Unlawful cannabis activity: penalties.

The Control, Regulate and Tax Adult Use of Marijuana Act (AUMA) , an initiative measure approved as Proposition 64 at the November 8, 2016, statewide general election, authorizes a person who obtains a state license under AUMA to engage in commercial adult-use cannabis activity pursuant to that license and applicable local ordinances. The Medicinal and Adult-Use Cannabis Regulation and Safety Act (MAUCRSA) , among other things, consolidates the licensure and regulation of commercial medicinal and adult-use cannabis activities, including retail commercial cannabis activity. MAUCRSA gives the Bureau of Cannabis Control in the Department of Consumer Affairs the power, duty, purpose, responsibility, and jurisdiction to regulate commercial cannabis activity. Under existing law, a person engaging in commercial cannabis activity without a license is subject to a civil penalty of up to 3 times the amount of the license fee for each violation. Under existing law, each day of operation without a license is a separate violation. This bill would increase the civil penalty to 4 times the amount of the license fee. The bill would require the Department of Cannabis Control to waive the civil penalty if the unlicensed person, within 10 business days of issuance of the civil penalty, submits payment equal to the original license fee and all accompanying documentation. AUMA authorizes the Legislature to amend the act to further the purposes and intent of the act with a 23 vote of the membership of both houses of the Legislature. This bill would declare that its provisions further the purposes and intent of the Control, Regulate and Tax Adult Use of Marijuana Act.