Implementing cannabis regulation to achieve public health and safety goals in California – assessing the successes and challenges of the first year of regulation

California is the world’s largest legal cannabis market. Despite being the first U.S. state to legalize medicinal cannabis in 1996, the state has only just begun to regulate the cannabis market in 2018. Much of the motivation behind implementing regulations more than 20 years after legalization has been based in a desire to improve public and environmental health and safety. This presentation will explore some of the goals of regulating cannabis in California. It will discuss measuring success in these areas and the challenges California has experienced in implementing its new regulatory framework and achieving these goals. Regulatory goals to be assessed will include:

• suppressing the presence of an illegal market – both in-state, and out-of-state
• reducing negative environmental impact from illegal cannabis activities
• reducing and preventing crime and violence in relation to cannabis activities
• understanding and preventing cannabis-impaired driving
• minimizing exposure to and use by minors and young people