Bill Text: CA SB378 | 2025-2026 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Online marketplaces: illicit cannabis: reporting and liability.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Introduced) 2025-02-14 - From printer. May be acted upon on or after March 16. [SB378 Detail]
Download: California-2025-SB378-Introduced.html
CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE—
2025–2026 REGULAR SESSION
Senate Bill
No. 378
| Introduced by Senator Wiener |
February 13, 2025 |
An act to add Chapter 31.3 (commencing with Section 22943) and Chapter 31.4 (commencing with Section 22944) to Division 8 of the Business and Professions Code, and to add Section 1714.47 to the Civil Code, relating to cannabis.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
SB 378, as introduced, Wiener.
Online marketplaces: illicit cannabis: reporting and liability.
(1) Existing law, the Control, Regulate and Tax Adult Use of Marijuana Act (AUMA), an initiative measure, authorizes a person who obtains a state license under AUMA and any applicable local ordinances to engage in commercial adult-use cannabis activity pursuant to that license, if conducted as prescribed. Existing law, the Medicinal and Adult-Use Cannabis Regulation and Safety Act (MAUCRSA), among other things, consolidates the licensure and regulation of commercial medicinal and adult-use cannabis activities, and requires the Department of Cannabis Control to administer its provisions.
Existing law, until January 1, 2028, requires a social media platform to create and post a policy statement regarding the use of the social media platform to illegally distribute controlled substances, including a link to the social media
platform’s reporting mechanism for illegal or harmful content or behavior on the social media platform, if one exists, and a general description of its policies and procedures for responding to law enforcement inquiries.
This bill would require an online cannabis marketplace, as defined, to address in its terms of service whether it permits Californians to view the advertisements and business information of unlicensed sellers of cannabis or cannabis products on its marketplace and whether the marketplace verifies the licenses of sellers of cannabis or cannabis products whose advertisements and business information are viewable on its marketplace, as specified. The bill would require an online cannabis marketplace that does not verify those licenses to display a graphic that warns the consumer about various risks associated with cannabis from unlicensed sellers before the consumer can view or engage with the marketplace.
This bill would require an online cannabis marketplace to establish a prominent mechanism within its internet-based service that allows an individual to report to the online cannabis marketplace the display, storing, or hosting on the marketplace of advertisements from, or business information about, an unlicensed seller of cannabis or cannabis products. The bill would require the mechanism to provide the individual who submits a report with written confirmation of receipt of the report, periodic updates, and final written determination, as specified.
This bill would impose certain penalties and relief, and would authorize various parties to bring civil enforcement actions, depending on the violation of these provisions, as specified.
(2) The Sherman Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Law regulates the packaging, labeling, and advertising of food, beverages, and cosmetics and
authorizes the State Department of Public Health to adopt regulations for the enforcement of that law, as specified. That law imposes various requirements specific to the manufacture and sale of industrial hemp products that are food or beverages, including a requirement for a certificate of analysis from an independent testing laboratory that confirms that the THC concentration does not exceed a specified amount. Existing emergency regulations require that industrial hemp food, food additives, beverages, and dietary supplements intended for human consumption have no detectable THC per serving.
This bill would require an online hemp marketplace, as defined, to establish a prominent mechanism within its internet-based service that allows an individual to report to the online hemp marketplace an advertisement for an intoxicating hemp product on the marketplace, as specified. The bill would require the mechanism to provide the individual who submits a report with
written confirmation of receipt of the report, periodic updates, and final written determination, as specified. The bill would authorize certain parties to bring a civil action, including, among others, a licensed seller of cannabis or cannabis products and the Attorney General. The bill would impose specified penalties and relief for violations of these provisions.
(3) Existing law imposes strict liability upon persons who place a defective product on the market, including retailers engaged in the business of distributing goods to the public, for injuries caused by the product.
The bill would impose strict liability on an online marketplace that facilitated the connection between a consumer and an unlicensed seller of cannabis or a cannabis product for damages caused to the consumer by the cannabis or cannabis product, as provided. The bill would also impose strict liability on an online marketplace
that facilitated the connection between a consumer and a seller of an intoxicating hemp product for damages caused to the consumer by the intoxicating hemp product, as provided. The bill would increase the amount that a prevailing plaintiff may recover depending on what the online market knew or should have known at the time it facilitated the connection and whether the harm was suffered by a child, as described.
(4) This bill would state that its provisions are severable.
Digest Key
Vote: MAJORITY Appropriation: NO Fiscal Committee: YES Local Program: NOBill Text
The people of the State of California do enact as follows:
SECTION 1.
The Legislature finds and declares all of the following:(a) (1) In September 2024, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors adopted a resolution affirming the connection between the proliferation of unlawful, unlicensed, uninspected, and unregulated cannabis and the knowing, profit-driven behavior of internet companies:
“Unfortunately, distinguishing between licensed and unlicensed dispensaries is now more difficult than ever. When searching for a cannabis dispensary, search engine and GPS platforms such as Google and Apple Maps do not distinguish between licensed and unlicensed businesses, but instead give results that contain, more often than not, unlicensed
dispensaries, thus legitimizing problematic establishments selling unregulated and often dangerous products for general public consumption. Regulating online search engines and GPS platforms will ensure only legal, licensed dispensaries appear in results from those platforms and protect the safety of the public.”
(2) The unanimously adopted resolution cites a February 2024 report by the Pew Research Center that found there were nearly 1,500 cannabis dispensaries in the County of Los Angeles; as of 2022, only 384 of them were properly licensed.
(3) Investigative reports affirm the vast scope of the problem. According to The Los Angeles Times, “the black market is booming in plain sight, luring customers away from aboveboard retailers with their cheaper — if untested and unregulated — product.”
(4) Law enforcement and
other experts also affirm that the problem is vast:
(A) Bill Jones, the head of enforcement for the state’s Department of Cannabis Control, has stated “[t]he black market is very pervasive and it’s definitely larger than the legal market.”
(B) According to a study by Beau Whitney, founder of cannabis economics research firm Whitney Economics, illicit marijuana sales makes up more than half the state’s marijuana sales.
(C) Another expert assert more than two out of three cannabis purchases are made in the illicit market, and evidence suggests that disparity is getting worse. Legal sales have been on a two-year slide.
(5) The nation’s most populous county is not alone in observing the role internet companies play in facilitating the sale of illegal and
dangerous cannabis. In February, New York Governor Kathy Hochul pleaded with Google and Yelp to delist illegitimate cannabis dispensaries as the state began to see the rollout of its nascent recreational cannabis industry, as the Associated Press reported at the time. Initial results were not promising, as many illicit dispensaries remained on the sites while some of New York’s fledgling legal dispensaries were repeatedly delisted.
(b) Unlawful cannabis sales pose a unique peril to the state’s children. Recently, the state seized an astonishing 2,200,000 illicit cannabis packages designed to look like candy and sweets. As The Los Angeles Times reported in an August 2024 article, the packages were:
“… designed to mimic popular food and candy, including Sweet Tarts sour gummies and Twinkies adorned with rainbow sprinkles, which officials said could make them attractive to children. Such packages would
not be permitted in the legal marijuana market.”
(c) That internet companies openly and profitably facilitate criminal enterprises selling inherently dangerous products poses a grave risk to public safety. As the Los Angeles Times wrote in a September 2022 article, “Unlicensed dispensaries have become hotbeds of crime. Sometimes the operators are the perpetrators, authorities say, selling cocaine and methamphetamine alongside cannabis. At other times, they are the victims. In August 2021, a man was gunned down in the doorway of the illegal dispensary he ran in East Los Angeles.”
(d) (1) Law enforcement leaders say law enforcement raids are barely slowing the black market. Siskiyou County Sheriff Jeremiah LaRue has stated that “[i]f we examine the statistics, it is clear that these operations are not effectively or aggressively putting a dent into the illegal
market.”
(2) As the Sheriff observed, operations by the state Department of Justice’s Eradication and Prevention of Illicit Cannabis program, or EPIC, have seized about 750,000 cannabis plants in 36 counties. Yet, Siskiyou County alone produces an estimated 12,000,000 to 16,000,000 illegal plants per year. Therefore, if EPIC only focused on Siskiyou for a year, it would eradicate just 6 percent of the estimated local black market, he said.
(e) In addition to posing risks to the public health, especially children, in addition to endangering public safety, unlawful cannabis also poses environmental risks. As The Guardian reported, Rick Dean, the community development director for Siskiyou’s environmental health division, “is spending ever more of his time on the consequences of illegal cannabis production. One of the challenges is ‘the daily accumulation and disposal of human
waste and garbage that is buried on site. Many are plastic containers left over from fertilizers and pesticides.’”
(f) The Legislature finds and declares that internet companies’ listing of unlawful cannabis sellers when those companies have readily available, inexpensive, and public resources to distinguish between licensed and unlicensed cannabis businesses poses a direct, immediate, and urgent risk to the public health and safety of its citizens, especially its children.
(g) The Legislature finds and declares that such companies routinely prevent content that they disfavor from appearing on their products. For example, Meta’s Facebook blocks nudity, Google’s YouTube blocks copyrighted songs, and Meta’s Instagram was exposed as being able to detect and intercept child sex abuse material, permitting users to click through and see it after being warned.
(h) The Legislature finds and declares that, for all the aforementioned reasons, internet companies must shoulder some accountability for their role in facilitating criminal enterprises that pose direct, immediate, and urgent risks to public health and safety.
SEC. 2.
Chapter 31.3 (commencing with Section 22943) is added to Division 8 of the Business and Professions Code, to read:CHAPTER 31.3. Online Cannabis Marketplaces
22943.
For purposes of this chapter, the following definitions apply:(a) “Advertisement” means an advertisement about, or an offer of, a sale of cannabis or a cannabis product.
(b) “Business information” means a website, mobile application, address, or phone number through which a seller offers to sell, or a consumer makes a purchase of, cannabis or a cannabis product.
(c) “Cannabis” has the same meaning as that term is defined in subdivision (f) of Section 26001 of the Business and Professions Code.
(d) “Cannabis product” has the same meaning as that term is defined in
subdivision (k) of Section 26001 of the Business and Professions Code.
(e) “License” means a license issued by the Department of Cannabis Control pursuant to Division 10 (commencing with Section 26000).
(f) “Online cannabis marketplace” means internet website, online service, online application, or mobile application, or a portion thereof, including a social media platform, as defined in Section 1798.99.20, that does any of the following in California:
(1) Transmits or otherwise communicates between a third party and purchaser an offer for the sale of cannabis or a cannabis product that is accepted by the purchaser.
(2) Processes, collects, or administers the payment for the sale of cannabis or a cannabis product.
(3) Permits offers for the sale of cannabis or a cannabis product.
(4) Connects a seller of cannabis or cannabis products and a consumer.
22943.2.
(a) An online cannabis marketplace shall address in its terms of service both of the following:(1) Whether the online cannabis marketplace permits advertisements from, or business information about, unlicensed sellers of cannabis or cannabis products to be viewed by Californians on its marketplace.
(2) Whether the online cannabis marketplace verifies that a seller of cannabis or cannabis products has a valid, unexpired license by consulting the license look-up function on the Department of Cannabis Control’s internet website established pursuant to Section 26012.5 before displaying, storing, or hosting the seller’s advertisements or business information in a manner that is
viewable to Californians.
(b) (1) An online cannabis marketplace shall establish a prominent mechanism within its internet-based service that allows any individual, whether or not that individual has a profile on the internet-based service or is a user, to report to the online cannabis marketplace the display, storing, or hosting on the marketplace of advertisements from, or business information about, an unlicensed seller of cannabis or cannabis products.
(2) The mechanism required by this subdivision shall meet all of the following criteria:
(A) The mechanism shall allow, but not require, an individual to do both of the following:
(i) Upload a screenshot of the content that offers evidence of advertisements from, or business
information about, the unlicensed seller on the marketplace.
(ii) Provide the marketplace with basic identifying information, such as an account identifier or URL, sufficient to permit marketplace to locate the reported material.
(B) The mechanism shall include, but not be limited to, a method for the marketplace to contact a reporting individual in writing, including a telephone number for purposes of sending text messages, an email address, or another reasonable electronic method of communication.
(C) The mechanism shall provide, within 36 hours of receipt of a report, a written confirmation to the reporting individual that the marketplace has received that individual’s report.
(D) (i) The mechanism shall provide periodic written
updates to the reporting individual as to the status of the marketplace’s handling of the reported material using the method of communication, pursuant to subparagraph (B).
(ii) The first written update required by clause (i) shall be provided as soon as reasonably feasible but no later than 14 days after the date on which the written confirmation required under subparagraph (C) is provided. Subsequent written updates shall be provided as soon as reasonably feasible but no later than 14 days after the most recent written update provided pursuant to this clause, until the final written determination required by subparagraph (F).
(E) Each report shall receive a review by a natural person.
(F) (i) The mechanism shall issue a final written determination to the reporting individual within 30 days of
receiving the report stating one of the following:
(I) The report has provided evidence that an advertisement from, or business information about, an unlicensed seller of cannabis or cannabis products was displayed, stored, or hosted on the marketplace and the seller’s advertisements and business information have been blocked from being viewable on the marketplace.
(II) The report has provided evidence that an advertisement from, or business information about, an unlicensed seller of cannabis or cannabis products was or is displayed, stored, or hosted on the marketplace and the seller’s advertisements and business information will not be blocked from being viewable on the marketplace. The final written determination issued pursuant to this subclause shall also state that the marketplace acknowledges that it is aware that the seller is unlicensed and whether the marketplace has
referred the report to a law enforcement agency. If the marketplace has referred the report to a law enforcement agency, the final written determination shall provide a true and correct copy of the report that the marketplace made to the law enforcement agency.
(III) The report lacks evidence that the identified seller of cannabis or cannabis products who was or is displayed, stored, or hosted on the marketplace is unlicensed and the seller’s advertisements and business information will not be blocked from being viewable on the marketplace.
(IV) The report lacks evidence that the identified seller of cannabis or cannabis products whose advertisement or business information was or is displayed, stored, or hosted on the marketplace is unlicensed and the seller’s advertisements and business information will be blocked from being viewable on the marketplace for reasons unrelated to
the seller’s licensing status.
(V) The report lacks evidence that an advertisement or business information of a seller of cannabis or cannabis products was displayed, stored, or hosted on the marketplace.
(ii) If the marketplace cannot comply with clause (i) within 30 days due to circumstances beyond the reasonable control of the marketplace, the marketplace shall comply with clause (i) no later than 60 days after the date on which the report was received. If this clause applies, the marketplace shall promptly provide written notice of the delay, no later than 48 hours from the time the marketplace knew the delay was likely to occur, to the reporting individual.
(c) This section shall not be interpreted to prohibit any individual from reporting activity by an unlicensed seller of cannabis or cannabis products without
the use of the mechanism established in subdivision (b).
(d) Actions for relief pursuant to this section may be brought only in a civil action by any of the following parties:
(1) An individual who submits a report.
(2) A parent or legal guardian of a minor who submits a report.
(3) A labor union that represents workers employed by licensed sellers of cannabis or cannabis products.
(4) A city attorney, a district attorney, or a county counsel.
(5) The Attorney General, in the name of the people of the State of California.
(6) A licensed seller of cannabis or
cannabis products.
(e) (1) Any online cannabis marketplace that violates a requirement of this section shall be liable for a civil penalty of not more than ten thousand dollars ($10,000) for each violation and for compensatory damages, punitive damages, and any civil remedies, penalties, or sanctions for harms caused by the marketplace’s failure to comply with this chapter, which damages shall be adjudicated and awarded apart from any harms attributable to the existence of the reported content alone.
(2) In a successful action brought by a party described in subdivision (d) to enforce this section, the court may order injunctive relief to obtain compliance with this section and shall award reasonable attorney’s fees and costs to the prevailing plaintiff.
(3) Each day an online cannabis
marketplace is in violation of a requirement of this section constitutes a separate violation.
(f) The duties and obligations imposed by this section are cumulative with any other duties or obligations imposed under other law and shall not be construed to relieve any party from any duties or obligations imposed under other law.
22943.4.
(a) If an online cannabis marketplace does not verify that a seller of cannabis or cannabis products is licensed as described in paragraph (2) of subdivision (a) of Section 22943.2, the online cannabis marketplace shall, immediately after a consumer has accessed the marketplace, interpose a graphic that a consumer must acknowledge and click through before viewing or engaging with the marketplace. The graphic shall occupy no less than one-half the screen and shall warn the consumer of all the following:(1) The marketplace may be displaying, storing, or hosting unlicensed sellers of cannabis or cannabis products.
(2) Cannabis that is not offered by licensed sellers has not been
lawfully tested for potentially fatal chemicals like fentanyl.
(3) Cannabis that is not offered by licensed sellers and not tested may be especially harmful if ingested by children.
(4) Cannabis that is not offered by licensed sellers may not have the warning labels needed to prevent children from thinking a product is candy.
(5) It is illegal to purchase cannabis from unlicensed sellers and the marketplace may be required to provide information about unlawful activity to law enforcement agencies.
(b) Any person who identifies an online cannabis marketplace that displays, stores, or hosts an advertisement from, or business information about, an unlicensed seller of cannabis or cannabis products in violation of subdivision (a) may initiate an action to
enforce subdivision (a). A person who prevails in such an action shall be entitled to both of the following:
(1) Reasonable attorneys’ fees and costs.
(2) A civil penalty of two hundred fifty thousand dollars ($250,000).
(c) An online cannabis marketplace that violates an injunction requiring compliance with this section shall be prohibited from operating in California until a receiver appointed by the court issuing the injunction affirms to the court that the marketplace is in compliance. In any action to enforce an injunction requiring compliance with this section, the party obtaining enforcement shall be entitled to an award of twice its reasonable attorneys’ fees and costs and a civil penalty of five hundred thousand dollars ($500,000).
SEC. 3.
Chapter 31.4 (commencing with Section 22944) is added to Division 8 of the Business and Professions Code, to read:CHAPTER 31.4. Online Hemp Marketplaces
22944.
For purposes of this chapter, the following definitions apply:(a) “Advertisement” means an advertisement about, or an offer of, a sale of an industrial hemp product.
(b) “Business information” means a website, mobile application, address, or phone number through which a seller offers to sell, or a consumer makes a purchase of, an industrial hemp product.
(c) “Industrial hemp product” has the same meaning as that term is defined in subdivision (g) of Section 111920 of the Health and Safety Code.
(d) “Intoxicating hemp product” means an industrial hemp product whose THC
concentration exceeds the amounts allowable under the Sherman Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Law (Part 5 (commencing with Section 109875) of Division 104 of the Health and Safety Code) or any rules or regulations adopted thereunder.
(e) “Licensed” means licensed pursuant to Division 10 (commencing with Section 26000).
(f) “Online hemp marketplace” means internet website, online service, online application, or mobile application, or a portion thereof, including a social media platform, as defined in Section 1798.99.20, that does any of the following in California:
(1) Transmits or otherwise communicates between a third party and purchaser an offer for the sale of an industrial hemp product that is accepted by the purchaser.
(2) Processes, collects, or
administers the payment for the sale of an industrial hemp product.
(3) Permits offers for the sale of an industrial hemp product.
(4) Connects a seller of an industrial hemp products and a consumer.
22944.2.
(a) (1) An online hemp marketplace shall establish a prominent mechanism within its internet-based service that allows any individual, whether or not that individual has a profile on the internet-based service or is a user, to report to the online hemp marketplace the existence on the marketplace of an advertisement of an intoxicating hemp product.(2) The mechanism required by this subdivision shall meet all of the following criteria:
(A) The mechanism shall allow, but not require, an individual to do both of the following:
(i) Upload a screenshot of the content that offers evidence of an
offer of a sale of an intoxicating hemp product on the marketplace.
(ii) Provide to the online hemp marketplace basic identifying information, such as an account identifier or URL, sufficient to permit the marketplace to locate the reported material.
(B) The mechanism shall include, but not be limited to, a method for the online hemp marketplace to contact a reporting individual in writing, including a telephone number for purposes of sending text messages, an email address, or another reasonable electronic method of communication.
(C) The mechanism shall provide, within 36 hours of receipt of a report, a written confirmation to the reporting individual that the marketplace has received that individual’s report.
(D) (i) The
mechanism shall provide periodic written updates to the reporting individual as to the status of the marketplace’s handling of the reported material using the method of communication, pursuant to subparagraph (B).
(ii) The first written update required by clause (i) shall be provided as soon as reasonably feasible but no later than 14 days after the date on which the written confirmation required under subparagraph (C) is provided. Subsequent written updates shall be provided as soon as reasonably feasible but no later than 14 days after the most recent written update provided pursuant to this clause, until the final written determination required by subparagraph (F).
(E) Each report shall receive a review by a natural person.
(F) (i) The mechanism shall issues a final written determination to
the reporting individual within 30 days of receiving the report stating one of the following:
(I) The report has provided evidence that an advertisement of an intoxicating hemp product was displayed, stored, or hosted on the marketplace and the seller’s advertisements and business information have been blocked from being viewable on the marketplace.
(II) The report has provided evidence that an advertisement of an intoxicating hemp product was or is displayed, stored, or hosted on the marketplace and the seller’s advertisements and business information will not be blocked from being viewable on the marketplace. The final written determination issued pursuant to this subclause shall also state that the marketplace acknowledges that it is aware that the seller is advertising an intoxicating hemp product and whether the marketplace has referred the report to a law enforcement agency.
If the marketplace has referred the report to a law enforcement agency, the final written determination shall provide a true and correct copy of the report that the marketplace made to the law enforcement agency.
(III) The report lacks evidence that the identified seller whose advertisement or business information was or is displayed, stored, or hosted on the marketplace was or is advertising an intoxicating hemp product and the seller’s advertisements and business information will not be blocked from being viewable on the marketplace.
(IV) The report lacks evidence that the identified seller whose advertisements and business information was or is displayed, stored, or hosted on the marketplace was or is advertising an intoxicating hemp product and the seller’s advertisements and business information will be blocked from being viewable on the marketplace for reasons unrelated to
the reported advertisement of an intoxicating hemp product.
(V) The report lacks evidence that an advertisement of an intoxicated hemp product was or is displayed, stored, or hosted on the marketplace.
(ii) If the marketplace cannot comply with clause (i) within 30 days due to circumstances beyond the reasonable control of the marketplace, the marketplace shall comply with clause (i) no later than 60 days after the date on which the report was received. If this clause applies, the marketplace shall promptly provide written notice of the delay, no later than 48 hours from the time the marketplace knew the delay was likely to occur, to the reporting individual.
(b) This section shall not be interpreted to prohibit any individual from reporting the advertisement of intoxicating hemp without the use of the mechanism
established in subdivision (a).
(c) Actions for relief pursuant to this section may be brought only in a civil action by any of the following parties:
(1) An individual who submits a report.
(2) A parent or legal guardian of a minor who submits a report.
(3) A labor union that represents workers employed by licensed sellers of cannabis or cannabis products.
(4) A city attorney, a district attorney, or a county counsel.
(5) The Attorney General, in the name of the people of the State of California.
(6) A seller of cannabis or cannabis products who is licensed
pursuant to Division 10 (commencing with Section 26000).
(d) (1) Any online hemp marketplace that violates a requirement of this section shall be liable for a civil penalty of not more than ten thousand dollars ($10,000) for each violation and for compensatory damages, punitive damages, and any civil remedies, penalties, or sanctions for harms caused by the marketplace’s failure to comply with this chapter, which damages shall be adjudicated and awarded apart from any harms attributable to the existence of the reported content alone.
(2) In a successful action brought by a party described in subdivision (c) to enforce this section, the court may order injunctive relief to obtain compliance with this section and shall award reasonable attorney’s fees and costs to the prevailing plaintiff.
(3) Each day an online hemp marketplace is in violation of a requirement of this section constitutes a separate violation.
(e) The duties and obligations imposed by this section are cumulative with any other duties or obligations imposed under other law and shall not be construed to relieve any party from any duties or obligations imposed under other law.
SEC. 4.
Section 1714.47 is added to the Civil Code, to read:1714.47.
(a) For purposes of this section, the following definitions apply:(1) “Advertisement” means an advertisement about, or an offer of, a sale of a product.
(2) “Business information” means a website, mobile application, address, or phone number through which a seller offers to sell, or a consumer makes a purchase of, a product.
(3) “Cannabis” has the same meaning as that term is defined in subdivision (f) of Section 26001 of the Business and Professions Code.
(4) “Cannabis product” has the same meaning as that term is defined in subdivision (k) of Section
26001 of the Business and Professions Code.
(5) “Industrial hemp product” has the same meaning as that term is defined in subdivision (g) of Section 111920 of the Health and Safety Code.
(6) “Intoxicating hemp product” has the same meaning as that terms is defined in Section 22944 of the Business and Professions Code.
(7) “Facilitate” includes an online marketplace displaying, hosting, or storing any of the following:
(A) An advertisement of cannabis, cannabis products, or intoxicating hemp product.
(B) Business information of an unlicensed seller of cannabis or cannabis products.
(C) Business information of a seller of an
intoxicating hemp product.
(8) “Licensed” means licensed pursuant to Division 10 (commencing with Section 26000).
(9) “Online marketplace” means an online cannabis marketplace, as that term is defined in Section 22943 of the Business and Professions Code, or an online hemp marketplace, as that terms is defined in Section 22944 of the Business and Professions Code.
(b) (1) An online marketplace that facilitated the connection between a consumer and an unlicensed seller of cannabis or a cannabis product shall be strictly liable for damages caused to the consumer by the cannabis or cannabis product to the same extent as a retailer would be liable for selling a defective product in the retailer’s physical store, regardless of whether the online marketplace ever took physical possession of, or title
to, the cannabis or cannabis product.
(2) An online marketplace that facilitated the connection between a consumer and a seller of an intoxicating hemp product shall be strictly liable for damages caused to the consumer by the intoxicating hemp product to the same extent as a retailer would be liable for selling a defective product in the retailer’s physical store, regardless of whether the online marketplace ever took physical possession of, or title to, the cannabis or cannabis product, or intoxicating hemp product.
(c) (1) Except as provided in subdivision (d), in an action brought pursuant to paragraph (1) of subdivision (b) for harm to a consumer caused by the ingestion of cannabis or a cannabis product purchased from an unlicensed seller of cannabis products, a prevailing plaintiff may, in addition to any other remedy at law, recover two times the
damages caused by the cannabis or cannabis product if the online marketplace knew or should have known at the time the marketplace facilitated the connection that the seller that offered the cannabis or cannabis product was not licensed.
(2) Except as provided in subdivision (d), in an action brought pursuant to paragraph (2) of subdivision (b) for harm to a consumer caused by the ingestion of an intoxicating hemp product, a prevailing plaintiff may, in addition to any other remedy at law, recover two times the damages caused by the intoxicating hemp product if the online marketplace knew or should have known at the time the marketplace facilitated the connection that the product was an intoxicating hemp product.
(d) (1) In an action described in paragraph (1) of subdivision (c), a prevailing plaintiff may, in addition to any other remedy at law, recover
three times the damages suffered by a child caused by cannabis or a cannabis product if the online marketplace knew or should have known at the time the marketplace facilitated the connection that the seller that offered the cannabis or cannabis product was not licensed.
(2) In an action described in paragraph (2) of subdivision (c), a prevailing plaintiff may, in addition to any other remedy at law, recover three times the damages suffered by a child caused by the intoxicating hemp product if the online marketplace knew or should have known at the time the marketplace facilitated the connection that the product was an intoxicating hemp product.
