California Cannabis Operators Association

As of January 1, 2026, AB 8 now empowers state and local agencies to seize, fine, and revoke licenses for unregulated intoxicating hemp sales, ending the gray market that puts consumers at risk!

Learn more in our policy guide: https://loom.ly/axbdEkM

California Cannabis Advocacy Wins and Future Directions If you missed our recent webinar, here's what you need to know about the latest California cannabis advocacy wins and where we're heading next. 

California cannabis leaders: 2025 brought wins. Help us shape 2026 advocacy priorities. Share your voice on policy, legislative, and regulatory issues: https://loom.ly/qVUhqk4

California cannabis leaders need reliable industry intel. Subscribe to the CaCOA newsletter for policy updates, market insights, and advocacy news shaping our sector. Stay informed: cacoa.org/subscribe

By 2028, AB 8 fully integrates industrial hemp into California’s licensed cannabis system—ensuring products are produced, tested, and taxed under one unified framework.

➡️ Dive deeper in our policy guide: https://loom.ly/axbdEkM

ICYMI: California state officers have seized/destroyed $1.2B+ in illicit cannabis products through the Unified Cannabis Enforcement Task Force. The $609M seized in 2025 represents an 18-fold increase since 2022: https://loom.ly/2kb49PM

California cannabis businesses thrive when operators work together. CaCOA members get early intelligence on policy changes, proven advocacy strategies, and a community of leadersworking together to solve problems.

JOIN US: cacoa.org/membership

MEMBERSHIP | CaCOA The California Cannabis Operators Association's dynamic coalition of forward-thinking operators is united in a shared vision: to unify California’s diverse cannabis operators in advocating for policies and regulations that support the growth, sustainability, and success of the legal cannabis industry. Together, we are shaping the future of cannabis and driving economic growth for the Golden State.

Facing crushing taxes, illicit competition, and regulatory chaos? You're not alone. CaCOA members get advocacy, intelligence, and community.

Now is the time to join the largest cannabis trade association in California: cacoa.org/membership

High Hopes for Cannabis - Los Angeles Business Journal In light of President Donald Trump’s December executive order urging for the reclassification of cannabis to a Schedule III narcotic, the nation likely

“Hopefully with the decrease in taxes and potentially the opening of new consumers and investment dollars … cannabis companies are able to reduce prices and compete against the black market and reduce its market share."

https://loom.ly/PwuQUvs

Thank you, Asm. Jacqui Irwin, for amending #AB762 to remove integrated cannabis vapor devices. Your leadership provides consumers with regulated products, and ensures those sales generate tax revenue for California rather than enriching illicit retailers: loom.ly/ChvbY_w8

Five years ago, Redwood City made a bet on legal cannabis. While other Peninsula municipalities blocked stores, Redwood City moved forward, opening the area's first in 2023. Evidence now shows the gamble is paying off: https://loom.ly/4k9dHrI

Thank you, Asm. Jacqui Irwin, for amending #AB762 to remove integrated cannabis vapor devices. Your leadership provides consumers with regulated products, and ensures those sales generate tax revenue for California rather than enriching illicit retailers: https://loom.ly/ChvbY_w8

From timber wars to cannabis crash: Scotia's battle to survive as California's last company town The redwood wars are long over. Pacific Lumber is no more, but the company town it built endures in Humboldt County. Can it find a new life as a hidden real estate gem?

Many in town say the struggle to transform Scotia mirrors a larger struggle in Humboldt County, which has been rocked, first by the faltering of its logging industry and more recently by the collapse of its cannabis economy: https://loom.ly/uJ6tkY4

#CALleg: Vote NO on #AB762. Legal all-in-one vapes are tested, regulated, and safe.

Banning them drives cannabis consumers to dangerous illicit products, defeating both environmental and public health goals. Choose regulation over prohibition: https://loom.ly/AdLa4xE

#AB762 won't reduce e-waste. It'll drive California cannabis consumers from safe, tested products to untested illicit vapes.

Call #CAleg Assembly Approps TODAY, and urge them to vote NO. Prohibition isn't the solution: https://loom.ly/AdLa4xE

Cannabis leaders: Contact #CAleg Assembly Approps Cmte members before Jan 22, and urge them to vote NO on #AB762.

Legal all-in-one vapes are tested/regulated. Banning them drives patients and consumers to dangerous, illicit products instead: https://loom.ly/AdLa4xE

CSU East Bay offers online cannabis training amid California industry shifts  • The Mendocino Voice | Mendocino County, CA Adults can enroll in self-paced courses covering cannabis operations and regulations.

CSU East Bay is now enrolling for its online cannabis education program. Students can earn certification as specialists in cannabis cultivation, product development, retail sales, compliance, medical cannabis, and related fields: https://loom.ly/QoGSFCM

California rolled back cannabis tax, but LA businesses say they're still struggling Federal rescheduling of marijuana products could make a bigger change.

LAist spoke with several Los Angeles cannabis business owners that month who said competition against illegal businesses who do not pay those taxes was nearly pushing them out of the market: https://loom.ly/AlR_U-M

California’s Departing Cannabis Regulator Reflects on Leading the Nation’s Biggest Market  - Cannabis Wire In an exit interview with Cannabis Wire, Nicole Elliott was candid about taxes, enforcement, the illicit market, and what’s next.

In an exit interview with Cannabis Wire, Nicole Elliott was candid about California cannabis taxes, enforcement, the illicit market, and what’s next: https://loom.ly/tVtSP3E

UCLA receives $7.3M for wide-ranging cannabis research UCLA receives $7.3M for wide-ranging cannabis research

NEW California grant will fund studies on synthetic cannabis, cardiovascular effects, flavor regulations, and the unregulated cannabis market: https://loom.ly/RebHTko

Jenkins warned that removing regulated cannabis vapes from California store shelves would push consumers further into the unregulated and unsafe illicit market, which faces none of the legal, environmental, or product safety requirements: https://loom.ly/7ZdOE6Q #AB672 #CAleg

⚠️ #AB762 won't eliminate all-in-one (AIO) cannabis vapes from California: it will move them to the illicit market, where there's no testing, taxes, or accountability. We already have a better solution: AB 1894.

🚫#CAleg, vote NO TODAY: https://loom.ly/jicN28o

🚨 DYK? California cannabis patients with arthritis, chronic pain, and mobility challenges depend on regulated vaporizers. #AB762 would ban them, jeopardizing public health and safety.

➡️ We urge #CAleg to vote NO on Tues, Jan 13th: https://loom.ly/jicN28o

📉 #AB762 will eliminate 12% of legal cannabis sales and cost California $75M+ in tax revenue.

☢️ #CAleg bill won't remove all-in-one cannabis vapes: it just moves them underground to illicit sellers who don’t test products or pay taxes.

➡️ We strongly oppose - join us: https://loom.ly/jicN28o

California officials have awarded nearly $30 million in grants for marijuana-focused academic research, including cannabis use by older people, effects of THC beverages, compounds/flavoring, tribal participation, and the environmental impact: https://loom.ly/RYdDWQo

AB 762 Would Ban Cannabis Vapes and Empower California's Illicit Market: Here's What Retailers Need to Know This Tuesday, January 13th, the Assembly Business and Professions Committee will consider Assembly Bill 762 (Irwin), legislation that would prohibit the sale of all-in-one (AIO) cannabis vapes in Cali...

🚨 On Tuesday, Jan 13th at 9am, California's Assembly Business and Professions Committee will vote on #AB762 to ban all-in-one (AIO) cannabis vapes and shift $75M+ to the illicit market.

➡️ Read our letter and urge #CAleg to vote NO: loom.ly/jicN28o

San Diego's 10% cannabis business tax comes up short San Diego's cannabis business tax has doubled since it was approved by voters in 2016. Retailers in the city face competition from the illicit market and lower-tax suburbs.

Recently the San Diego City Council voted to increase the city's cannabis business tax from 8% to 10% to fill a budget hole. Now city finance officials say they likely overestimated how much revenue the tax hike would generate: https://loom.ly/Vb0uisw

AB 8 closes dangerous loopholes that allowed untested hemp products to reach kids. Beginning in 2026, all intoxicating cannabinoids must comply with California’s safety and labeling laws.

➡️ Explore our guide for what comes next: https://loom.ly/axbdEkM

This sativa-dominant hybrid cross between Blueberry and Haze was the most popular cultivar for the third consecutive year: https://loom.ly/dUF8Zcs

2025 was big for California cannabis advocacy. We stopped the excise tax hike, closed the hemp loophole, and cracked down on illicit sales.

What comes next? Watch the webinar and tell us what you want us fighting for in 2026: https://loom.ly/qVUhqk4

California Cannabis 2025 Victories and 2026 Advocacy Roadmap If you missed our recent webinar, here's what you need to know about the latest California cannabis advocacy wins and where we're heading next. 

In 2025, we delivered big California cannabis advocacy wins for our members. For 2026, we're asking you what matters most. Watch the webinar and complete the form so we can build a thriving legal market: https://loom.ly/qVUhqk4