Marijuana Handler Permit Education Course

The Marijuana Control Board (MCB) will approve all marijuana handler permit education courses before a course provider may issue a Marijuana Handler Permit. The topics that an approved Marijuana Handler Permit education course covers must include:

1. Alaska State Laws (AS 17.37 & AS 17.38)
2. The effects of consumption of marijuana and marijuana products
3. How to identify a person impaired by the consumption of marijuana
4. How to determine valid photographic identification
5. How to intervene to prevent unlawful marijuana consumption
6. The penalty for an unlawful act by a licensee, an employee, or an agent of a marijuana establishment

An approved course provider will update the course with any applicable change within ten (10) days of the effective date of the change (AS 17.37 & AS 17.38). Notification of a change to an approved course will be provided to the board within three (3) days of the change. The board will review an approved marijuana handler permit education course at least once every three (3) years and may rescind approval of the course if the board finds that the education course contents are insufficient or inaccurate. An approved course provider will provide continuous access to the course to the board and the director to review course materials at any time.

Marijuana Handler Permit Education Course (3 Alaska Administrative Code 306.701)

Certification Training Class Core Curriculum (3-520)

When considering whether to approve a responsible vendor program, the Marijuana Enforcement Division (MED), after consulting with the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment (CDPHE), will consider the following criteria. Discussion concerning the health and safety concerns of marijuana use training will include:

1. Health effects of marijuana use, including but not limited to the effects in connection with pregnancy and breast-feeding
2. The amount of time to feel impairment based on the type of marijuana or marijuana product
3. Recognizing signs of impairment
4. The amount of time to wait before driving after marijuana use based on the type of marijuana or marijuana product
5. Safe storage of marijuana
6. Responsible use of marijuana
7. Appropriate responses in the event of unintentional or over-consumption of marijuana or marijuana products, including but not limited to access to the  appropriate resources provided by state and local public health authorities

Transfers to minors training will cover all pertinent Colorado statutes, rules, and regulations. Quantity limitations on transfer to patients and consumers training will cover all pertinent Colorado statutes, rules, and regulations. Acceptable forms of identification training will include:

1. How to check the identification
2. Spotting false identification
3. Patient Registry Cards issued by the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment and equivalent patient verification documentation
4. Provisions for confiscating false identification
5. Common mistakes made in verification

Training will include:

1. Local and state licensing and enforcement
2. Compliance with all Inventory Tracking System regulations
3. Administrative and criminal liability
4. License sanctions and court sanctions
5. Waste handling, management, and disposal
6. Health and safety standards
7. Patrons are prohibited from bringing marijuana onto licensed premises
8. Permitted hours of sale
9. Licensee security and surveillance requirements
10. Permitting inspections by state and local licensing and enforcement authorities
11. Licensee responsibility for activities occurring within licensed premises;
12. Maintenance of records
13. Privacy issues
14. Applicable laws and regulations concerning Transfers to patients and consumers
15. Packaging and labeling requirements for Transfers to patients and consumers
16. How to access the Medical Marijuana Patient Registry website and how to sign up for the Registry’s voluntary email list
17. Statutory and regulatory requirements related to Regulated Marijuana delivery

Patients & Consumer Delivery Additional Curriculum

If your dispensary has been awarded a Delivery Permit by your local jurisdiction, we have a separate training module, in addition to the Responsible Vendor Training module, that is specifically for dispensaries with Delivery Permits. This training meets the requirements set by the Marijuana Enforcement Division (MED) because delivery is relatively new this training is vital for ensuring compliance with the new delivery regulations.

In addition to the required curriculum, training provided to any Licensee involved in inactivity according to a valid delivery permit must also include all Colorado statutes and rules related to the delivery of Regulated Marijuana to patients and consumers. RVT program providers may provide the delivery curriculum as separate training or as part of the core curriculum training. Licensees that do not engage in the delivery activity are not required to, but may, complete the delivery training. Training provided to Licensees involved in delivery activity must include, but is not limited to:

1. Verification of identification and patient registry cards is required before delivering regulated marijuana to a patient or consumer
2. Maintaining confidentiality of patients’ and consumers’ personally identifiable information
3. Methods for licensees to identify themselves and verify the delivery permit during an interaction with law enforcement, MED employees, or local regulators
4. Strategies to de-escalate potentially dangerous situations which could include the development of an Emergency Action Plan (EAP)

Licensed Hospitality Businesses Additional Curriculum

In addition to the Responsible Vendor Training (RVT) that is required by the Marijuana Enforcement Division (MED) and specifically for hospitality establishment employees in Colorado. This training is extremely important given the fact that consumption lounges are new and inexperienced employees are almost always guaranteed. In addition to the required curriculum, training provided to controlling beneficial owners of and any licensee employed by a licensed hospitality business must also include all Colorado statutes and rules.

RVT program providers may provide the hospitality curriculum as separate training or as part of the core curriculum training. Licensees that are not employed by a licensed hospitality business are not required to, but may, complete the hospitality training. Training provided to controlling beneficial owners of and employees of a business must include, but is not limited to:

1. Identifying signs of visible impairment including alcohol and drug impairment
2. Resources to mitigate impaired driving including safe transportation options available to consumers
3. Understanding customer’s varying experiences with regulated marijuana and options for lower dose products
4. Resources available from the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment (CDPHE) regarding responsible regulated marijuana use
5. Ceasing all consumption and other activities until law enforcement, firefighters, emergency medical service providers, or other public safety  personnel have completed any investigation or services and left the licensed premises
6. Methods for Licensees to identify themselves during an interaction with law enforcement, MED employees, or local regulators
7. Poly-substance interactions include but are not limited to interactions of Regulated Marijuana with alcohol, prescription, and over-the-counter medications, and other substances
8. Risks and potential responses to adverse events such as overconsumption, altitude sickness, dehydration, poly-substance use, or other similar events
9. Strategies to de-escalate interactions with intoxicated consumers and potentially dangerous situations could include the development of an Emergency Action Plan (EAP)

Cannabis Retail Sales Training Requirements

Within ninety (90) days of employment, whichever is later, all owners, managers, employees, and agents involved in the handling or sale of cannabis or cannabis-infused product employed by an adult-use dispensing organization or medical cannabis dispensing organization will attend and complete a Responsible Vendor Training (RVT) program. Each owner, manager, employee, and agent of an adult-use dispensing organization or medical cannabis dispensing organization will complete the program annually. RVT will include at least two (2) hours of instruction time approved by the IDFPR including:

• Health and safety concerns of cannabis use, including the responsible use of cannabis, its physical effects, the onset of physiological effects, recognizing signs of impairment, and appropriate responses in the event of overconsumption
• Training on laws and regulations on driving while under the influence and operating a watercraft or snowmobile while under the influence
• Sales to minors prohibited training will cover all relevant Illinois laws and rules
• Quantity limitations on sales to purchasers training will cover all relevant Illinois laws and rules
• Acceptable forms of identification

Training will include:

1. How to check the identification
2. Common mistakes made in verification
3. Safe storage of cannabis
4. Compliance with all inventory tracking system regulations
5. Waste handling, management, and disposal
6. Health and safety standards
7. Maintenance of records
8. Security and surveillance requirements
9. Permitting inspections by state and local licensing and enforcement authorities
10. Privacy issues
11. Packaging and labeling requirements for sales to purchasers
12. Other areas as determined by the rule

Responsible Vendor Annual Continuing Education (CE)

Training of dispensing organization agents to effectively operate the Point-of-Sale (POS) system and the state's verification system, proper inventory handling and tracking, specific uses of cannabis or cannabis-infused products, instruction regarding regulatory inspection preparedness and law enforcement interaction, awareness of the legal requirements for maintaining status as an agent, and other topics as specified by the dispensing organization or the IDFPR. The dispensing organization will maintain evidence of all training provided to each agent in its files that is subject to inspection and audit by the IDFPR. The dispensing organization will ensure agents receive a minimum of eight (8) hours of training subject to annually unless approved by the IDFPR.

Massachusetts Cannabis Control Commission (Approval: #RVN453682)

Responsible Vendor Trainers certified by the Cannabis Control Commission (CCC). Responsible Vendor Trainers support licensee compliance and enhance the safety of customers and employees of cannabis businesses in the Commonwealth. All Marijuana Establishments (MEs) and Medical Marijuana Treatment Centers (MTCs) must ensure their employees receive training from a CCC-certified Responsible Vendor Trainer to remain in compliance.

Basic Core Curriculum

The Basic Core Curriculum will cover the following subject matter:

1. Marijuana's effects on the human body, including:

• Scientifically based evidence on the physical and mental health effects based on the type of Marijuana Product
• The amount of time to feel impairment
• Visible signs of impairment
• Recognizing the signs of impairment

2. Diversion prevention and prevention of sales to minors, including best practices.

3. Compliance with all tracking requirements.

4. Acceptable forms of identification. Training will include:

• How to check the identification
• Spotting and confiscating fraudulent identification
• Patient registration cards are currently and validly issued by the CCC
• Common mistakes made in identification verification
• Prohibited purchases and practices, including purchases by persons under the age of twenty-one (21)

5. Other key state laws and rules affecting Marijuana Establishment Agents, which will include:

• Conduct of marijuana establishment agents
• Permitting inspections by state and local licensing and enforcement authorities
• Local and state licensing and enforcement, including registration and license sanctions
• Incident and notification requirements
• Administrative, civil, and criminal liability
• Health and safety standards, including waste disposal
• Patrons are prohibited from bringing marijuana and marijuana products onto licensed premises
• Permitted hours of sale
• Licensee responsibilities for activities occurring within licensed premises
• Maintenance of records, including confidentiality and privacy

6. Such other areas of training are determined by the CCC to be included in a Responsible Vendor Training (RVT) program.

RVT Advanced Core Curriculum

Each Advanced Core Curriculum class will be approved by the Massachusetts Cannabis Control Commission (CCC) before being offered. The Responsible Vendor Training (RVT) Advanced Core Curriculum will build on the knowledge, skills, and practices covered in the Basic Core Curriculum, but will include standards and best practices in the following areas:

1. Cultivation
2. Product Manufacturing
3. Retail
4. Transportation
5. Social Consumption
6. Laboratory Science
7. Energy and Environmental Best Practices
8. Social Justice and Economically Reparative Practices
9. Implicit Bias and Diversity Training
10. Worker Safety
11. Food Safety and Sanitation
12. Confidentiality and Privacy
13. In-depth coverage of any topic(s) taught in the Basic Core Curriculum
14. Such other topics as the CCC may approve in its sole discretion

Delivery Core Curriculum

In addition to the Massachusetts Cannabis Control Commission (CCC) Basic Core Curriculum, all Marijuana Establishment Agents acting as delivery employees of a Delivery Licensee or a Marijuana Establishment with a Delivery Endorsement will have attended and completed Delivery Core Curriculum before making a delivery, which will, to the extent not covered in Basic Core Training include, without limitation, training on:

• Safely conducting deliveries
• Safe cash handling practices
• Strategies for de-escalating potentially dangerous situations
• Securing products following any instance of diversion, theft, or loss of Finished Marijuana Products
• Collecting and communicating information to assist in investigations
• Procedures for checking identification
• Indications of impairment
• Notification to Consumers mandatory recording devices used
• Such other areas of training determined by the CCC to be included in a Responsible Vendor Training Program

Marijuana Handler Permit Education Course (3 Alaska Administrative Code 306.701)

The Marijuana Control Board (MCB) will approve all marijuana handler permit education courses before a course provider may issue a Marijuana Handler Permit. The topics that an approved Marijuana Handler Permit education course covers must include:

1. Alaska State Laws (AS 17.37 & AS 17.38)
2. The effects of consumption of marijuana and marijuana products
3. How to identify a person impaired by the consumption of marijuana
4. How to determine valid photographic identification
5. How to intervene to prevent unlawful marijuana consumption
6. The penalty for an unlawful act by a licensee, an employee, or an agent of a marijuana establishment

An approved course provider will update the course with any applicable change within ten (10) days of the effective date of the change (AS 17.37 & AS 17.38). Notification of a change to an approved course will be provided to the board within three (3) days of the change.

The board will review an approved marijuana handler permit education course at least once every three (3) years and may rescind approval of the course if the board finds that the education course contents are insufficient or inaccurate. An approved course provider will provide continuous access to the course to the board and the director to review course materials at any time.

Training Program Requirements (WAC 246-72-110)

Amending WAC 246-72-110 - Training program requirements:

Description of the proposed rule: Medical marijuana consultant training programs go through an approval process administered by the department. The proposed rule clarifies the minimum level of subject matter to be included in the five hours of training dedicated to Washington State laws and rules. These include purchase and possession limits, pesticide use, medical marijuana authorization process, and labeling and testing requirements. The proposed rule amendment specifies that the department must be notified if an instructor of a training course is placed on a disciplinary order. Also, the proposal expands the list of potential instructors to include those with a bachelor's degree and at least seven years of verified experience in the regulated cannabis industry.

A training program must include a minimum of twenty (20) total instruction hours in the following subjects:

1) A minimum of five (5) hours of instruction on Washington state laws and rules relating to cannabis to include, but not be limited to, the following topics:

• A qualifying patient and designated provider cannabis home grow laws.
• Patient and designated provider cannabis purchase and possession limits.
• Cannabis product compliance, quality assurance testing, and labeling requirements, including pesticide labeling.
• Pesticide use on cannabis products.
• The medical cannabis authorization process.

2) A minimum of two (2) hours on qualifying conditions and the common symptoms of each.

3)A minimum of two (2) hours on the short- and long-term positive and negative effects of cannabinoids

4) A minimum of five (5) hours on products that may benefit qualifying patients based on the patient's condition, any potential contraindications, and the risks and benefits of various routes of administration.

5) A minimum of two (2) hours on safe handling of cannabis products, including strategies to reduce access by minors.

6) A minimum of two (2) hours on ethics and patient privacy and rights.

7) A minimum of two (2) hours on the risks and warning signs of overuse, abuse, and addiction.

An examination comprised of at least five questions for each hour of instruction must be given for each subject. The applicant must pass the examination for each subject with a minimum score of seventy percent (70%). Questions must be randomly selected from a sufficient supply of questions to ensure the validity of the examination. The secretary reserves the right to approve or deny individual questions and answers.

Continuing Education (WAC 246-72-100)

Description from the PDF Law changes Amending WAC 246-72-100:

A medical marijuana consultant certificate holder must complete 10 hours of continuing education to renew their annual certification. The proposed rule amendments require two of the 10 hours to be provided by the department at no cost to the consultant. Topics may include cannabis compliant products, cannabis laws and rules, and consultant roles and responsibilities. For the remaining eight hours of required continuing education, the proposed rule adds self-study to in-person and distance learning as another method to obtain hours. Self-study would be limited to two hours of the total 10 required hours.

Under WAC 246-72-100, continuing education is required every year around the time of renewal. The Department of Health sends certificate holders a courtesy renewal notice which includes the date continuing education is required. It's best to start the renewal process early to avoid an expired consultant certificate.

Certified Medical Cannabis Consultant Continuing Education Requirements: 

• A certificate holder((s)) must complete a minimum of ten (10) hours of continuing education each year to renew the certificate. 
• Two (2) of the ten (10) hours must be successful completion of a two (2) hour continuing education course offered by the department. 
• Eight (8) of the ten (10) continuing education hours may be earned through seminars, lectures, workshops, and professional conferences. Continuing education credits may be earned through in-person, distance learning, or self-study:

• Distance learning includes correspondence courses, webinars, audio/video broadcasting, audio/video teleconferencing e-learning, or webcasts.
• Self-study includes the use of multimedia devices or the study of books, research materials, cannabis industry tours, or other publications. To receive credit for self-study, the credential holder will draft and provide a one (1) page, single-spaced, twelve (12) point font synopsis of what was learned. The time spent writing the synopsis is not reportable. Two (2) hours of credit are allowed per the report, and no more than one (1) report may be submitted per reporting period.

Acceptable continuing education topics for the hours required in this section include:

• Washington State Laws and Cannabis Relating Rules
• Scientific Research (ex. cannabis studies or similar information)
• Addiction and Substance Abuse
• Patient Communication Skills
• Professional Ethics and Values
• Pesticides and Chemicals (ex. cannabis agriculture context)
• Qualifying Medical Conditions

Continuing education topics may not include:

• Business and Management Courses
• Healthcare Training Unrelated to Cannabis
• Any topic that is unrelated to the practice parameters of a medical cannabis consultant.

Medical Cannabis Certification

By 22 DCMR C §5105.2, a medical Cannabis certification provider shall include the following subjects in its education training program; which shall be submitted to the Department for approval:

• The effect medical cannabis use has on the body and behavior, especially as to driving ability, and that driving under the influence of cannabis is prohibited by the Act
• Procedures for the proper handling and dispensing of medical cannabis to qualified patients and caregivers
• Methods of recognizing and communicating with underage qualifying patients and caregivers
• Prevention techniques involving effective identification and carding procedures
• Explanation of the Legalization of cannabis for Medical Treatment Amendment Act of 2010 and Federal law relating to cannabis and ensuring compliance with this title and District Law
• Advertising, promotion, and marketing of medical cannabis
• Security and theft prevention

The Department shall make the final determination as to the qualifications of the applicant and issue its decision. The Department will notify applicants of application status in writing within 30 days of submission of a complete application. Students may not begin the course until the permit is issued.

Medical Cannabis Industry Education Course

Develop a two (2) hour course for the principals and employees of a medical cannabis organization who either have direct contact with patients or caregivers or who physically handle medical cannabis. Employees must complete the course no later than ninety (90) days after commencing employment. Principals must complete the course before commencing the initial operation of the medical cannabis organization. The subject matter of the course will include the following:

• Methods to recognize and report unauthorized activity, including diversion of medical cannabis for unlawful purposes and falsification of identification cards
• Proper handling of medical cannabis and recordkeeping
• Any other subject required by the bureau