Cannabis Enforcement Accountability and Public Health Prioritization Act of 2026.

The entire amendment to Section 26031 is removed. This provision would have prohibited minor technical or administrative violations from being the sole basis for license suspension or revocation unless the department demonstrated a pattern of repeated noncompliance indicating broader systemic risk. Its removal means the bill no longer directly limits the department's authority to suspend or revoke licenses based on minor violations.

Assembly Member Lackey is added as a co-author, indicating broader legislative sponsorship for the bill.

The central concept shifts from 'material threat' (defined as conduct creating a 'reasonably foreseeable risk of significant harm') to 'risk of harm' (defined as conduct that is 'reasonably expected to do the likelihood of' interfering with enforcement, involving deceptive practices, or adversely affecting the public or environment). The new definition is broader and less specific about the threshold of harm required.

The separate definition of 'risk-based enforcement framework' is eliminated. The old definition explicitly stated the framework should focus on material threats while applying 'less intensive and less punitive measures on minor technical or administrative violations.' This protective language for licensees is no longer present.

The moderate violation category expands beyond just falsification of testing results to now include: negligent violation of workplace safety or wage protection laws, and manufacture/distribution/sale of adulterated or misbranded products unlikely to cause illness. The serious violation category is reorganized to include degradation of water resources, reckless or repeated failure to maintain accurate records, and other items previously at lower tiers.

The enforcement prioritization policy requirements change: the policy must now 'implement this section' rather than be merely 'consistent with' it, and must establish 'the enforcement and disciplinary actions for each category of violation' rather than simply 'establishing risk-based enforcement categories.' This gives the department more prescriptive obligations.

Document formatting changed from a formal legislative bill layout with line numbers and page breaks to a web page rendering with navigation elements (skip to content, home, accessibility, FAQ, etc.) and a different text presentation style. No substantive policy language was altered.

The entire amendment to Section 26200 is deleted. This removed provisions about local jurisdiction authority over cannabis businesses, temporary event licenses for county fairs and agricultural events, and detailed rules for cannabis consumption lounges including ventilation, employee mask rights, and secondhand smoke protections.

New defined terms added to Section 26039.7: 'enforcement prioritization policy,' 'minor violation' (negligible risk of harm), 'moderate violation' (risk of harm, including falsification of testing results or track and trace data), 'serious violation' (serious or significant risk of harm, listing specific high-risk activities), and 'risk of harm' (conduct reasonably expected to interfere with state law enforcement, involve deceptive practices, or adversely affect the public or environment).

The enforcement prioritization categories in subdivision (c) are restructured from a flat list of eight specific scenarios into a three-tier system: (1) serious violations, (2) moderate violations, (3) minor violations. The specific high-risk scenarios are now embedded within the definition of 'serious violation' rather than listed separately.

A new enforcement priority is added for 'licensees inverting cannabis or cannabis products from unlicensed persons into the licensed market,' which was not present in the prior version.

The documentation requirement in subdivision (d)(3) is broadened from requiring documentation of enforcement actions involving 'minor technical or administrative violations' to requiring documentation of enforcement actions involving 'all violations.'

Subdivision (e) is expanded from 'the department's disciplinary framework shall not conflict with this section' to 'the department's disciplinary framework or guidelines for disciplinary action shall not conflict with this section,' explicitly covering guidelines in addition to the framework.

The fiscal committee designation changes from 'no' to 'yes,' indicating the bill now carries a fiscal impact that requires review by the Legislative Fiscal Committee.

The bill now has a short title: 'Cannabis Enforcement Accountability and Public Health Prioritization Act of 2026,' signaling a shift from a technical fix to a major policy reform.

New Section 26039.7 requires the Department of Cannabis Control to prioritize enforcement in a specific ranked order: (1) unlicensed retail sale or delivery to customers or minors, (2) unlicensed synthetic cannabinoid distribution or manufacture, (3) unlicensed cultivation causing environmental harm, (4) other unlicensed activity, (5) licensee diversion to unlicensed persons, (6) licensee synthetic cannabinoid activity, (7) licensee sales to minors, (8) other material threats by licensees.

Section 26190 annual reporting is expanded to include geographic distribution of investigations, inspections, enforcement actions, petitions against unlicensed persons, injunctions, citations with dollar amounts, and civil penalties - all broken down by the risk categories in Section 26039.7.

Defines 'material threat' as conduct creating a reasonably foreseeable risk of significant harm to public health, safety, environmental protection, workplace safety, or market integrity, with specific examples including adulterated products, diversion, data falsification, water degradation, workplace safety violations, and sales to minors.

New subdivision (e) of Section 26031 prohibits minor technical or administrative violations that do not constitute a material threat from being the sole basis for license suspension or revocation, unless the department demonstrates a pattern of repeated noncompliance indicating broader systemic risk.

Requires the department to adopt and publish an enforcement prioritization policy that allocates personnel and resources consistent with the ranked categories, establishes risk-based enforcement categories, and provides for documentation of enforcement actions involving minor violations.

The fiscal committee designation changed from 'no' to 'yes,' indicating the bill now has fiscal implications requiring review.

The original nonsubstantive changes to Section 26200 (replacing 'shall not be interpreted to' with 'does not') are retained in the amended version but are now a minor component of a much larger bill.