Weakening cannabis track-and-trace rules put California’s young people at risk

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OPINION — Californians legalized the cannabis market on a promise to bring cannabis out of the shadows, create accountability, protect public health and reinvest in communities harmed by the illicit market. For organizations that serve young people, that promise matters enormously to us.

However, California Department of Cannabis Control’s recent proposal to allow group tagging of cannabis plants should concern parents, educators, youth advocates and community leaders across the state because it will have a devastating impact on communities.

Current regulations require that individual mature cannabis plants are tagged and tracked through the state’s compliance system. The proposed regulations would make individual plant tags optional and allow a single tag to cover an entire group of plants. It is argued that this change could reduce administrative costs for licensed cultivators. However, removing oversight at a time when California’s illicit cannabis market remains enormous is the wrong approach.

Youth organizations have benefited from Proposition 64 revenues. These funds support substance-use prevention, early intervention, community health, environmental restoration and public safety programs. The funding is used to support real services for young people, especially in communities already facing poverty, substance-use challenges and limited access to prevention and intervention resources.

DCC itself has acknowledged how serious the illicit-market problem remains. DCC Director Clint Kellum has stated that only about 40% of cannabis consumed in California comes from the legal market. Independent research commissioned by the DCC itself estimates the wholesale value of unlicensed cannabis production in the state at nearly $12 billion a year. As a result, the majority of cannabis consumed in California remains outside the regulated system. That should be a warning sign, not a reason to loosen the rules.

Individual plant tagging creates a direct connection between each mature cannabis plant and the state’s track-and-trace system and gives regulators greater visibility into cultivation, helps identify diversion and makes it harder for untracked cannabis to enter the legal supply chain. By creating group tagging, it will reduce the ability to determine whether cannabis has moved outside the regulated market. When cannabis is diverted into the illicit market, young people can bear the consequences.

Illegal cannabis operations do not follow the same requirements required by current law such as testing, licensing, environmental, or public-safety requirements. Unlicensed cultivation can involve dangerous pesticide use, water diversion, environmental damage and other unsafe practices. A weaker tracking system will make it harder for regulators to distinguish compliant operators from bad actors and will make it harder to keep illegal cannabis out of our communities.

There is also a direct financial consequence.

Prop 64 established a system in which cannabis tax revenues are to fund youth education, substance-use prevention, early intervention and treatment programs, environmental restoration and public-safety initiatives. When cannabis is diverted from the legal market, the tax revenues that could have been used for these types of programs bypass the regulated system. The loss in tax revenues for these programs is detrimental. 

Many organizations are already operating with limited resources while providing essential services for youth. California should not adopt policies that could increase opportunities for diversion while putting funding for prevention, intervention and community programs at risk.

Responsible cannabis businesses deserve rules that are workable and efficient. But industry convenience should not come at the expense of California’s most vulnerable communities. California’s young people deserve better.

DCC should be asking how to strengthen the legal cannabis market, reduce diversion, and make better use of the information already available through track-and-trace and not how to weaken one of the state’s most important accountability tools.

When voters approved Prop 64, they voted for a regulated marketplace designed to reduce illegal activity, protect communities and direct resources back to our communities. Youth organizations have a direct stake in whether that promise is kept. That is why we urge the Department of Cannabis Control to retain individual plant tagging and maintain strong track-and-trace requirements. California should put the interests of young people and communities ahead of industry convenience.

Our young people should not bear the cost of weaker cannabis oversight.

Pedro Molina is CEO of First Day Foundation Inc, where he leads efforts to support underserved youth through education, prevention and community programs.