A DCC Emergency Decision and Order Can Shut You Down the Day It’s Issued. Here’s An Overview.

By Ryan Kocot, cannabis attorney licensed in CA, NY & MA. Federal and state cannabis enforcement defense for licensed operators.

The short answer: an emergency decision and order is one of the Department of Cannabis Control’s most immediate enforcement tools (4 CCR § 17815). When the Department determines temporary, interim relief is necessary to prevent or avoid an immediate danger to public health, safety, or welfare, it can temporarily suspend a license, place specific cannabis goods under an administrative hold, or prohibit their sale, movement, or destruction. The order is effective when issued or at another time specified in the order.

What Is an emergency decision and order?

An emergency decision and order lets the DCC issue temporary, interim relief to prevent or avoid immediate danger to public health, safety, or welfare. Because it provides temporary, interim relief, the Department can impose restrictions before a full APA adjudication. The regulation lists six examples of the circumstances that qualify:

• Information that cannabis goods at the premises have a reasonable probability of causing serious adverse health consequences or death
• Preventing the sale, transfer, or transport of contaminated or illegal cannabis goods in a licensee’s possession
• Conditions at the premises presenting an immediate risk to worker or public health and safety
• Preventing illegal diversion of cannabis goods, or other criminal activity at the premises
• Preventing the destruction of evidence related to illegal activity or violations of the Act
• Preventing misrepresentation to the public, such as selling untested cannabis goods, providing inaccurate information about cannabis goods, or goods obtained from an unlicensed person ((§ 17815(a))

This is not only a contaminated-product tool. Diversion, evidence preservation, untested product, and unlicensed sourcing all qualify.

poTENTIAL Temporary/Interim Relief

An emergency decision and order may result in the following temporary/interim relief:

• An order temporarily suspending the license
• An order to segregate or isolate specific cannabis goods
• An order prohibiting movement of cannabis goods to or from the premises
• An order prohibiting the sale of specific cannabis goods
• An order prohibiting the destruction of specific cannabis goods (§ 17815(b))

With an administrative hold, the DCC gives notice describing the goods, then flags them in track and trace (§ 17815(d)). Your obligations start immediately: within 24 hours after receipt of the hold notice, you must physically segregate all designated goods into a limited-access area of the licensed premises, safeguarded against tampering, degradation, or contamination (§ 17815(e)(1)). While the hold is in effect, you cannot sell, donate, transfer, transport, gift, or destroy the goods (§ 17815(e)(2)). Microbusinesses may continue cultivating held cannabis, and anything harvested goes into separate batches (§ 17815(e)(3)). You may voluntarily surrender held goods, identified in track and trace, and surrendering does not waive your hearing rights (§ 17815(e)(4)).

A temporary suspension order directs you to immediately cease all commercial cannabis activity under the license unless the order says otherwise (§ 17815(f)). For a microbusiness, cultivation during a suspension continues only as the order prescribes, with harvested cannabis in separate batches if the order permits cannabis to be harvested (§ 17815(g)).

The order itself must include a brief explanation of the factual and legal bases justifying emergency action and the specific actions ordered, and it is effective when issued or as otherwise provided by the decision and order (§ 17815(c)). Read that explanation the way you would read a pleading.

What to do in the first 24 hours

• Read the order for its two required parts: the factual and legal bases, and the specific actions ordered (§ 17815(c)). What exactly is prohibited, and what is not? A hold on specific goods is not a suspension. A suspension may still carve out permitted activity. Operate to the letter of the order, no wider and no narrower.
• Hit the 24-hour segregation deadline if goods are on hold: a limited-access area, safeguarded against tampering, degradation, and contamination, with segregation documented (photos, timestamps, who moved what).
• Get counsel involved the same day. The hearing decision (whether to request one, and what to argue) is one of the highest-leverage choices in the whole process, and three business days is no time at all.
• Preserve immediately. Preserve the records, video, electronic data, cannabis products, and other materials that are potentially relevant to the allegations. Do not destroy, discard, alter, or “clean up” anything covered by the order or potentially relevant to the conduct under investigation. Section 17815 specifically allows the Department to prohibit destruction of designated cannabis goods, and preventing destruction of evidence is itself one of the listed bases for emergency action. Read the actual order carefully for the precise scope of any no-destruction requirement.
• Do not confuse this with an embargo. California has a separate product-freeze tool under 4 CCR § 17801.5. An embargo may be imposed when the Department has probable cause to believe cannabis or cannabis products are adulterated or misbranded, or that their sale would otherwise violate the Act or DCC regulations. The Department provides a supplemental written notice requesting a plan to address the embargo; if the Department cannot approve the plan or does not receive a response within seven calendar days after providing that supplemental notice, it may initiate condemnation proceedings. If your document says “embargo,” different rules apply.

FAQ

This article is attorney advertising and general information, not legal advice; reading it does not create an attorney-client relationship. If you have received an emergency decision and order, deadlines may already be running. Review the document immediately and consult counsel promptly.