California proposes allowing law enforcement officials to sell cannabis then backs off

Candice Bowling and I just published “Civic Engagement in California Cannabis Policy Development” in the Journal of Psychoactive Drugs.   This paper tells the tale of how the California Bureau of Cannabis Control proposed a rule that would have allowed the same law enforcement officials charged with enforcing cannabis laws to go into the cannabis business themselves, an obvious conflict of interest.

This was the first time any state proposed such an exemption.  After public comment, including from us, the provision was withdrawn.  This paper highlights the need for clear conflict of interest laws in cannabis regulation and enforcement.  It also shows the value of participating in the public comment process.

This detailed case study is a companion paper to our earlier publication on cannabis and conflict of interest laws, “Conflict of Interest Provisions in State Laws Governing Medical and Adult Use Cannabis” published a few months ago in American Journal of Public Health.

Here is the abstract:

During the regulatory drafting process, California considered allowing police officers to become licensed owners of cannabis businesses, an action that would have codified a conflict of interest (COI), allowing police to exert influence in two market strata, enforcement and licensure. Up until then, no state specifically excepted law enforcement from COI prohibitions, making California's proposed medical cannabis regulation unique. We performed two 50-state surveys and examined 298 public comments submitted to the Bureau of Cannabis Control during the initial medical cannabis rulemaking process in June 2017. After public comments, the Bureau withdrew this provision. However, that the exception was even considered is cause for concern in this new area of policy development. The progression from proposed medical cannabis rules to emergency rule adoption and now, into proposed final regulations, highlights the value of civic engagement with the rulemaking process. Jurisdictions should adopt bright-line COI rules within their cannabis codes that limit the relationships that law enforcement may have with the private cannabis markets.

The full citation is Bowling C, Glantz S.  Civic Engagement in California Cannabis Policy Development.  J Psychoactive Drugs. 2019 Jun 12. doi: 10.1080/02791072.2019.1627444. [Epub ahead of print]  It is available here and here.