As California nears a decade since the legalization of cannabis, state officials say the cannabis industry has brought both positive progress and challenges. In 2016, The Adult Use of Marijuana Act, also known as Proposition 64 legalized the personal use and cultivation of marijuana for adults 21 and over while also reducing the crime penalties for marijuana related offenses for adults and juveniles in California.
The act passed with a 57% voter approval making California the fifth state to legalize the recreational use of marijuana. Jordan Traverso, deputy director of public affairs of the Department of Cannabis Control said that ten years after Prop 64, California's cannabis story is one of building and not inheriting—the largest regulatory system of its kind.
The DCC was established in 2021, combining three previous state cannabis agencies, the Bureau of Cannabis Control, CalCannabis Cultivation Licensing and the Manufactured Cannabis Safety Branch.
"In a decade, California didn't just regulate cannabis, it proved that even the most complex, fragmented starting point can be transformed into a functioning, evolving system." Traverso said. "The foundation is now in place, stronger each year, for the largest legal cannabis market in the world."
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