Pubdate: Thu, 07 Aug 2014
Source: Sacramento News & Review (CA)
Contact:  2014 Chico Community Publishing, Inc.
Website: http://newsreview.com/sacto/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/540
Author: David Downs

HIGHER AUTHORITY

Will Anyone Agree on How to Regulate California's Medical-Cannabis Industry?

Grab your medicated popcorn. August is going to be an action-packed 
month in California pot politics.

A bill to regulate the state's vast $1.8 billion medical-cannabis 
industry is speeding through Sacramento on a tight, end-of-August deadline.

But it has been difficult to keep up with the numerous changes to 
Senate Bill 1262-which is all the more disconcerting, according to 
cannabis advocates, because law-enforcement lobbyists are in the driver's seat.

"It's a little unsettling, given how important this is and how little 
time we have," said Don Duncan, California director for the 
30,000-strong advocacy group Americans for Safe Access.

The bill is scheduled to be taken up by the Assembly Appropriations 
Committee in August, and has to be approved by the entire Assembly by 
the end of the month.

Broadly speaking, the bill is intended to foster a long-overdue 
development: the creation of a statewide regulatory system for 
medical cannabis.

Under the most recent version of the bill, personal medical-marijuana 
cultivation would still be allowed, but commercial growers, 
processors and dispensaries would need an operating license from a 
new state agency. They'd have to pass background checks and uphold 
basic safety and health standards, including employing security 
guards at dispensaries and conducting mold tests on pot.

Advocacy groups such as ASA, the Drug Policy Alliance, California 
NORML and the Emerald Growers Association have been having 
closed-door meetings with the police chiefs in Sacramento this summer 
in an attempt to iron out their differences.

As of press time, the most recent version of the bill is still 
supported by the police chiefs and ASA. But California NORML, the 
Drug Policy Alliance and Law Enforcement Against Prohibition oppose 
it unless it's amended.

The DPA argues that the current version of the bill would make things 
worse for Californians. For one, anybody with a past drug felony 
would be disqualified from getting an industry license.

In addition, many of the industry's biggest and best actors wouldn't 
qualify for a license, for technical reasons, such as an outstanding 
federal case or the lack of official city permission to grow (which 
is pretty much every urban farmer in California).

The bill also provides statewide approval of controversial new city 
bans on medical-pot dispensaries.

"The issues are extremely glaring, and, frankly, I'm not sure they 
can be resolved," said Amanda Reiman, DPA's California policy 
manager. "The police chiefs think medical marijuana is a sham and 
look at this as an opportunity to stifle the progression of 
medical-marijuana policy."

Assemblyman Tom Ammiano of San Francisco was once a co-sponsor of the 
bill, but then dropped his support for it because of recent amendments.

ASA held a citizens' lobbying event at the Capitol on Monday, August 
4, with hundreds of patients sitting down for short meetings with 
their Assembly members and urging them to support sensible rules in California.
- ---
MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom