-quality businesses through the payment of slotting fees. It is possible that they initiated the concept of slotting fees completely eroded the notion of customers obtaining the best value for their money from location to location. Many of those who managed to secure such positions were unscrupulous individuals with extensive networks of like-minded opportunists. It was an arduous and lengthy process for smaller retailers to establish themselves, unless they held significant influence or connections.

These people who undermined the initial wave of corporate shops are desperate to regain entry before interstate markets open up. They recognize this as their next prime opportunity to latch onto someone else’s value. We must not permit the worst offenders to jeopardize the national rollout. 

City councils played a role in enabling these unscrupulous individuals to thrive while everyone else suffered, lining their own pockets. Consider the immense financial losses incurred by L.A. Equity Program applicants over the years, following the rules set by a city council that was only revealed to be racist through a secret recording. Politicians throughout the state have also contributed to the headaches faced by the cannabis industry. As the market stabilizes and normalizes, it is crucial that these individuals are held accountable indefinitely and prevented from rebranding. Once we forget that they were never on our side to begin with, we may inadvertently allow them to alter the rules.

As for the underground market, the rebranding problem is mostly just people renaming weed. It’s still shady, but less devastating. 

VIBES AND THE LAST PRISONER PROJECT DROP RELEASE PAPERS

Vibes and The Last Prisoner Project are releasing a new line of papers advocating for the release of cannabis prisoners. 

Founded by Cookies co-founder and rapper Berner, Vibes has carved a place for itself in the higher-end rolling paper scene traditionally dominated by Raw’s unbleached papers and Elements. Regardless of how difficult it is to truly claim a chunk of the rolling paper market, Vibes was able to pull it off. A variety of sizes and offerings you just don’t see from the competition also helped put the company on the map. 

Vibes will now turn that energy to aid the Last Prisoner Project(LPP). At the end of July, Vibes and LPP launched Release Papers in collaboration with the creatives at Mother. The papers now serve as the heart of an advocacy campaign looking to push the continued release of cannabis prisoners. 

“So many people are still locked up with lengthy sentences related to cannabis. While at the same time, so many states have made up their mind that cannabis should be legal, and those states are where those people are still serving time, which makes absolutely no sense,” Berner said when announcing the effort. “Campaigns like this are part of who I am, we have to speak up, stand next to and support causes like Last Prisoner Project. I’ve helped raise awareness for Richard Delisi, Corvain Cooper and soon, Robert Deals. There are so many more people to fight for, and I need your help to fight for their freedom.” 

The collaborators went on to note 72% of Americans support cannabis pardons for the numerous folks serving time for nonviolent cannabis offenses.

The general ethos of the campaign is to use RELEASE PAPERS as an educational tool that will also get the public to engage in advocating for those still behind bars. The papers will include the name of one of the four prisoners featured in the pack. They are:

• Edwin Rubis, currently serving a 40-year sentence in Talladega, Alabama, for a victimless offense
• Hector McGurk, serving a life sentence in Victorville, California, without the possibility of parole for a nonviolent marijuana offense
• Moe Taher, sentenced to 25 years in prison in Welch, West Virginia, for selling cannabis
• Ricardo Ashmeade, serving a 22-year sentence in Pollock, Louisiana, for a victimless offense. Despite a reclassification of a California conviction from a felony to a misdemeanor, the federal courts have refused to resentence him.

The collaborators noted inside the pack people will find a QR code directing them to release-papers.com. The site gives supporters the opportunity to sign the Cannabis Clemency Now petition urging President Biden to release federal cannabis prisoners. Site visitors also will be able to participate in the letter-writing program supporting the featured inmates. 

I work at a dispensary that used to organize letter-writing campaigns for Eddy Lepp, one of California’s most famous medical cannabis prisoners. He always notes how thankful he was when mail call came and it showed how much people cared about his fight. It’s not unreasonable to think the same could be said for the four prisoners featured in this campaign. 

“Vibes Release Papers are helping illuminate the injustice our constituents continue

to face, even as more states legalize cannabis. President Biden has the power to right

history and free Edwin, Hector, Moe and Ricardo with the stroke of a pen, says

Stephanie Shepard, LPP board member and director of advocacy. “We are grateful to

have Vibes join our fight, as we keep advocating until everyone still incarcerated for

cannabis is fully free.”

A portion of the profits also will go back to the Last Prisoner Project to support its efforts in calling on President Biden to grant clemency to the tens of thousands of individuals currently incarcerated due to federal cannabis-related convictions.

CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2023–2024 REGULAR SESSION

SENATE BILL

NO. 58

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.

(47) 1-Methyl-4-Phenyl-4-Propionoxypiperidine (MPPP).

(48) 1-(2-Phenethyl)-4-Phenyl-4-Acetyloxypiperidine (PEPAP).

(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.

VITAL GARDEN SUPPLY PROVES ORGANIC CANNABIS IS SCALABLE

Photos by Jimi Devine

VITAL GARDEN SUPPLY PROVES ORGANIC CANNABIS IS SCALABLE

JIMI DEVINEMAY 11, 2023

The team at Vital Garden Supply continues to prove cultivating organic cannabis is very much possible at scale. 

As mega gardens have become more prominent and significant in the wake of Prop 64’s passing seven years ago, people wanted more shortcuts to go with the scale of their operation. Many didn’t care much what was in it if it passed testing and made their lives easier. Much of the time because they weren’t smoking it themselves. 

Brian Malin from Vital Garden Supply is the exact opposite of that ethos. Since 2006, Vital Garden Supply has provided California gardeners of all kinds with the means to grow things organically. But, of course, the company holds a special place in the hearts of cannabis farmers, to the extent that when the state said it was time to create a mechanism to certify organic cannabis farming in California, they called Malin in to help write the rules for the OCal program.

Pacific Reserve in Salinas.

This week we got to visit Pacific Reserve’s farm in Salinas. The garden was founded by Andy Demico, Billy Tomlinson, Brook Eagle, Bryce Heart and Malin. Most of the group of founders met in Grass Valley or Santa Cruz by using Malin’s products. 

Malin is deeply connected to the farm. Not only does it serve as the largest visible example of what’s possible organically with his products, but his son spent the last few years climbing the ranks through compliance and processing to become cultivation director. 

Malin went on to note there are other big farms using his products, but as of right now, the Pacific Reserve facility is going the hardest with them. Lots of people use Vital’s cocoa and other baseline nutrients to build out their own programs that may not end up totally organic. 

“But Pacific Reserve is 100% on the program, we have other full sun ones that are maybe a couple of acres that are probably similar,” Malin told L.A. Weekly at the farm. 

The group inspects a La Bomba x Oreoz pheno hunt.

We asked Malin when a company like Vital went from serving smaller-scale operations to the mega-farms of the modern era, too.

“Well, it was a slow and steady climb from 2006, that was the first year,” Malin said. “Here we are 17 years later, I’d say the last 10 we’ve been handling some pretty good scale stuff. I think the first really big customers were when these guys first had the place across the street and Crockett’s place. That was like 2,000 yards of soil. It was sweet.”

Malin was never thinking in terms of 10,000-square-foot greenhouses when he started. It was more like he felt he needed to start it to help supplement his own grows and more on a local scale. 

“So I definitely didn’t think of it turning into what it did. It’s pretty crazy,” Malin said. “People are using it now, using around not necessarily the whole world, but definitely all over the U.S. and the Caribbean on the islands. And it’s all clean and organic. So it helps me sleep well at night, knowing I’m like teaching good practices and cutting down on the use of other products that aren’t as good for the planet.”

La Bomba x Oreoz

We asked Malin how he balances growing the company and putting in the work in the garden that’s helped get it this far. He pointed to a combination of intuition and urgency, then laughed, noting it was basically whichever seemed the more important of the two on a given day. 

Recently Pacific Reserve’s parent company Kolaboration Ventures Corporation (KVC) bought Massive Creations and brought on breeder Shiloh Massive as its new head breeder. 

“Shiloh will use the large cultivation and nursery footprint of KVC as the backbone to breed, select these unique cultivars and bring them to market in a wide variety of consumer products,” the company noted when announcing the deal earlier this week. 

Massive joined us in Salinas for the day and explained that his original dealings with Malin saw him first visit the farm in 2016. Originally he gave them some cuts to mom out so he would have plants to back his work as Massive Creations continues to expand. 

“So it was like kind of a no-brainer to let these guys have some proprietary genetics to run,” Massive told L.A. Weekly. “And then I could tap out and get some like clones from them to entertain other parties.” 

A recently harvested room.

It went well. The relationship continued to grow, the farm wanted to run more of his great, and eventually, it got to the point where they acquired Massive Creations and brought Shiloh in-house. 

“It was a long way, but a short time,” Massive said. “It just kind of happened almost overnight toward the end.”

Massive went on to note how fitting the whole thing was given his long history with Vital.  

“I worked in the Vital warehouse. I drove the forklift. I loaded trucks. All the seeds I’ve ever made have been made with Vital since it was ever a product, so it was just a natural fit,” Massive said. “Brian and I have been friends for a long time.”

Since coming on board, Massive has watched the rooms begin to be transitioned to a fully organic program, room by room. Each of those rooms is the size of a small aircraft hangar, so it’s a delicate process, so as to not screw up any production runs. 

That being said, the team swears by the recent results. 

“Everyone is amazed because the last salt run didn’t look too good,” Massive said. “And now the first organic runs are looking amazing. So it just kind of proves what we thought all along that organic cannabis was, I don’t want to say superior, but it’s just a great option for any kind of farming.”

Salinas is a much different environment than where Massive did most of his breeding work in the Emerald Triangle. Right now they are working through his library to figure out what works best. 

“Not every strain is hitting a home run. So now that we got a plan and we’re going to do more pheno hunting, we can do on-site pheno hunting and have a clone garden that kind of feeds this seasonally and we know which strains do better and which season,” Massive explained. “So we’re just in the infancy of it all. And we’re just tapping into the potential, but it’s really exciting to be along for the ride and to actually get a place to start playing with everything I’ve done.”

And it should be worth noting there is plenty of heat growing twice. Some of Pacific Reserve’s neighbors have won The Emerald Cup before. We’ll have the results from this year’s cup next week. 

THE LEGEND OF ZELDA: TEARS OF THE KINGDOM LIVES UP TO THE MASSIVE HYPE

Link’s latest adventures in The Legend of Zelda: Tears of The Kingdom (TOTK) are everything we were waiting for. 

The game has proven a roaring international hit. One common phrase often seen across social media in the past two weeks since the launch is the idea that Breath of The Wild, Zelda’s previous foray on Nintendo’s Switch when the system launched, almost feels like a beta version of what we ended up with in TOTK. How wild is it to call a game that went on to sell 30 million copies since and win a ton of awards a beta test? But it honestly feels kind of accurate with how much TOTK built on the last version of Hyrule we visited six years ago. 

The Legacy of Zelda Enthusiasm 

There are few dates on the video game calendar that get circled with more enthusiasm than a new Zelda game. Since the first one dropped in 1987, its raving fan base has always wondered what would be next for the franchise that often served with Super Mario Brothers as a flagship game that showed off the capabilities of Nintendo’s hardware from generation to generation. Zelda’s creators Shigeru Miyamoto and Takashi Tezuka were a part of both famous franchises. While it doesn’t quite serve that role in the same fashion given Nintendo has now allowed many more developers to publish games for their hardware in the Switch era, Zelda still very much serves as the benchmark for how much fun you can have on the Switch.

Zelda has turned down the cartoon style from 20 years ago. But the current look and feel still have a very anime feel that looks a lot cleaner than Wind Walker released in 2002. But 2006’s Twilight Princess feels much more similar to what the game looks like today. The modern version feels a lot brighter and more fun, like the way the lava pops with bright red and orange bubbles.

Miyamoto explained some of the thought processes they had as Zelda continued to transition into the 3D format in the 2000s. He noted part of the reason they went for the cartoon look was it made it easier to show expression in the characters. He also wanted it to feel like you were playing a cartoon in 3D, they definitely aced that test. 

Breath of The Wild provided a lot of the building blocks for this new sequel on the same generation of hardware six years later. In an interview with Game Informer, Miyamoto noted one of the big jumps as Zelda made the move to the Switch was the nature engine. Exploration has always been a significant backbone of the fun in the play-it-at-your-pace game where you can toss around chickens or make a speed run for the master sword. 

“Adventuring and exploring nature is what makes the game,” Miyamoto told Game Informer when the game launched. “I had to relook at what dungeons look like for us and kind of take it out of the dungeon. We spent five years kind of working on that.” 

Miyamoto admitted he himself likes the open-world aspect of players creating their own adventures across the storyline over the years but understands there are folks out there that like those deep storylines with a lot of backstories. He thinks this modern generation of Zelda games has done a good job balancing the two.

The Tears of The Kingdom Launch

Over the past few weeks, the world has now had a moment to dive into Hyrule. But the months and years leading up to this moment had a bit of mystery to them. Regardless, once the game hit shelves, it was on. 

In just three days, it became the fastest-selling Zelda game of all time. Ten million units moved globally in that first 72 hours, 4 million of them here in North America. That makes it the fastest-selling Nintendo game ever on any system in North America according to Nintendo. A major achievement for the game’s creators. 

“Many players are returning to Hyrule with all its new mysteries and possibilities, and with the record-breaking launch of The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom for Nintendo Switch, we can’t wait to see what they’ll create in the game and the stories they’ll share next,” said Devon Pritchard, Nintendo of America’s executive vice president of sales, marketing and communications. “We’re grateful for all of our fans who’ve shown their passion for The Legend of Zelda over the years, and these sales numbers for the latest installment continue to show the strong momentum for both the franchise and Nintendo Switch this year.”

Reviews and Livestreams Pumped The Hype

One of the things that helped the massive launch was just how positive all the reviews were. It’s currently sitting at a 95 on Metacritic, the most noted aggregator of video game reviews by a mile. That score puts it as the 49th greatest game of all time per their review system. While 22 other games in history have scored a 95 on the site, TOTK ranks No. 1 one among those games that have scored a 95 since the website was founded over 20 years ago. 

Zelda’s 1998 edition Orcana of Time is the number one game of all time on Metacritic as the only game ever to score a 99. The last installment on Switch, Breath of The Wild, ranks No. 14 on the all-time list with the Wii U version coming in No. 26. Twilight Princess is No. 39, and The Wind Walker is No. 44. There are a few on the list after TOTK also. The Gamecube Collectors edition from 2003 came in at No. 54. The Game Boy Advance edition of A Link to The Past came in at No. 59 with Majora’s Mask right behind it at No. 60. Twilight Princess is two spots later at No. 62. A 3DS version also made it. With the TOTK’s reviews getting added to this all-time list, basically one in 10 of the top-reviewed video games of all time on Metacritic is a Zelda game, if you count the two versions of Breath of The Wild as one. 

“The fandom behind the Zelda franchise is stronger than ever and to date, Tears of the Kingdom is the best reviewed game of 2023 on Metacritic,” Marc Doyle, Co-Founder of Metacritic told L.A. Weekly. “In fact, it currently ranks in the top 50 games of all time and the number four Zelda game to ever be released.”

We asked Polygon Senior Reporter Nicole Carpenter if she thought the game got scored tougher by critics as a direct sequel. 

“I don’t necessarily think it got scored harder, but Breath of the Wild did have a major impact on the industry so there was an expectation for what Tears of the Kingdom would be. The bar was already set high and people expected Tears of the Kingdom to jump over that bar,” Carpenter told L.A. Weekly, “The game sold 10 million copies in a few days so it’s definitely up there for the biggest game of the year. Beyond that, Tears of the Kingdom will be one of most influential games of the year.”

Another thing the newer generation of Zelda games has had play to its favor is the rise of online streaming. The launch has been a hit. According to TwitchTracker.com, over the last week, people have spent 8 million hours watching other people play the game and the streams averaged about 50,000 people watching at any given time. Things peaked on May 11 when 351,714 users were simultaneously watching TOTK streams. 

50 Hours In

What?! The Great Deku Tree has a stomachache again?! Sign me up. That’s not even a spoiler at this point, it’s presumable Hyrule’s bad guys at any given moment have had an impact on his acid reflux. Those kinds of expectations are one of the things that have made the series great. Each time we go back, the little things we love are done even better.

We are about 50 hours in. I’ve completed the Wind Temple but have predominantly spent most of my time exploring. I’ve hit about 35 Shrines so far in the process of building up hearts for the main storyline. One of the reasons I’ve hit so many shrines early is because of how fun the new gameplay mechanics make them. The massive refreshing of all the minigames makes each one feel very unique.

Those four new core gameplay mechanics are called Fuse, Ultrahand, Ascend and Recall. Fuse lets you attach objects from the world to each other or your hand after you use Ultrahand to move them around. You’ll use a combination of those powers and the world around you all the time to upgrade your weapons, solve puzzles and even build vehicles. 

Ascend adds another vertical element of gameplay in addition to the massive sky map that covers the whole game from above. It allows you to climb through ceilings within reach of the ability and emerge through the floor on the other side. 

Recall allows you to move objects and then recreate that object’s movement through time. Say a rock falls down a waterfall you want to go up, you hit the rock with recall and ride it up the waterfall. There are some wild uses for one when it comes to all the puzzles.  

There also is a ton of wild physics mechanics attached to the main storyline. As you dive further and further in, you’ll get access to an even wider array of tools to combine with the Ultrahand and Fuse abilities.

With all that, and what feels like triple the game compared to Breath of The Wild, I think the only reason TOTK isn’t higher on the all-time list is that it’s a direct sequel. Regardless, it’s one of the best games ever.