NEWS & RESOURCES

Assembly Bill 8, co-sponsored by CaCOA and UFCW, provides comprehensive reforms to protect consumers and support California's legal cannabis industry by permanently banning intoxicating hemp products outside the regulated market, enhancing enforcement capabilities, requiring out-of-state manufacturers to register with California authorities, and creating pathways for legitimate businesses to work with industrial hemp within the regulated framework.

California's licensed cannabis industry takes child-resistant packaging and labeling laws extremely seriously. The overwhelming evidence shows that most violations related to youth-attractive packaging occur in the illicit cannabis and unregulated hemp markets, not within our licensed industry.

The choice is clear: support sustainable tax policy that protects communities, consumers, and public safety, or watch California's legal cannabis market disappear entirely, taking community programs and tax revenue down with it.

CaCOA supports the Department's efforts to modernize cannabis testing requirements based on emerging science and data. The proposed changes include positive updates, such as clarifying outdated action levels, expanding the pesticide testing panel, and adjusting thresholds where strong safety data justifies the changes.

“A 25% tax hike on an industry that’s barely hanging on is a full-blown disaster, and absolutely should have been avoided,” Haney said. “Raising this tax is a slap in the face of small cannabis businesses who simply can’t afford it and are competing with an illegal market that is booming.”