The Honorable Ginger E. Garrett, Superior Court Judge for the County of San Luis Obispo, ruled on November 20, 2020 that the California Bureau of Cannabis Control (BCC) exceeded its authority in promulgating an advertising regulation that was inconsistent with the statute that the regulation was intended to implement. See Matthew Farmer v. Bureau of Cannabis Control; Lori Ajax San Luis Obispo County Superior Court Case No. 19CV-0597.

California Business & Professions Code § 26152(d) provides that a licensee shall not "Advertise or market on a billboard or similar advertising device located on an Interstate Highway or on a State Highway which crosses the California border."

The BCC, however, adopted an administrative regulation stating that all outdoor signs, including billboards, shall "Not be located within a 15-mile radius of the California border on an Interstate Highway or on a State Highway that crosses the California border."

The court found that the statute (Business & Professions Code) was clear on its face, and the BCC's interpretation of the statute through its administrative regulation was inconsistent with the statute and went beyond its authority.