Medicinal cannabis: shipments.

The document was reformatted from a traditional enrolled legislative document (with page numbers, chapter headers, and clerk/governor signature blocks) into a web page layout that includes site navigation menus, quick search fields, bill tracking links, version history, and status indicators.

Eligible microbusinesses must now hold a license that includes 'manufacturing' in addition to retail sale, distribution, and outdoor cultivation. The M-license is also clarified as a 'license designation that includes medicinal.'

The access criterion changed from patients who cannot reach any cannabis retailer or delivery within 60 miles to patients who cannot obtain the specific medicinal cannabis products they need from a retailer or delivery within 60 miles. This is a narrower, product-specific test rather than a general proximity test.

The list of prohibited shipped products was substantially expanded to include: vape oil, concentrates of any kind (rosin, hash, kief, diamonds, isolates), all edibles (not just cookies and gummies), capsules/tablets/sublinguals, mixed-light flower, products with volatile extraction ingredients, and products with synthetic or chemically converted cannabinoids or terpenes.

Cannabis seeds sourced from outdoor cultivation are now explicitly permitted for shipment, a product category not addressed in the Assembly version.

Permitted tinctures, topicals, suppositories, and full-spectrum oils must now be manufactured at the licensed microbusiness's own premises using only nonvolatile, mechanical, or infusion extraction techniques, with all cannabis ingredients sourced in accordance with the sourcing paragraph. This is a stricter manufacturing-location requirement than the Assembly version.

Sourcing verification now applies 'in each calendar year' and the acceptable outdoor cultivation license types were expanded to include 'outdoor microbusiness cultivation' in addition to small, medium, specialty, and specialty cottage.

The provision allowing licensed microbusinesses solely authorized for shipment to provide free medicinal cannabis by means of shipment was removed from the operative Section 26071 (which applies until January 1, 2029). The definition of 'shipment' and the reference to shipment in compliance requirements were also removed from that section.

The state-mandated local program perjury language was updated to reflect that the certification duty for verifying physician recommendations falls on the licensed microbusiness rather than only the retailer, broadening who bears the perjury risk.

Removed 'retail sale' from the list of licensed activities a microbusiness must hold to ship medicinal cannabis directly to patients. Previously required: retail sale, manufacturing, distribution, and outdoor cultivation. Now requires only: manufacturing, distribution, and outdoor cultivation.

Removed one instance of 'solely' from the provision allowing microbusinesses to provide free medicinal cannabis by shipment. Changed from 'microbusinesses that are solely authorized to engage in retail sales of medicinal cannabis solely by means of shipment' to 'microbusinesses that are authorized to engage in retail sales of medicinal cannabis solely by means of shipment,' slightly broadening eligibility.

Replaced all instances of 'commercial carrier' with 'commercial common carrier,' which is a narrower legal term referring to carriers that hold themselves out to serve the general public rather than private contract carriers.

Expanded the list of specifically named prohibited inhalable concentrates from 'resin or distillate' to 'resin, distillate, rosin, hash, kief, diamonds, or isolates.'

Consolidated and simplified the edibles prohibition. The old version had a confusing duplicate restriction (one for 'cookies, gummies, or edibles' and another for 'edibles of any kind'). The new version uses a single broader prohibition on all edibles with an exception for tinctures that do not contain volatile-extracted cannabis ingredients.

Added 'kief' to the list of substances that cannot be infused into outdoor flower shipped under this section. Previously only flavors, terpenes, and hash were prohibited in shipped outdoor flower.

Simplified the access requirement language from 'cannot access or utilize the specific medicinal cannabis products they need' to 'cannot obtain the specific medicinal cannabis products they need.'

Changed 'government issued' to 'government-issued' (hyphenation fix) throughout the bill.

A sunset provision was added: the shipping authorization in Section 26072 remains in effect only until January 1, 2029, after which it is repealed. A replacement version of the Right of Access Act definitions becomes operative on that same date.

A new 60-mile access requirement was added: medicinal cannabis may only be shipped to a patient who cannot access or utilize a cannabis retailer or delivery service within 60 miles of the patient's location. This limits the program to patients in areas with no nearby retail or delivery options.

Detailed product type restrictions were added for shipments. Prohibited products include vape pens, cartridges, battery-powered devices, inhalable concentrates (resin, distillate), cookies/gummies/edibles (except naturally infused food-oil tinctures), infused beverages, products with added flavors or terpenes, and indoor-cultivated flower. Permitted products include food-oil infusion tinctures, topicals/salves/balms using food-oil tinctures, suppositories using food-oil tinctures, full-spectrum cannabis oil (including Rick Simpson Oil), and outdoor-cultivated flower without added flavors or terpenes.

A new physician verification requirement was added for shipping microbusinesses: they must verify with the Medical Board, Osteopathic Medical Board, and Board of Podiatric Medicine that the recommending physician is in good standing, and must keep a copy of the patient's or caregiver's government-issued ID.

A new requirement was added that the shipping microbusiness must comply with all applicable laws and regulations governing cannabis retailers for purposes of shipment, including laboratory testing requirements for all products to be shipped.

A new provision clarifies that the microbusiness acts as the retailer for all shipped products and is responsible for any taxes applicable to retailers under existing laws.

A restriction was added requiring that commercial carriers use only their own employees for shipping medicinal cannabis, prohibiting the use of subcontractors or third-party couriers.

Extensive legislative findings were added (new Section 1) stating the bill is a narrow solution for approximately 4,000 patients with severe conditions (intractable epilepsy, severe autism, rare genetic syndromes, advanced cancers, multiple sclerosis, dementia) who cannot access appropriate products through existing retail or delivery services. The findings explicitly state the Legislature does not intend the bill to facilitate shipping of products easily accessible via existing dispensaries or delivery.

The state-mandated local program language was expanded to include that the bill expands the crime of perjury by requiring retailer certification of physician recommendations. Reimbursement provisions were also modified to state that no reimbursement is required for certain mandates for a specified reason, while other mandates remain subject to normal reimbursement procedures.

A licensed microbusiness must now hold an M-license (in addition to a license designation that includes 'medicinal') to be eligible to ship medicinal cannabis directly to patients. This narrows the pool of businesses that can participate.

The required licensed activities for a shipping-eligible microbusiness now include 'retail sale' in addition to manufacturing, distribution, and outdoor cultivation. Previously retail sale authorization was not required.

Throughout the bill, 'commercial common carrier' is replaced with 'common carrier,' broadening the types of carriers that may transport medicinal cannabis shipments. The requirement that the carrier use only its own employees is retained.

The prohibition on local jurisdictions regulating medicinal cannabis shipments is narrowed from covering shipments 'into or from' the local jurisdiction to only shipments 'into' the local jurisdiction. Local governments retain authority to regulate outbound shipments.