Pubdate: Thu, 17 Sep 2015
Source: Los Angeles Times (CA)
Copyright: 2015 Los Angeles Times
Contact:  http://www.latimes.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/248

FIXING THE MEDICAL POT MESS

Nearly 20 years after voters legalized medical marijuana, California 
lawmakers have finally passed legislation to regulate the growth and 
distribution of cannabis for patients' use. In the final hours of 
their session last week, legislators passed three bills that together 
establish a system to license, test and track medical marijuana from 
"seed to sale." Gov. Jerry Brown, who helped craft the deal, should 
not only sign the bills into law, but he should stay focused on 
ensuring their smooth, effective implementation.

California was the first state to allow medical marijuana, but the 
Compassionate Use Act of 1996 provided little guidance on how the 
state could help ailing patients get the drug - or how to keep it out 
of the hands of those who weren't entitled to it. Legislators 
repeatedly failed to develop rules, so cities and counties adopted a 
patchwork of policies, which triggered a series of lawsuits and 
judgments that created a confusing mess for patients, law 
enforcement, cannabis growers and dispensary operators.

These bills are an attempt to turn that chaotic quasi-legal, 
supposedly nonprofit system into a transparent, legitimate commercial 
industry. Anyone working in the cannabis business would need to be 
licensed, and the state would regulate each step in the growth and 
distribution chain.

The Department of Food and Agriculture would oversee indoor and 
outdoor marijuana cultivation. The Department of Public Health would 
set rules for marijuana processing and testing by third-party 
laboratories to ensure products are checked for quality and safety, 
as well as packaged and clearly labeled as cannabis.

A newly created Bureau of Medical Marijuana Regulation would regulate 
the transportation, distribution and sale of pot.

Critics complain that the bills are incomplete and were rushed to a 
vote at the 11th hour. That's probably true, but the bills merely 
create the framework for how California will regulate medical 
marijuana; state agencies still have to work out the details and 
develop specific rules before the licenses are required in 2018. It's 
also true that marijuana is still illegal under federal law and that 
California's proposed regulatory system could be moot in a couple of 
years if the next president cracks down on states that have legalized 
medical and recreational use. But lawmakers cannot continue to ignore 
the state's booming medical marijuana industry, nor the possibility 
that voters will get a ballot measure in 2016 to legalize 
recreational use. Sign the bills, governor, and let's get started on 
the hard work of cleaning up the state's marijuana mess.
- ---
MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom