Improve Marijuana Industry Regulation

The bill requires future contracts for the seed-to-sale tracking system to be awarded pursuant to a transparent, online, and dynamically competitive process. The bill requires the state licensing authority to produce an annual report regarding its enforcement activities. The report must include:

• The number of underage compliance checks performed in the previous calendar year;
• The number of underage sale violations in the previous calendar year, including the name of the license violator, how many violations were the result of underage compliance checks or tips, and the sanction or sanctions imposed for each violation; and
• A description of the black or gray market enforcement activities that the state licensing authority engaged in, including the dates of the activities, any violations found, and the result of those violations if known.

The bill requires the state licensing authority to produce an annual report regarding licensing violations. The report must be organized by month, include the name of the violator and the violation location, and identify the violation and the sanction or sanctions imposed and if the sanction is a license revocation or voluntary surrender of a license and the reason for the revocation or voluntary surrender.

The state licensing authority shall maintain a free searchable database on its website related to compliance check records and minor in possession of marijuana records and an online method for submitting an anonymous tip related to licensing violations.

The bill requires the state licensing authority to conduct at least 2 compliance checks a year at each medical and retail marijuana center.

The bill requires regulatory penalties related to underage sales to be based on the number of violations and any injury or death that occurred as a result of the violation.

The bill requires the state licensing authority to promulgate rules regarding:

• Product recalls, including a requirement for the issuance of a health and safety advisory when a product is recalled that includes the name of the product, the timing of when the consumer would receive the advisory, the places where the product was sold, the time period when the product was for sale, the requested actions that the state licensing authority may direct to a seller, cultivator, or manufacturer, and any other additional information that would assist the public; and
• Timelines and deadlines for notifying a licensee of an alleged violation; a licensee's response to an alleged violation; and a licensee's compliance with any sanction imposed, which must require, in the case of an uncontested violation, that the licensee has 90 days to comply with the sanction.

The bill directs that when the state licensing authority convenes a work group, task force, or other group to assist in developing rules or policies that involve public health and consumer safety, the state licensing authority shall make every reasonable attempt to have broad representation from non-marijuana industry parties on the work group, task force, or other group. The bill requires the state licensing authority to provide any written materials received from a member of the group or task force to all members of the group or task force within 7 days after receipt of the material; except that any proprietary information must be redacted from the material.

The bill requires that when the state licensing authority reports a voluntary surrender of a license that is the result of a settlement or agreement with the licensing authority, the report shall designate the action as "voluntary surrender - licensing violation settlement".

(Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.)