I am writing today to urgently request your veto on AB 1207, legislation which would ban images of humans, fruits, and vegetables in cannabis labeling, marketing, advertising, and packaging.
While claiming to protect children, AB 1207’s actual effect would be to target farms and farmers, not cookies and candies. For thousands of small cannabis farmers, many of whom grow organic cannabis outdoors alongside traditional food crops like fruits and vegetables, AB 1207 prohibits natural imagery of farmers and agricultural production which would not be considered “attractive to children” in any other context.
If AB 1207 is signed into law, it would devastate many small cannabis farmers who cannot afford to rebuild their brand, and deeply undermine Proposition 64’s promises to “ensure the nonmedical marijuana industry in California will be built around small and medium sized businesses” and to “reduce barriers to entry into the legal, regulated market.”
-Small farmers who have invested years of their own limited time and money into fully compliant and clearly not attractive to children brands that happen to feature imagery of humans, fruits, or vegetables will lose their investment overnight.
-California’s attempts to lead in pushing forward interstate cannabis commerce, through efforts like SB 1326, will be deeply undermined if cultivators cannot market their products with accurate imagery of the farm and farmer that produced the product.
-Images of cartoons, candies, and other problematic imagery are already prohibited by existing Department of Cannabis Control regulation, and these meaningful prohibitions would not be expanded or affected by this legislation.
-AB 1207 only applies to licensed cannabis operators who are already heavily regulated by the state, and does nothing to address unregulated cannabis or intoxicating hemp products which are responsible for the vast majority of problematic marketing practices.
Rather than signing AB 1207, I encourage you to sign SB 540, legislation which would require the Department of Cannabis Control to update its labeling regulations in response to evolving science on best practices.
Thank you for your consideration,