Can California cities ban cannabis delivery?

The California legalized cannabis in 2016. Around 400 dispensaries in California now offer home delivery of cannabis. The 2016 law stated that local governments could prohibit businesses in their localities if they wished. However, the state's Business and Professions Code states that governments «shall not prevent the delivery of cannabis or cannabis products on public streets» by a licensed operator.

However, some municipalities are taking California to court over whether deliveries can be banned.

Up until now, judges have temporarily sided with the State and have ruled that deliveries could not be banned. While cities have banned recreational sales, they haven't put in place any specific ordinances prohibiting delivery, which they would have to in order to move forward.

The League of California Cities and police chiefs had complained that unrestricted home deliveries would create a chaotic market of largely hidden cannabis transactions, while undermining the local control guaranteed by the 2016 law that legalized cannabis sales in the state. The dispute between the state and 25 of its local governments also raises a fundamental question: who's in charge, the state bureaucracy overseeing the market or the local governments where cannabis is grown and sold?

On the other hand, cannabis companies and consumers have lobbied to allow home deliveries. California is a sprawling state, and without dispensary sales have created cannabis «deserts», where legal cannabis sales are not accessible. Home delivery also enables patients with reduced mobility to access treatment they wouldn't otherwise be able to have.

As important as this question is to many California residents, it won't be decided until November. Until then, municipalities will have to make do with delivery.