Sacramento – Today, Assemblyman Jim Wood’s “Cottage Cannabis Farmers” bill passed through the Assembly Agriculture Committee. AB 2516 will create a new cannabis cultivator license for “micro farmers.”
Assemblyman Wood said, “This is an important measure to support the small farm cannabis growers on the North Coast. Last year’s Medical Marijuana Regulation and Safety Act (MMRSA) established cultivator licenses and guidelines for a safer, cleaner and more transparent industry. However, it is not fair to require the small cannabis farmers to adhere to the same standards as larger operations. The proposed specialty cottage license will allow the California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) to develop regulations specific to small farmer practices.”
The new license type 1C, or specialty cottage cultivator license, will be available for farms with 2,500 square feet or less of total canopy size for outdoor cultivation or a maximum total canopy size of 500 square feet for indoor cultivation. The CDFA will issue the licenses to qualified candidates as well as develop the requirements for each license type.
“Creating a new license for small cannabis farmers will help maximize the number of growers that come into compliance with the MMRSA regulations and sustain many of the farmers who have been in business for years,” said Wood.
AB 2516 will be heard next in the Business and Professions Committee next week
Elected in 2014, Assemblymember Jim Wood (D- Healdsburg) represents the 2nd Assembly District, which includes all of Del Norte, Trinity, Humboldt and Mendocino counties, plus northern and coastal Sonoma County, including the northern half of Santa Rosa.
http://asmdc.org/members/a02/