The Bureau of Cannabis Control (The Bureau or BCC for short) is charged with the licensing, regulation, and enforcement of the following cannabis activities:

• distribution,
• retailers (storefront and non-storefront),
• microbusinesses,
• temporary cannabis events, and
• testing laboratories

The Medicinal and Adult-Use Cannabis Regulation and Safety Act (MAUCRSA) creates the general framework for the regulation of commercial medicinal and adult use cannabis in California. The BCC operates following that framework and the laws codified in the California Code of Regulations, found here.

Permitting:

No matter what license you are looking to go after under the BCC regulations, you will need the following to apply for a state license:

• Documentation of Local Authorization
• Evidence of Legal Right to Occupy, Deed or Landlord Information
• Premises Diagram
• Financial Information

You can find more information such as state licensing requirements for each individual license type, application forms, licensed cannabis businesses, and public health information on the BCC website.

BCC History

The Medical Cannabis Regulation and Safety Act (MCRSA), established through a series of bills passed by the California State Legislature in 2015 and 2016 (Bus. & Prof. Code, § 19300 et seq.), created the Bureau (known in that legislation as the Bureau of Medical Cannabis Regulation) under the California Department of Consumer Affairs and created California’s first framework for the licensing, regulation, and enforcement of commercial medicinal cannabis activity. The Bureau held multiple pre-regulatory meetings in late summer/early fall of 2016 and proposed regulations under the MCRSA in April and May of 2017. The Bureau also held regulatory hearings for the proposed MCRSA regulations, which were withdrawn in September of 2017.

The Control, Regulate and Tax Adult Use of Marijuana Act (AUMA) was established with the passage of Proposition 64 in 2016 which created the Bureau of Marijuana Control and set a date of January 1, 2018, for the Bureau to start issuing licenses.

In June 2017, the California State Legislature integrated MCRSA with AUMA and created the Medicinal and Adult-Use Cannabis Regulation and Safety Act (MAUCRSA). The BCC is governed by Division 10 Chapter 2 of the California Business and Professions Code. Later that year the agency adopted its current official title of the Bureau of Cannabis Control.

On January 1, 2018, the Bureau began issuing licenses for medicinal and adult-use cannabis activities relating to retail, distribution, microbusiness, testing laboratories, and cannabis events. These licensed commercial cannabis businesses are in operation under the emergency regulations adopted on December 7, 2017 and readopted on June 6, 2017 and June 4, 2018. As of December 2019, the state has ratified the permanent cannabis regulations originally published for public comment on July 13, 2018.