(a) Subject to subdivision (d), qualified patients, persons with valid identification cards, and the designated primary caregivers of qualified patients and persons with identification cards, who associate within the State of California in order collectively or cooperatively to cultivate cannabis for medicinal purposes, shall not solely on the basis of that fact be subject to state criminal sanctions under Section 11357, 11358, 11359, 11360, 11366, 11366.5, or 11570.
(b) A collective or cooperative that operates pursuant to this section and manufactures medicinal cannabis products shall not, solely on the basis of that fact, be subject to state criminal sanctions under Section 11379.6 if the collective or cooperative abides by all of the following requirements:
(1) The collective or cooperative does either or both of the following:
(A) Utilizes only manufacturing processes that are either solventless or that employ only nonflammable, nontoxic solvents that are generally recognized as safe pursuant to the federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (21 U.S.C. Sec. 301 et seq.).
(B) Utilizes only manufacturing processes that use solvents exclusively within a closed-loop system that meets all of the following requirements:
(i) The system uses only solvents that are generally recognized as safe pursuant to the federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (21 U.S.C. Sec. 301 et seq.).
(ii) The system is designed to recapture and contain solvents during the manufacturing process, and otherwise prevent the off-gassing of solvents into the ambient atmosphere to mitigate the risks of ignition and explosion during the manufacturing process.
(iii) A licensed engineer certifies that the system was commercially manufactured, safe for its intended use, and built to codes of recognized and generally accepted good engineering practices, including, but not limited to, the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME), the American National Standards Institute (ANSI), Underwriters Laboratories (UL), the American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM), or OSHA Nationally Recognized Testing Laboratories (NRTLs).
(iv) The system has a certification document that contains the signature and stamp of a professional engineer and the serial number of the extraction unit being certified.
(2) The collective or cooperative receives and maintains approval from the local fire official for the closed-loop system, other equipment, the extraction operation, and the facility.
(3) The collective or cooperative meets required fire, safety, and building code requirements in one or more of the following:
(A) The California Fire Code.
(B) The National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) standards.
(C) International Building Code (IBC).
(D) The International Fire Code (IFC).
(E) Other applicable standards, including complying with all applicable fire, safety, and building codes in processing, handling, and storage of solvents or gasses.
(4) The collective or cooperative is in possession of a valid seller’s permit issued by the State Board of Equalization.
(5) The collective or cooperative is in possession of a valid local license, permit, or other authorization specific to the manufacturing of medicinal cannabis products, and in compliance with any additional conditions imposed by the city or county issuing the local license, permit, or other authorization.
(c) For purposes of this section, “manufacturing” means compounding, converting, producing, deriving, processing, or preparing, either directly or indirectly by chemical extraction or independently by means of chemical synthesis, medicinal cannabis products.
(d) This section shall remain in effect only until one year after the Bureau of Cannabis Control posts a notice on its Internet Web site that the licensing authorities have commenced issuing licenses pursuant to the Medicinal and Adult-Use Cannabis Regulation and Safety Act (Division 10 (commencing with Section 26000) of the Business and Professions Code).
(e) This section is repealed one year after the date upon which the notice is posted pursuant to subdivision (d).
(Amended by Stats. 2017, Ch. 27, Sec. 140. (SB 94) Effective June 27, 2017. Inoperative and repealed on date prescribed by its own provisions.)
Last modified: October 25, 2018