Pubdate: Sat, 10 Oct 2015 Source: Ukiah Daily Journal, The (CA) Copyright: 2015 The Ukiah Daily Journal Contact: http://www.ukiahdailyjournal.com/feedback Website: http://www.ukiahdailyjournal.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/581 GOV. BROWN SIGNS MEDICAL MARIJUANA REGULATIONS INTO LAW SACRAMENTO - Gov. Jerry Brown signed the Medical Marijuana Regulation and Safety Act into law Friday, which is expected to cover every aspect of the medical marijuana industry. The legislation was part of a three-bill package created by North Coast Democratic Sen. Mike McGuire's Senate Bill 643, Healdsburg Democratic Assemblyman Jim Wood's Assembly Bill 243, and Assembly members Tom Lackey, R-Palmdale, and Oakland Democrat Rob Bonta's AB 266. "This is a historic day for our state, and generations of Californians will benefit from these sweeping rules and regulations that will protect our neighborhoods, our environment and the safety of patients," McGuire said in a statement. The medical marijuana industry will now be regulated and subject to licensing, by both state and local authorities. Together, the bills also create a Bureau of Medical Marijuana Regulation under the Department of Consumer Affairs led by a director to be named by the Senate, and cities and counties will be eligible for grants from the Marijuana Production and Environmental Mitigation Fund, which can be used for local law enforcement activities and environmental cleanup. "Unregulated marijuana cultivation poses one of the greatest threats to our fish and wildlife in the state," Brown said in a letter to the state Assembly. "I am directing the Natural Resources Agency to identify projects to begin the restoration of our most impacted areas in the state." As part of the package, SB 643 creates the tracking-and-tracing of all medical marijuana products, and makes medical marijuana an agricultural product ensuring cultivators have to abide by the same rules and regulations pertaining to other agricultural products, including water use and drainage, pesticide and insecticide, while also monitoring product transportation to try to ensure that no marijuana is sent out-of-state for illegal use. A medical marijuana joint task force between the State Water Board and the Department of Fish and Wildlife will also be established as part of AB 243, which will enforce the new laws and crack down on those growing marijuana illegally, to protect forests and watersheds. "These new laws mean that business owners, patients and law enforcement will finally have clarity," Wood said. On the last day of the legislative session, Wood also introduced two new bills, AB 1548, which would establish a medical marijuana excise tax to fund environmental mitigation and provide resources for local law enforcement, and AB 1549, which is sponsored by California Board of Equalization member Fiona Ma, and would create a state credit union specifically for the medical marijuana industry. Currently, banks and credit unions, which are federally regulated, do not take customers who earn their money in the marijuana industry, according to Ma. As a result, marijuana industry businesses often operate exclusively in cash. Lackey and Bonta's co-authored bill, AB 266, in part will address the increasing number of drugged drivers out on highways and roads. The new laws provide for research by the University of California-San Diego, which will lay the groundwork for new marijuana-specific field sobriety tests and other tools to detect under-the-influence drivers. - --- MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom