HCGA supported and helped drive this bill to reserve appellations of origin specifically for cannabis plants grown in the ground, under full sun, without the use of artificial lights or structures. Setting an in-ground, full-sun baseline for cannabis appellations ensures that appellations are based in the terroir of a region, and that California’s origin regulations will meet established international standards for appellation recognition.
In addition to establishing a terroir baseline for appellations, SB 67 also creates a “city of origin” program, modeled off California’s existing county of origin program, which ensures that cannabis cannot be labeled with the name of a city unless 100% of the cannabis in the product was produced in that city.
Following the signature of SB 67, California cannabis law has now set a new and global precedent-setting bar for the legal protection of origin-based craft agricultural products. The combination of terroir-based appellations of origin, county of origin protections, and city of origin protections creates an integrated legal system that provides all California producers with legal standing to protect and promote origin-based products, establishing a critical tool against the consolidation and commoditization of cannabis.
SB 67’s baseline standard for in-ground, full-sun cannabis cultivation only applies to appellation regions that will be developed by petition process starting on January 1, 2021. All cannabis 100% produced in Humboldt County – regardless of production method – will continue to be able to use the Humboldt County name.