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California Cannabis Updates

California report shows ramped-up crackdown on illicit marijuana operators

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2 years ago

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MJ Biz Report

California’s top cannabis regulator has boosted and improved enforcement of illicit marijuana operations the past two years, according to newly released data.

Warrants were issued, illegal cannabis plants eradicated, firearms seized and arrests exponentially increased since 2021 in the world’s largest regulated and illicit marijuana market.

According to Department of Cannabis Control (DCC) enforcement statistics released Thursday, the agency’s efforts resulted in:

  • Search warrant operations increasing from 62 in 2021 to 155 in 2022, up 150%.
  • Seizures of illegal cannabis skyrocketing to 144,254 pounds in 2022, a 246% jump from 41,726 pounds a year earlier.
  • Arrests in 2022 more than tripling to 56. That’s still an incredibly low number that underscores the challenges that enforcement officials face in a state with minor fines associated with marijuana violations and little appetite for prosecuting them.
  • Seizures of illegal cannabis in 2022 hitting $243 million, a 211% year-over-year increase from about $78 million, though monetary estimates are often inflated by government agencies.

Combined efforts of the DCC and other California agencies in 2022:

  • Seized 439,800 pounds of cannabis, up 30% from 2021, with a retail value of nearly $737 million, an increase of 29%.
  • Eradicated 960,212 plants, up 30% from 2021.
  • Seized 139 firearms, up 130% from a year earlier.

Interestingly, cash seized in 2022 fell to $1.8 million, down from $7.7 million, or about 77%.

State-led operations tell only part of the enforcement story in California, where a mix of local, county and federal agencies also face a seemingly insurmountable task of trying to rein in an illicit market that some experts contend is double the size of the regulated one.

In San Bernardino County, for instance, law enforcement in the nation’s largest county by land mass served 2,100-plus search warrants and seized more than $1 billion in cannabis plants and processed marijuana since 2020, including a 5,000-plant illegal grow this week, Fox News reported.

“My best estimate is probably 97% to 98% of all of our indoor marijuana cultivations are run by Chinese nationals,” Sgt. Rich Debevec of the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Marijuana Enforcement Team told Fox.

“Back in 2019, we got involved in a yearlong investigation where we were able to prove that Chinese nationals were bringing in money from China, purchasing houses in the (Chino-Ontario area) and turning them into marijuana cultivations.”

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https://mjbizdaily.com/california-report-shows-ramped-up-crackdown-on-illicit-marijuana-operators/



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California Cannabis Updates

August 23 2024: Department of Cannabis Control Files Emergency Rulemaking Action to Readopt Cultivation License Changes pursuant to Business and Professions Code section 26061.5

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4 months ago

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August 24, 2024

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Department of Cannabis Control Files Emergency Rulemaking Action to Readopt Cultivation License Changes pursuant to Business and Professions Code section 26061.5

August 23, 2024

The Department of Cannabis Control (DCC) has filed an action with the Office of Administrative Law (OAL) to readopt its emergency regulations implementing Senate Bill 833, codified in Business and Professions Code section 26061.5, which requires the DCC to allow cultivation licensees to make certain changes including: change the type of size of a cultivation license; place a cultivation license in inactive status; or make a one-time change to a cultivation license’s date of renewal.

View the proposed finding of emergency and notice of proposed adoption and the proposed text of emergency regulations below:

The five-calendar day public comment period for this emergency action starts once OAL posts notice of the filing on its website. Emergency regulations under review by OAL can be found on its Emergency Regulation’s Under Review webpage.



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California Cannabis Updates

Oakland police seize banned tobacco products, psilocybin candy bars from smoke shop

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5 months ago

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July 13, 2024

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Oakland police are investigating an unlicensed smoke shop in East Oakland where officers seized several illegal products earlier this week, including cartons of banned tobacco products from out of state and nearly 10 pounds of marijuana bud.

Police on Wednesday confiscated other items at the shop in the 2500 block of Seminary Avenue that included Psilocybin “magic” mushroom candy bars and close to 20 pounds of suspected THC products.

Officers with the police department’s Alcohol Beverage Action Team were following up on anonymous complaints about the shop. In addition to seizing illegal items, they detained a store clerk.

No arrests were made, but the case will be forwarded to the Alameda County District Attorney’s office for further action, including civil charges and potential eviction, police said in a news release on Thursday.

https://www.cbsnews.com/sanfrancisco/news/east-oakland-smoke-shop-bust-illegal-tobacco-marijuana-mushrooms-thc-seminary-avenue/



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California Cannabis Updates

CBS News Report: Cannabis-legal California battling surging illegal marijuana operations

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2 years ago

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April 4, 2023

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DISCOVERY BAY – In a state where cannabis is widely legalized, California still has a significant illegal marijuana scene. The state Department of Cannabis Control (DCC) is only two years old but is quickly tackling and dismantling these operations.

For Bill Jones of the DCC, it was just another Tuesday as he pulled up to an unsuspecting house in a gated neighborhood. To the untrained eye, one would never guess what was hiding inside.

“It really could be anywhere,” Jones told CBS News Bay Area. “It could be your neighborhood, could be my neighborhood.

CBS News Bay Area was invited on a ride along while DCC officers executed search warrants and seized illegal crops.

Inside four homes in a Discovery Bay neighborhood, officers found illegal cannabis operations.

“We’re going to see anywhere between 3,000 to 5,000 plants,” Jones said. “And we’re talking about a square mile here.”

Jones has been in law enforcement for nearly three decades and the DCC holds a personal significance as he was part of the team tasked with standing the department up in 2021.

“I hired all these officers,” Jones said. “I’m so proud of my people. They work so hard.”

Upon entry into the house, the smell of cannabis fills the space and each room has its own microclimate as those who tended to the crop closely monitored the environment of the plants. But in doing so, the practice created an illegal and hazardous space.

“There’s a really sharp contrast between the illegal cannabis market and the licensed cannabis market,” Jones explained. “The illegal market which in part has criminal organizations like Mexican cartels and Chinese triads and other transnational criminal organizations operating it. They pay no taxes, they have no concerns about how they grow and distribute, they use banned chemicals and pesticides. They take advantage of their employees, sometimes they even engage in human trafficking.”

In the first two stops, officers seized nearly 2,000 plants totaling 1,000 pounds of cannabis.

Read full report

https://www.cbsnews.com/sanfrancisco/news/cannabis-control-ride-pot-bust-grow-house-discovery-bay/



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