Pubdate: Thu, 30 Jul 2015
Source: Sacramento News & Review (CA)
Column: The 420
Copyright: 2015 Chico Community Publishing, Inc.
Contact:  http://newsreview.com/sacto/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/540
Author: Ngaio Bealum

NEWSOM'S BLUE RIBBON COMMISSION SAYS NOTHING NEW

Did you get a chance to read Gavin Newsom's Blue Ribbon Commission on 
Marijuana Policy recommendations for legal recreational cannabis use 
in California? What did you think?

- -Hope Fullwishes

Yeah, I read it. Meh. This thing took two years to produce?

Really? My problem with this report is that it isn't telling us anything new.

You can read it for yourself at www.safeandsmartpolicy.org/ 
wp-content/uploads/2015/07/ BRCPathwaysReport.pdf. But if you already 
follow cannabis-law reform in California, you won't learn much. Yes, 
of course we need to keep cannabis out of the hands and lungs of children.

Yes, of course we would like to make sure that giant corporations and 
oligopolies don't take over the cannabis market.

Yes, of course we would like to get rid of as much of the black 
market as we can and generate tax revenues for the state.

These people traveled up and down the state for 24 months and spent 
how many dollars to say that kids shouldn't smoke weed and giant 
businesses are bad? They could have just called me on the phone and I 
could have saved them thousands of dollars.

I generally like Gavin Newsom. He was way ahead of everyone on the 
whole gay marriage thing and he has been one of the few politicians 
in California to acknowledge that recreational cannabis legalization 
is almost inevitable and maybe the state should be ready to deal with 
legalization when it happens.

But the commission's recommendations are poppycock.

There is no reason for this to be a complicated, arduous affair.

It took Colorado a year or so to come up with regulations. Oregon 
legalized weed in 2014, and the regulations for recreational sales 
will be in place in 2016. I hate to be all cynical, but it seems like 
he is just biding time and maybe pumping marijuana advocates and 
organizers for a little extra campaign cash (Newsom is running for 
governor in 2018). This report contained nothing about how to deal 
with cities and counties that don't want to allow marijuana-based 
businesses, what the tax structure could look like or even a 
suggestion on plant limits or garden sizes.

There is so much this commission could have done and it essentially 
did nothing. It actually made me a little sad.

Listen, there may be approximately umpteen-million initiatives about 
cannabis on the ballot in California come 2016, including one that 
would make recreational cannabis use illegal and put the state in 
charge of medical cannabis production. We really need to figure out 
which initiative we like and which one has the best chance-I like the 
California Craft Cannabis Initiative: 
www.californiacannabis2016.com-and work to make sure a good 
initiative makes it to the ballot.

We don't need to spend more time learning stuff we know already.

If Newsom would like to come sit on my porch and talk about 
cannabis-law reform, we could probably come up with some good 
recommendations in two hours instead of two years.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom