California State Regulations Regarding Medical Cannabis Cultivators
The following video explains the SEC. 137. Section 11362.765 of the Health and Safety Code Regulations regarding cultivating on behalf of qualified patients for reasonable compensation.
11362.765. (a) Subject to the requirements of this article, the individuals specified in subdivision (b) shall not be subject, on that sole basis, to criminal liability under Section 11357, 11358, 11359, 11360, 11366, 11366.5, or 11570. This section does not authorize the individual to smoke or otherwise consume cannabis unless otherwise authorized by this article, nor shall anything in this section authorize any individual or group to cultivate or distribute cannabis for profit.
(b) Subdivision (a) shall apply to all of the following:
(1) A qualified patient or a person with an identification card who transports or processes cannabis for his or her own personal medical use.
(2) A designated primary caregiver who transports, processes, administers, delivers, or gives away cannabis for medical purposes, in amounts not exceeding those established in subdivision (a) of Section 11362.77, only to the qualified patient of the primary caregiver, or to the person with an identification card who has designated the individual as a primary caregiver.
(3) An individual who provides assistance to a qualified patient or a person with an identification card, or his or her designated primary caregiver, in administering medicinal cannabis to the qualified patient or person or acquiring the skills necessary to cultivate or administer cannabis for medical purposes to the qualified patient or person.
(c) A primary caregiver who receives compensation for actual expenses, including reasonable compensation incurred for services provided to an eligible qualified patient or person with an identification card to enable that person to use cannabis under this article, or for payment for out-of-pocket expenses incurred in providing those services, or both, shall not, on the sole basis of that fact, be subject to prosecution or punishment under Section 11359 or 11360.
(Amended by Stats. 2017, Ch. 27, Sec. 137. (SB 94) Effective June 27, 2017.)
Reasonable Compensation for Individual Cultivators
The “reasonable compensation” authorized for “primary caregivers” logically applies to “individual cultivators” who, in addition to cultivation services, provide the same “cannabis” services as the primary caregiver (i.e., transporting, processing, delivering and administering cannabis).
Basis for Reasonable Compensation for an Individual Cultivator
a) costs for grow space,
b) equipment,
c) utilities,
d) nutrients,
e) supplies,
f) reasonable compensation for the labor required to cultivate the plants
Obtaining cannabis directly from the cultivator eliminates the middleman and enables the Qualified Patient to purchase medicine at a wholesale cost.
Number of Patients
The Regulations limit Primary Caregivers to 5 Qualified Patients
Does the 5-patient limit for Primary Caregivers apply to Individual Cultivators who are cultivating on behalf of Qualified Patients and Primary Caregivers?
The answer is yes.
5 Qualified Patients X 6 plants per Patient, authorizes the individual cultivator to cultivate up to 30 plants on behalf of Qualified Patients.
Patient Benefits
- significant source of cannabis for Qualified Patients
- significantly lower cost
- teaching cultivation, extraction
- higher quality product over mass produced
- specific strains for a patient’s medical condition
- supports the non-diversion of cannabis