2023 California Code › Business and Professions Code - BPC › DIVISION 10 - Cannabis › CHAPTER 7 - Retailers, Distributors, and Microbusinesses › Section 26071.

26071. (a) To provide access to medicinal cannabis patients who have difficulty accessing cannabis or cannabis products, a licensee that is authorized to make retail sales may provide free cannabis or cannabis products if all of the following criteria are met:
(1) Free cannabis or cannabis products are provided only to a medicinal cannabis patient or the patient’s primary caregiver. For purposes of this section, “medicinal cannabis patient” includes a qualified patient, as defined under Section 11362.7 of the Health and Safety Code, or a person in possession of a valid identification card issued under Section 11362.71 of the Health and Safety Code.
(2) (A) A licensed retailer providing medicinal cannabis or medicinal cannabis products pursuant to this section to a qualified patient, as defined under Section 11362.7 of the Health and Safety Code, that possesses a valid physician’s recommendation, shall ensure that the physician is in good standing by following the procedures described in subparagraph (B) before providing the qualified patient with any medicinal cannabis or medicinal cannabis products that a cultivator certified were for donation pursuant to Section 34012.1 of the Revenue and Taxation Code or that are exempt from the use tax pursuant to Section 6414 of the Revenue and Taxation Code.
(B) In order to verify the physician’s recommendation, the licensed retailer shall do all of the following:
(i) Verify with the Medical Board of California, the Osteopathic Medical Board of California, and the California Board of Podiatric Medicine that the attending physician has a license in good standing to practice medicine or osteopathy in the state.
(ii) Keep a copy of the patient’s or primary caregiver’s driver’s license or other government issued identification.
(3) Except as provided for under Section 34012.1 of the Revenue and Taxation Code, the cannabis or cannabis products comply with all applicable requirements for cultivation, manufacture, distribution, processing, storing, laboratory testing, packaging, labeling, transportation, delivery, or donation under this division.
(4) A licensee intending to donate the cannabis or cannabis products shall designate the cannabis or cannabis products for donation in the track and trace system. If a cultivator certified that the cannabis or cannabis products are designated for donation to medicinal cannabis patients pursuant to Section 34012.1 of the Revenue and Taxation Code, a licensee shall not change that designation pursuant to subdivision (b) of Section 34012.1 of the Revenue and Taxation Code.
(5) Before being provided to the patient or primary caregiver, the cannabis or cannabis products have been properly recorded in the track and trace system as belonging to the retailer.
(6) The cannabis or cannabis products provided to a medicinal cannabis patient or the primary caregiver of the patient in a single day shall not exceed the possession limits prescribed by Section 11362.77 of the Health and Safety Code.
(7) The event shall be properly recorded in the retailer’s inventory records and the track and trace system. The retailer shall include in its inventory records for each medicinal cannabis patient the number of an identification card issued pursuant to Article 2.5 (commencing with Section 11362.7) of Chapter 6 of Division 10 of the Health and Safety Code or a copy of the physician’s recommendation for no less than four years. If the medicinal cannabis patient is a qualified patient, as defined under Section 11362.7 of the Health and Safety Code, that possesses a valid physician’s recommendation, the retailer shall certify in writing that they verified the recommendation pursuant to paragraph (2) and shall keep a copy of that certification for no less than seven years.
(8) A licensed retailer that donates medicinal cannabis or medicinal cannabis products shall note the donation in their sales invoice or receipt pursuant to Section 26161 of the Business and Professions Code.
(b) In addition to the provision of free cannabis or cannabis products in subdivision (a), a licensee that is authorized to make retail sales may donate cannabis or cannabis products and the use of equipment in compliance with any compassionate use, equity, or other similar program administered by a local jurisdiction.
(c) A licensee that is authorized to make retail sales may contract with an individual or organization to coordinate the provision of free medicinal cannabis or medicinal cannabis products on the retailer’s premises. Licensed retailers that are solely authorized to engage in retail sales by means of delivery may provide free medicinal cannabis or medicinal cannabis products by means of delivery.
(d) This section shall become operative upon completion of the necessary changes to the track and trace program in order to implement the act adding this section, as determined by the Department of Food and Agriculture, or on March 1, 2020, whichever occurs first.
(Added by Stats. 2019, Ch. 837, Sec. 4. (SB 34) Effective January 1, 2020.)