AB 287: Civil Actions: Statute of Limitations

Coauthored by Assembly Member Megan Dahle

The Control, Regulate and Tax Adult Use of Marijuana Act, an initiative measure approved as Proposition 64 at the November 8, 2016, statewide general election, authorizes a person who obtains a state license under the act to engage in commercial adult-use cannabis activity pursuant to that license and applicable local ordinances. The Medicinal and Adult-Use Cannabis Regulation and Safety Act (MAUCRSA), among other things, consolidates the licensure and regulation of commercial medicinal and adult-use cannabis activities. MAUCRSA generally divides responsibility for the state licensure and regulation of commercial cannabis activity among the Department of Food and Agriculture, the State Department of Public Health, and the Bureau of Cannabis Control, which MAUCRSA establishes within the Department of Consumer Affairs.
 
MAUCRSA imposes a civil penalty on a person engaging in commercial cannabis activity without a license required by MAUCRSA of up to 3 times the amount of the license fee for each violation. MAUCRSA does not supersede or limit state agencies from exercising their existing enforcement authority. MAUCRSA authorizes a local jurisdiction to enforce its provisions and the regulations promulgated by a licensing authority if delegated the power to do so by the licensing authority, as specified.
 
Existing law generally requires an action upon a statute for a penalty or forfeiture to commence within one year.
This bill would require a civil action for a penalty described above to commence within 3 years.
 
The Control, Regulate and Tax Adult Use of Marijuana Act, an initiative measure, authorizes the Legislature to amend the act to further the purposes and intent of the act with a 2/3 vote of the membership of both houses of the Legislature, except as provided.
 
This bill would declare that its provisions further the purposes and intent of the Control, Regulate and Tax Adult Use of Marijuana Act.