Compliance – and the Dangers of Not Doing It, In California (or Anywhere)
Compliance. Have you heard of it? It’s a thing. An important thing.
As a political animal myself, I can enjoy some pretty boring things more than most, such as reading 200 pages of statutory regulations or listening to several recorded hours of a Board of Commissioners meeting. It’s not terribly fun, but I like to know what is going on.
It’s a lot of upkeep, too. Public feedback is ongoing and regulations are constantly changing while the country tries to figure out WTF needs to be done to have a safe and effective cannabis policy. For that reason, a whole host of people have emerged to be your consultants (as they have throughout various sectors of the cannabis industry) who want to help you make sure you’re doing all the things you need to do in order to not run afoul of law enforcement.
As it turns out, not everyone in the cannabis industry knows what they are doing (she said, shocked by the news.) This week was a telling reminder for some California companies to remember due diligence when seeking advice.
Capitol Compliance Management in Sacramento had to shutter a cannabis event planned for today that had been in the works for some time.
From the Sacramento Bee:
“Capitol Compliance Management and its nine affiliated dispensaries have been running advertisements in the Sacramento News & Review for a ‘Holiday Budtender Bash’ that was scheduled for Thursday.
“Joe Devlin, the city’s chief of cannabis policy and enforcement, said the company canceled the event after he told them it would violate state and city laws by allowing public consumption of marijuana and by giving it away.
“Advertisements for the party promised attendees could ‘smoke out with your favorite budtenders’ – the equivalent of bartenders in the dispensary world. They also promoted ‘vendor giveaways’ and a ‘dab bar,’ where people can smoke a controversial form of concentrated cannabis. VIP tickets cost a ‘minimum $300 donation.'”
That’s a big no-no. It should also be of absolutely no surprise, as lack of public consumption or giveaways is a giant source of ire and frustration for many-an-event-planner in California. This is a widely-known restriction and quite baffling that a company which represents nine dispensaries in the city which hosts the state legislature, would have missed such a basic component of legal compliance.
There are so many ways to muck up a cannabis company. Don’t muck yours up with bad business partnerships! Come be part of the International Cannabis Business Conference in San Francisco on February 1st and 2nd, 2018. Ticket prices will go up soon so get yours today!
