I find it really funny Sungrown in Shasta has reached similar conclusions as I did. From their facebook : "It worries me more than a little that the articles I've been reading about medical cannabis legislative proposals in California don't really spell out what they entail. AB 266, for example, falls all over itself repeating, ad nauseum, its intent to allow localities to continue to ban cannabis production and distribution. That fact is glossed over here in a single sentence: "Local governments would oversee growing and selling marijuana." So AB 266 would abandon patients and farmers in the Ban Wagon counties to local nuisance ordinances, while friendlier counties get to move forward with a legal cannabis market. That's bad enough. But it gets worse: AB 266 would also bring the axe-chop down on the *protections from criminal prosecution* that are in Prop 215, granting them thereafter not to patients, but only to entities licensed both by the state and by their respective localities. On my reading, that plainly means that farmers and patients in Ban Wagon counties ought to expect the "civil" enforcement they've been facing to return to out-and-out criminal prosecution, with a much easier path to conviction for prosecutors. Given this reality, it's no wonder the law enforcement lobby supports AB 266. Advocates of AB 266 don't like to talk about this fact, and the media's not reporting it."
This is a misreading of the proposed statute. "Patients" are exempt from licensure requirements: <blockquote class='ipsBlockquote' >A qualified patient who cultivates, possesses, stores, manufactures, or transports cannabis exclusively for his or her personal medical use but who does not provide, donate, sell, or distribute cannabis to any other person is not, thereby, engaged in commercial cannabis activity and is, therefore, exempt from the licensure requirements of this chapter.</blockquote> There were amendments made on 7/13/2015. This text (or similar) appears no fewer than 8 times in the bill: <blockquote class='ipsBlockquote' >To the extent that this act does not conflict with or violate Section 11362.5 of the Health and Safety Code, nothing in this act or Article 2 (commencing with Section 11357) or Article 22.5 (commencing with Section 11362.7) of Chapter 6 of Division of the Health and Safety Code is intended to preempt any local ordinance regulating or banning...</blockquote> <blockquote class='ipsBlockquote' >To the extent that this chapter does not interfere with or violate Section 11362.5 of the Health and Safety Code, this chapter does not, nor do Article 2 (commencing with Section 11357) and Article 2.5 (commencing with Section 11362.7) of Chapter 6 of Division 10 of the Health and Safety Code, prevent a city, county, or city and county from doing any of the following:</blockquote> Section 11362.5 of the Health and Safety code is the Compassionate Use Act, otherwise known as "Prop 215". The bill states (in no fewer than eight places) that it does nothing to permit local municipalities to violate the legal protections granted to patients by Prop 215. What it does do is repeal some of the protections granted by SB420, once the state begins issuing licenses for commercial cannabis activity. This is necessary to regulate commercial cannabis activity. You must make unlicensed commercial cannabis activity (i.e. sales) illegal in order to effectively regulate licensed commercial cannabis activity.
I realize everything you're saying already. Again, while Prop 215 has protections from CRIMINAL prosecution, this bill will throw out the progress made under SB 420, and make patients CIVILLY LIABLE for possessing / cultivating marijuana if their town wants to get rid of it, while TECHNICALLY NOT violating prop 215 in doing so. Cities can already make framework to establish or regulate commercial cannabis activity, so this is nothing but a step backwards. Just killing SB 420 and codifying the League of Cities rules into law.
http://www.marijuananews.org/ab_266_mmj_regulation... The Good, Bad and Ugly of MMJ Bills in State Legislature & Your Opportunity to Do Something About itThere are a record breaking 13 bills in the California legislature dealing with marijuana and most of them deal specifically with medical marijuana. The bills run the gamut from regulating distribution to criminalizing certain types of cultivation and concentrate manufacturing The bill with the most far reaching consequences is AB 266. This bill is an attempt to put some state controls on California's patchwork of local regulations. The bill creates a new Governor's Office of MMJ Regulation to oversee and coordinate three new MMJ regulatory divisions: (1) the Dept of Food and Agriculture for cultivation (2) Public Health for product safety and labeling (3) the Board of Equalization for licensing The major action would be by the Board of Equalization acting in concert with other state agencies to write and enforce state regulations for commercial medical cannabis distribution and to issue provisional licenses for medical cannabis organizations, which are contingent on local licensing approval. The bill also prioritizes enforcement against doctors who are accused of writing inappropriate medical cannabis recommendations, creates an apprenticeship program for the medical cannabis industry, authorizes additional local taxation and more and more and more. Assemblyman Rob Bonta, the bill's lead sponsor stated “AB 266 works to fix a system that has been broken for almost two decades. California was the first state in the nation to approve medical cannabis with the passage of Prop 215 in 1996, but since then we as a state have stagnated, and it is time that the Legislature takes definitive action on this important issue. As Chair of the Assembly Health Committee I feel it is imperative that we create a viable framework for medical cannabis that preserves our core priorities and provides strong patient protections and access to their medicine.†I don't see how the bill provides “strong patient protections and access to their medicine†since it actually codifies into law the ability of local governments to ban medical marijuana distribution and does nothing to prevent cities and counties from banning any and all patient cultivation. The best that can be said is that it provides some of the regulations that the feds are looking for so it may reduce federal interference in California's mmj laws, but I don't know of many patients who have been busted by the feds so exactly how it “provides strong patient protections and access to their medicine†remains a mystery to me. Be that all as it may, last week AB 266 overwhelmingly and with bipartisan support passed the State Assembly 60 to 8. From here it goes to the State Senate where unless there is some coordinated and concerted action by patients, it will definitely not get better and may get worse. There are others bills that are under consideration as well and some are good, but most are bad. To see the laundry list of other bills and what they will effect patients CLICK HERE. If AB 266 and the other bills are not to your liking, there is a unique opportunity for you to actually do something about it and maybe even affect some needed changes. It's ASA's California Citizen's Lobby Days on Sunday, June 14 and Monday, June 15 in Sacramento where you can join 300+ patients, advocates, providers and industry workers for two days of education, training and LOBBYING YOUR ELECTED OFFICIALS. ...
The ability of local governments to ban medical marijuana distribution was already codified into case law by the California Supreme Court in City of Riverside v. Inland Empire Patients Health and Wellness Center. http://harvardlawreview.org/2014/02/california-supreme-court-upholds-local-zoning-ban-on-medical-marijuana-dispensaries-ae-city-of-riverside-v-inland-empire-patients-health-wellness-center-inc-300-p-3d-494-cal-2013/ Having numerous statements in the bill that state that nothing in the bill prevents local governments from imposing bans is not the same as "codifying into law". It is simply stating that the bill does not change the status quo. Personally I think it would be great if the California State Legislature would pass a law prohibiting local bans, but everyone knows that it would never happen (think federalism and "states' rights" only at the state and local level). Cops have opposed ALL attempts at regulation in the past. Their opposition has been enough to kill every bill that came before AB 266 and AB 243. This is the first time that passage has seemed possible, and prohibiting local control would just be a poison pill in this bill. <blockquote class='ipsBlockquote' >The best that can be said is that it provides some of the regulations that the feds are looking for so it may reduce federal interference in California's mmj laws, but I don't know of many patients who have been busted by the feds so exactly how it “provides strong patient protections and access to their medicine†remains a mystery to me.</blockquote> Misses the point. The regulations should reduce federal interference in the distribution chain, thereby helping protect patients' access to medicine. Patients not being busted by the feds is irrelevant.
California has been a nightmare since 1996 and greed is always the reason the good growers get shut out. But if anyone will have a possible solution it's Dennis, writer of 215. Maybe chat with him for a solution. I'm so sick of the drama all I fight for now is home grows or putting it to the bottom of the schedule and putting it out as herbal supplements with a warning label like Kava Kava https://www.facebook.com/dennis.peron About Dennis :http://pdr.autono.net/DennisPeron.html and http://marijuana.heraldtribune.com/2014/07/26/medical-pot-pioneers-story/
I get it, the marijuana reform lobbyists lost to the cities and cops. SB 420 was the compromise, this is the loss. It's sad they were willing to give in on such an awful bill at the expense of the patients just for the sake of having "regulations" in place before the 2016 election. I guess Oregon is on the right track with fighting against local bans though. It's too bad California isn't.
Put a sign in the front yard yesterday. Been good here on the north coast but it's time to cash out before everyone around here is suddenly broke and my shit is worthless.......3 major departments of, a dozen or so agencies PLUS county/municipal licencing? LMFAO CA is going to do what it does best, strangle another industry to death and out of the state with 'regulation'. NO NO NO can't just treat it like any other agricultural product. Nope....gotta treat it like a fuckin' WMD.
But it's not like any other agricultural product. It's a medicine and an intoxicant (among other things). Cannabis hemp should be treated like any other agricultural product.
There are a lot of other things in nature, much more dangerous, that are medicines and intoxicants, that have little to no regulations (especially with the ones compared to cannabis). Why is it exclusive to cannabis? Alcohol has no where near the same regulations. You aren't limited to a 6 pack. That's why these limits are jokes. How can you have a 1 oz limit when you're allowed to grow 6 plants. You can pull 2 pounds off each light if you have a decent green thumb. The way the laws are being written are a joke with too much red tape. It basically makes it so growing your own is still a little difficult to keep supply for yourself and you can go buy it from a licensed shop, as long as you don't go over the 1 oz limits. This will keep prices high and a thriving black market in these systems. Anyone who wants to grow a bunch of weed illegally in those states and make hash / oil will continue making a lot of money, maybe more money because the demand is so open now. So some of these laws won't really kill the black market.
Yea it is....so are several other agricultural products such as tobacco and coffee and even mescaline producing cacti not to mention a variety of nursery fare that produce toxic belladonna alkaloids, very toxic if misused that are practically unregulated beyond a 50-250 nursery licence. . The reality is this is all about MONEY....and how much of it various agencies/authorities are going to take from the farmers. Ain't got shit to do with public safety.
You wanted taxation and regulation? Here it is - ran by the cops and special interests : http://magazine.grasscity.com/california-finally-r... http://www.sfweekly.com/sanfrancisco/marijuana-can...
http://www.theweedblog.com/california-patients-law... Posted by Johnny Green at 12:32 PM on September 15, 2015 The American Medical Marijuana Association (AMMA) has announced that it is filing a lawsuit over the violation of Prop. 215 by the California Legislature and Governor Brown. The recent adoption of the Medical Marijuana Regulation and Safety Act attempts to modify a voter initiative, Prop. 215, something specifically forbidden by the California constitution. “Our medical cannabis rights, protected for nearly 20 years by Prop. 215, have been hijacked and Prop. 215 is under attack like never before. The new law is an unacceptable and illegal infringement on our rights under Prop. 215,†said Steve Kubby, Executive Director of AMMA. Kubby listed four areas that were of the greatest concern to patients and their physicians: 1. Patient gardens now limited to 100 square feet. 2. It is now a crime to share a joint from your garden with anyone. 3. Must now use your regular doctor for recommendations, most of whom have no experience with the medical use of cannabis 4. Allows city, county or both to ban cultivation, storage, manufacture, and transport. “I'm getting calls from frightened patients who fear their own state government is planning on going after cannabis doctors as if they are some sort of dangerous threat that must be carefully supervised. Sick people cannot handle this kind of stress.Thousands of patients will die because of this calculated attempt to thwart the will of the people and deprive them of medical cannabis and the doctors who write recommendations to use the healing herb,†added Kubby. David Allen, a retired heart surgeon and expert on cannabinoid medicine, warns against the unintended consequences of the new Medical Marijuana Regulation and Safety Act. According to Allen, the proposed law “will create more crimes of cultivation, processing, storage, transportation, sales, and possession. It will create an army of bureaucrats that will increase the police state and create super drug task force solely for Cannabis and no other drug.†Source: http://americanmarijuana.org
It is my understanding that the language in the bill doesn't hinder your access to your MMJ doctor. "Attending physician" has always been the language of the law.
http://www.canorml.org/news/A_SUMMARY_OF_THE_MEDIC... Their summary, with a disturbing provision : PATIENT EXEMPTION Qualified patients are exempt from the state permit program if cultivating less than 100 square feet for personal medical use. Primary caregivers with five or fewer patients are allowed up to 500 square feet (AB 243, 11362.777(g) and SB 643, 19319). Exemption under this section does not prevent a local government from further restricting or banning the cultivation, provision, etc. of medical cannabis by individual patients or caregivers in its jurisdiction (AB 243). Sorry guys, looks like they screwed us with cultivation. Say goodbye to the right to grow your own...
Nothing prevents an initiative from rewriting all the legislative laws and supreme court ruling outcomes. However, it is unlikely that the "big money" initiatives substantially alter the AB 266 structure. I would be surprised if "Reform CA" made a substantial difference in the direction things are being shaped now. Hopefully they eventually write the law so cities can't ban personal use grows,like they can now, and the amount is enough to grow a decent supply for yourself.