Pubdate: Thu, 21 Aug 2014 Source: San Diego Union Tribune (CA) Copyright: 2014 Union-Tribune Publishing Co. Contact: http://www.utsandiego.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/386 Note: Seldom prints LTEs from outside it's circulation area. Page: B-8 MEDICAL MARIJUANA: A FAILURE OF GOVERNANCE, FOR 18 YEARS The shelving of legislation to enact meaningful statewide regulation of medical marijuana constitutes a failure of governance that should be unacceptable to Californians. For 18 years, the people sent to Sacramento to deal with problems such as those stemming from unregulated medical marijuana have utterly failed to do their job. The latest failure came last week when SB 1262, which had seemed on its way to passage, was "held under submission" in the Assembly Appropriations Committee. Barring a miracle resurrection, it means the Legislature will have to start over again with a new bill in January. This was a good bill that had bipartisan support among legislators as well as the support of the California Police Chiefs Association and the League of California Cities. What it didn't have was the support of the marijuana industry for provisions requiring criminal background checks for key people involved in the business. There also were concerns over the cost of setting up a new regulatory agency and about the possible loss of local government control. Maybe next year will be the charm. Do not be optimistic. - --- MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom