Recreational Use of Cannabis: Volume 1

Regulatory Agency:

The Marijuana Control Board is established in the Department of Commerce, Community, and Economic Development as a regulatory and quasi-judicial agency. The board is in the Department of Commerce, Community, and Economic Development for administrative purposes only.

Cultivation Restrictions:

A "limited marijuana cultivation facility license" is restricted to <500 sq ft under cultivation, but a "standard marijuana cultivation facility license" has no upper limit. See Alaska Admin. Code tit. 3, § 306.410.

Retail Sales:

The creation of a licensing system governing retail sales was mandated on February 24, 2015, by 2014 Alaska Ballot Measure No. 2. However, retail sales did not begin in Alaska until October 29, 2016, according to news reports. See, e.g., "Alaska Shop Set to Offer State's First Legal Marijuana Sales." Fortune. October 29, 2016. Retrieved on 12/14/2017 from http://fortune.com/2016/10/29/alaska-legal-marijuana-sales/ .

Price Controls:

A licensed retail marijuana store may not offer to a consumer free marijuana or marijuana product, including a sample.

Tax Imposed:

There is no general state sales tax in Alaska.

Local Authority:

Local governments may enact ordinances or regulations limiting the number of marijuana establishment operations. The state board is required to solicit and consider input as to a local government's preferences if the number of applicants seeking state licenses exceeds the number established by a local government. See Alaska Stat. §§ 17.38.200, 17.38.210. A licensed retailer may, with prior approval of the board, permit consumption of marijuana or a marijuana product purchased on the licensed premises, in a designated area on the licensed premises. See Alaska Admin. Code tit. 3, §§ 306.305, 306.310. 

Cultivation Restrictions:

Three types of cultivation licenses may not be issued before January 1, 2023. For further detail, see Cal. Bus. & Prof. Code §§ 19332 (repealed on June 27, 2017) and 26061.

Retail Sales:

The creation of a licensing system governing retail sales was mandated on November 9, 2016, by Cal. Initiative Measure Prop. 64 (2016). However, licensing authorities were not required to begin issuing licenses in California until January 1, 2018, according to Cal. Bus. & Prof. Code § 26012(c). State law authorizes localities to allow on-premises consumption if certain conditions are met.

Pricing Controls Imposed:

No licensee shall give away any amount of marijuana or marijuana products. No sales below cost.

Tax Imposed:

General sales tax (7.25 percent) applies.

Products Permitted:

The size of a standardized serving of marijuana shall be no more than 10 mg of active THC. No individual edible retail marijuana product unit for sale shall contain more than 100 mg of active THC.

Cultivation Restrictions:

Retail cultivation facility licenses issued on or after November 30, 2015 are limited to 1,800 plants. Licenses issued before November 30, 2015 can cultivate the same as previously authorized. Licensees can apply to expand production, if certain criteria are met. For every three cultivation facility licenses in which a person has an interest, that person must have a controlling interest in at least one retail marijuana store.

Retail Sales:

Local jurisdictions may enact ordinances or regulations governing the number of retail marijuana establishments. When the state licensing authority receives an application for original or renewal licensing for any marijuana establishment, the state licensing authority is to provide a copy of the application to the local jurisdiction in which the establishment is to be located unless the local jurisdiction has prohibited the operation of retail marijuana establishments. The local jurisdiction is to determine and inform the state licensing authority whether the application complies with local restrictions on the number of marijuana businesses, and is to notify the state licensing authority that it either approves or denies each application forwarded to it. See Colo. Const. Art. 18 § 16; Colo. Rev. Stat. §§ 12-43.4-104, 12-43.4-301.

Pricing Controls Imposed:

A retail marijuana store may not give away retail marijuana or retail marijuana product to a consumer for any reason.

Tax Imposed:

General sales tax (2.9 percent) does not apply.

Retail sales of cannabis are not authorized in the District of Columbia.

Retail Sales:

The creation of a licensing system governing retail sales was mandated on January 30, 2017. However, as of January 1, 2018, retail sales had not yet begun in Maine. Applications for licenses were scheduled to begin February 1, 2018.

Pricing Controls Imposed: 

A marijuana store, cultivation facility, or products manufacturing facility may not give away adult use marijuana, adult use marijuana products or marijuana plants or sell or give away mature marijuana plants.

Tax Imposed:

General sales tax (5.5 percent) does not apply.

Cultivation Restrictions:

An individual licensee shall be limited to 100,000, square feet of canopy per licensee, for a total of three licenses.

Retail Sales:

The creation of a licensing system governing retail sales was mandated on December 15, 2016, by 2016 Mass. Ballot Measure Question 4. However, as of January 1, 2018, retail sales had not yet begun in Massachusetts. State law authorizes localities to allow on-premises consumption by municipal initiative.

Tax Imposed:

General sales tax (6.25 percent) applies.

Retail Sales:

The creation of a licensing system governing retail sales was passed by the voters of the state of Michigan on November 6, 2018, and became law on December 6, 2018. However, as of January 1, 2019, retail sales had not yet begun. State law authorizes localities to allow on-premises consumption by municipal ordinance. A municipality may completely prohibit or limit the number of marihuana establishments within its boundaries.

Tax Imposed:

General sales tax (6 percent) applies.

Retail Sales:

The creation of a licensing system governing retail sales was mandated on January 1, 2017, by 2016 Nevada Initiative Petition, Ballot Question No. 2. However, retail sales did not begin in Nevada until July 1, 2017, according to news reports. See, e.g., Lochhead, C. “Nevada has massive first month of marijuana sales.” Las Vegas Review-Journal. September 28, 2017. Retrieved on 12/14/2017 from https://www.reviewjournal.com/news/pot-news/nevada-has-massive-first-mon... .

Tax Imposed:

General sales tax (6.85 percent) applies.

Impaired Driving Prohibitions:

Nev. Rev. Stat. § 484C.110 provides that a blood concentration of 2 ng/mL of marijuana (delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol) is prohibited, while a concentration of 5 ng/mL of a marijuana metabolite (11-OH-tetrahydrocannabinol) is prohibited.

Regulatory Agency:

The Oregon Liquor Control Commission regulates the purchase, sale, production, processing, transportation and delivery of recreational cannabis in Oregon generally. Effective July 27, 2015, Senate Bill 460 (2015) directed the Oregon Health Authority to allow registered medical marijuana dispensaries the option of selling limited recreational cannabis products (dried leaves and flowers, immature marijuana plants and seeds) to persons 21 and older until December 31, 2016.

Cultivation Restrictions:

For further detail, see O.R.S. § 475B.075, OAR 845-025-2040.

Retail Sales:

Retailers licensed by the Oregon Liquor Control Commission will begin sales of cannabis as soon as applications are approved. Retail licensees may not permit on-site consumption of cannabis, except for consumption by employees with a current medical registry identification card. OAR 845-025-1230.

Pricing Controls Imposed:

No licensee or permitee may give or permit the giving of any cannabis item as a prize, premium, or consideration for any lottery, contest, game of chance or skill, exhibition, or any competition of any kind. In addition, a licensee or permitee may not sell or offer for sale any cannabis item for a price per item that is less than the licensee's cost for the cannabis item, and the pricing of cannabis items must remain consistent during each day.

Tax Imposed:

A tax of 17% upon the retail sale of cannabis was authorized effective October 5, 2015; however, this tax was not collected until sales by licensed retailers were generated. For the first three months of recreational sales by dispensaries, taxes were not imposed. After January 1, 2016, a 25% tax was collected on sales for recreational use by medical dispensaries. There is no general state sales tax in Oregon.

Retail sales and commercial cultivation of cannabis are not authorized in Vermont. 

Regulatory Agency:

When Initiative Measure 502 was passed the regulatory agency charged with regulating cannabis was called the Washington State Liquor Board. On July 24, 2014 the agency's name was changed to the Washington State Liquor and Cannabis Board.

Products Permitted:

“Marijuana-infused products” are defined as products that contain marijuana or marijuana extracts, are intended for human use, are derived from marijuana, as defined, and have a THC concentration no greater than ten percent. The term “marijuana-infused products” does not include either useable marijuana or marijuana concentrates. “Marijuana concentrates” means products consisting wholly or in part of the resin extracted from any part of the plant Cannabis and having a THC concentration greater than ten percent.

Cultivation Restrictions:

For further detail, see Wash. Admin. Code § 314-55-075.

Retail Sales:

The creation of a licensing system governing retail sales was mandated on December 6, 2012, by 2012 Wash. Initiative Measure No. 502. However, retail sales did not begin in Washington until July 8, 2014, according to news reports. See, e.g., Johnson, K. "Sales of Recreational Marijuana Begin in Washington State." The New York Times. July 8, 2014. Retrieved on 12/14/2017 from https://www.nytimes.com/2014/07/09/us/washington-to-begin-sales-of-recre... . The state board, in consultation with the office of financial management, is required to determine the maximum number of retail outlets that may be licensed in each county. See Wash. Rev. Code § 69.50.345, Wash. Admin. Code § 314-55-081 (eff. November 21, 2013).

Pricing Controls Imposed:

Marijuana retailers may not sell marijuana products below their acquisition cost. Beginning on June 18, 2016, retailers may not provide free samples to customers.

Tax Imposed:

General sales tax (6.5 percent) applies in addition to the cannabis-specific tax. Wash. Rev. Code §§ 69.50.535, 82.08.020.

Local Authority:

The initiative that legalized the recreational use of cannabis in Washington State, Initiative 502 (I-502), neither provided for local option or control nor explicitly prohibited it. In a January 16, 2014 opinion, the Washington State Attorney General concluded that I-502 did not clearly preempt local authority to regulate cannabis businesses and did not limit the authority of local governments to regulate within their boundaries or impose land use and business licensing requirements with respect to licensed marijuana businesses. Wash. Op. Att'y Gen. 2014 No. 2 (2014).