Truth Seeker
New Member
Assemblyman Tom Ammiano is making his second effort in two years to impose state control over California's huge hodgepodge of medical marijuana operations - but this time he's included a twist that he hopes will make the difference.
Ammiano's AB473 would create a new agency within the state Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control to regulate the growth, supply and sale of medical cannabis, replacing standards that now vary wildly from one city and county to another.
The San Francisco Democrat pushed a similar bill last year, but it called for establishing an entirely new agency that critics said would have created a cluster of legal, fiscal and jurisdictional troubles. It stalled in the state Senate.
Putting regulation under the authority of an existing, tried-and-true agency eliminates those concerns, Ammiano said. His proposal is modeled after a 3-year-old oversight authority in Colorado.
Few specifics
The legislation was assigned Tuesday to the Assembly Public Safety and Health committees, which will work on its details. Right now it is short on specifics, beyond such directives as ordering "statewide standards for the cultivation, manufacturing, testing, transportation, distribution and sales of medical cannabis and medical cannabis products."
The new regulatory unit would also set fees for the production and sale of medicinal pot and taxes for dispensaries. The $1.7 billion medical marijuana industry already contributes more than $100 million to the state in sales taxes each year and millions more to local jurisdictions that set their own fees.
"The ABC has the experience and education in compliance and enforcement necessary to regulate medical marijuana," Ammiano said.
"The big picture here is that where medical marijuana is concerned, we have had chaos for a long time," he said. "The dispensaries feel they are subject to changing rules and the force of the U.S. attorney. This is a concrete plan for a statewide, uniform approach to help keep marijuana safe."
California voters authorized medical marijuana use in 1996, but with regulations left up to local jurisdictions, the picture changes with every border. Fresno and Tehama counties forbid pot dispensaries, for example, while San Francisco has more than a dozen.
Cities or counties would still be able to ban dispensaries under Ammiano's proposed new system. One of his goals is to allay their concerns by creating uniform regulations.
Federal laws
However, regardless of any state legislation, pot is still illegal under federal law. U.S. prosecutors have shut down hundreds of dispensaries throughout the state in recent years, including several in San Francisco. Ammiano said he hopes statewide rules would reduce the federal heat.
The U.S. attorney's office in San Francisco has a policy against commenting on legislation, a spokeswoman said. But longtime opponents of legalized marijuana said statewide regulations would make little difference.
"It's still illegal under federal law, so even this new bill is just a matter of, 'How do we want to break the law, this way or that way?' " said Wayne Johnson, head consultant for the campaign that defeated a state initiative in 2010 to authorize recreational pot use.
John Lovell, spokesman for the California Narcotics Officers Association, said the idea of putting marijuana regulation under the state's alcohol oversight body just proves weed is not just being used as medicine.
"The ABC is the same agency that regulates Thunderbird wine," he said. "This is stuff that late-night comedians can have a field day with."
Changing landscape
Cannabis supporters say the time is right for statewide regulation, and that public opinion is turning their way.
Eighteen states and the District of Columbia allow medical marijuana use, and two of those states - Colorado and Washington - extended the authorization in November to casual use. A Field Poll last month showed that 54 percent of registered voters surveyed in California support legalizing marijuana for recreation and that 72 percent approve of its medical use.
"We have been calling for a good, well-defined medical marijuana state licensing scheme for a long time, and this bill is a reasonable starting point," said Dale Gieringer, director of California NORML, a pot advocacy group. "I think it's absolutely essential that every legal medicine and product has some sort of regulatory agency above it."
News Hawk- Truth Seeker 420 MAGAZINE ®
Source: sfgate.com
Author: Kevin Fagan
Contact: Contacts at San Francisco Chronicle - SFGate
Website: Medical pot rules for California proposed - SFGate
Ammiano's AB473 would create a new agency within the state Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control to regulate the growth, supply and sale of medical cannabis, replacing standards that now vary wildly from one city and county to another.
The San Francisco Democrat pushed a similar bill last year, but it called for establishing an entirely new agency that critics said would have created a cluster of legal, fiscal and jurisdictional troubles. It stalled in the state Senate.
Putting regulation under the authority of an existing, tried-and-true agency eliminates those concerns, Ammiano said. His proposal is modeled after a 3-year-old oversight authority in Colorado.
Few specifics
The legislation was assigned Tuesday to the Assembly Public Safety and Health committees, which will work on its details. Right now it is short on specifics, beyond such directives as ordering "statewide standards for the cultivation, manufacturing, testing, transportation, distribution and sales of medical cannabis and medical cannabis products."
The new regulatory unit would also set fees for the production and sale of medicinal pot and taxes for dispensaries. The $1.7 billion medical marijuana industry already contributes more than $100 million to the state in sales taxes each year and millions more to local jurisdictions that set their own fees.
"The ABC has the experience and education in compliance and enforcement necessary to regulate medical marijuana," Ammiano said.
"The big picture here is that where medical marijuana is concerned, we have had chaos for a long time," he said. "The dispensaries feel they are subject to changing rules and the force of the U.S. attorney. This is a concrete plan for a statewide, uniform approach to help keep marijuana safe."
California voters authorized medical marijuana use in 1996, but with regulations left up to local jurisdictions, the picture changes with every border. Fresno and Tehama counties forbid pot dispensaries, for example, while San Francisco has more than a dozen.
Cities or counties would still be able to ban dispensaries under Ammiano's proposed new system. One of his goals is to allay their concerns by creating uniform regulations.
Federal laws
However, regardless of any state legislation, pot is still illegal under federal law. U.S. prosecutors have shut down hundreds of dispensaries throughout the state in recent years, including several in San Francisco. Ammiano said he hopes statewide rules would reduce the federal heat.
The U.S. attorney's office in San Francisco has a policy against commenting on legislation, a spokeswoman said. But longtime opponents of legalized marijuana said statewide regulations would make little difference.
"It's still illegal under federal law, so even this new bill is just a matter of, 'How do we want to break the law, this way or that way?' " said Wayne Johnson, head consultant for the campaign that defeated a state initiative in 2010 to authorize recreational pot use.
John Lovell, spokesman for the California Narcotics Officers Association, said the idea of putting marijuana regulation under the state's alcohol oversight body just proves weed is not just being used as medicine.
"The ABC is the same agency that regulates Thunderbird wine," he said. "This is stuff that late-night comedians can have a field day with."
Changing landscape
Cannabis supporters say the time is right for statewide regulation, and that public opinion is turning their way.
Eighteen states and the District of Columbia allow medical marijuana use, and two of those states - Colorado and Washington - extended the authorization in November to casual use. A Field Poll last month showed that 54 percent of registered voters surveyed in California support legalizing marijuana for recreation and that 72 percent approve of its medical use.
"We have been calling for a good, well-defined medical marijuana state licensing scheme for a long time, and this bill is a reasonable starting point," said Dale Gieringer, director of California NORML, a pot advocacy group. "I think it's absolutely essential that every legal medicine and product has some sort of regulatory agency above it."
News Hawk- Truth Seeker 420 MAGAZINE ®
Source: sfgate.com
Author: Kevin Fagan
Contact: Contacts at San Francisco Chronicle - SFGate
Website: Medical pot rules for California proposed - SFGate
