Pubdate: Fri, 01 Aug 2014
Source: Los Angeles Times (CA)
Copyright: 2014 Los Angeles Times
Contact:  http://www.latimes.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/248

THE MEDICAL MARIJUANA MESS

Nearly two decades after California voters legalized medical 
marijuana, legislators are as close as they've ever been to passing 
the first comprehensive statewide regulations for the cultivation, 
transportation and distribution of the drug. This is long past due. 
State leaders should not let another year go by without fixing the 
medical marijuana mess.

And it is a mess. The Compassionate Use Act of 1996 encouraged state 
leaders to implement a plan to regulate safe and affordable 
distribution of marijuana to patients. But they were late to act and 
then developed ineffective guidelines. As a result, California has a 
patchwork of local rules governing dispensaries, but virtually no 
regulations on how marijuana is grown or processed, and few consumer 
protections for a product that, ostensibly, is for sick people.

Senate Bill 1262 is still a work in progress, but with some tweaks it 
would be a huge improvement over the current situation. It was 
introduced in February by Sen. Lou Correa (D-Santa Ana) and sponsored 
by the League of California Cities and the Police Chiefs Assn. The 
two groups have traditionally opposed efforts to legitimize the 
cannabis industry but came to realize that a well-crafted statewide 
regulatory structure could help cities and police manage the 
proliferation of medicinal marijuana more effectively and could serve 
as a framework for regulation if California follows the lead of 
Colorado and Washington and legalizes the recreational use of the drug.

The bill as currently drafted would create a Bureau of Medical 
Marijuana Regulation within the Department of Consumer Affairs that 
would license individuals who grow, process, transport and sell the 
drug. The goal is to track cannabis from farm to state-certified 
testing laboratory to dispensary, to ensure that the product is 
produced legally and meets quality standards and labeling 
requirements. Licenses would cost $8,000 and would be granted only 
after a business gets local approval to operate.

So far, so good. But medical marijuana advocates have raised several 
concerns that reveal the challenge of legitimizing an industry that 
has operated in the shadows. For example, the bill would deny 
licenses to grow, transport or dispense marijuana to anyone with a 
conviction for drug trafficking, no matter how long ago the crime was 
committed. This provision would ban some reputable operators who got 
caught in the conflict between state and federal law, under which 
marijuana is still illegal.

Statewide regulation should sanction legitimate medical marijuana 
businesses and eliminate criminal elements so that customers can get 
a safe, reliable product. If the bill is too punitive, marijuana 
operators will go back into the shadows and California will be stuck 
in the same mess.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom