(a) (1) The department shall implement a unique identification program for cannabis and cannabis products.

(2)  The unique identification program shall include the identification of permitted cannabis plants at a cultivation site during the cultivation period. A unique identifier shall be issued for each cannabis plant. The department shall ensure that unique identifiers are issued as quickly as possible to ensure the implementation of this division. The unique identifier shall be recorded in a manner as determined by the department by regulation.

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(b) Unique identifiers shall only be issued to those persons appropriately licensed by this division.

(c) Information associated with the assigned unique identifier and licensee shall be included in the trace and track program specified in Section 26067.

(d) The department may charge a fee to cover the reasonable costs of issuing the unique identifier and monitoring, tracking, and inspecting each cannabis plant.

(e) The department shall take adequate steps to establish protections against fraudulent unique identifiers and limit illegal diversion of unique identifiers to unlicensed persons.

(f) A city, county, or city and county may administer unique identifiers and associated identifying information but a city, county, or city and county’s identifiers shall not supplant the department’s track and trace program.

(g) This section does not apply to the cultivation of cannabis in accordance with § 11362.1 of the Health and Safety Code or the Compassionate Use Act.

(Amended by Stats. 2023, Ch. 496, Sec. 1. (SB 622) Effective January 1, 2024.)