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.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom