Pubdate: Thu, 22 May 2014
Source: Sacramento News & Review (CA)
Copyright: 2014 Chico Community Publishing, Inc.
Contact:  http://newsreview.com/sacto/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/540
Author: Ngaio Bealum

REGULATORS, MOUNT

Everyone says that California needs to do a better job regulating 
marijuana. What's going on at the Capitol?

- -J.A. Bill

Senate Bill 1262 and Assembly Bill 1894 are both making their way 
through the various committees and whatnot as we speak. Let's take a look:

A.B. 1894, sponsored by Tom Ammiano (I love him; we used to do comedy 
together way back in the day), would place the medical-cannabis 
industry under the auspices of the California Department of Alcoholic 
Beverage Control and allow cities to impose a tax of up to 5 percent 
on top of state sales tax. A.B. 1894 also places a few more 
regulations on doctors.

Pros: statewide medical-marijuana regulation.

Cons: more regs on doctors and the worry that the ABC will try to 
shut down smaller grows in favor of larger facilities, displacing 
mom-and-pop businesses.

S.B. 1262 from Sen. Lou Correa would put clubs under the aegis of the 
California Department of Public Health and direct it to work with the 
Center for Medicinal Cannabis Research to come up with workable regulations.

Pros: statewide medical-cannabis regulation.

Cons: The rules prohibiting doctors from recommending butane hash oil 
have been removed, although it seems the rule requiring all 
transported cannabis to be inventoried on video may raise privacy and 
self-incrimination concerns. This may be a necessary trade-off.

Colorado requires video surveillance from seed to sale. I get that 
the authorities want to make sure there is no diversion to the black 
market, but until marijuana is legal at the federal level, it seems 
risky to record yourself around large amounts of marijuana. The feds 
can be kind of capricious sometimes (see the Ogden memo). Also, 1262 
sets no timetable for implementation. Without a deadline, things like 
this tend to drag on and on.

Bottom line: Neither of these are perfect, but they are steps in the 
right direction. I personally think California should set up a 
separate medical-marijuana department, but Gov. Jerry Brown is 
against that idea. Americans for Safe Access has come out against 
A.B. 1894 in its current form, but has some hope for S.B. 1262. We 
will see if the California Legislature can get it together enough to 
pass one of these bills. In the long run, it may all be moot, as 
legalization is on the way in 2016.

I just wanted to drop you a quick line to say that Blue Dream is my 
all-time favorite hybrid ever! I haven't ever heard anyone say the 
same, so I was stoked to read that it's yours, too! Happy smokin'!

- -Heather

My pleasure! Happy smoking to you, too! But I may be changing my mind 
about Blue Dream because Blue City Diesel is moving up in my personal 
rankings. Let me ask you guys: What are your favorite hybrid strains? 
Any new ones I should know about?
- ---
MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom