http://www.beyondthc.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/AB-266-Amendments-for-August-3-submitted-to-LegCo-AT.pdf
http://www.eastbayexpress.com/oakland/a-tectonic-s... June 17, 2015 A Tectonic Shift for Marijuana With a landslide vote, the California Assembly passed sensible medical pot regulations. This is what the end of a drug war looks like. By David Downs California's billion-dollar medical cannabis industry stands a good chance of getting its first-ever state-level regulations this year. Assembly Bill 266 passed by a landslide vote - 62-8 - on the Assembly floor on June 4, and experts say it faces decent odds of passing the state Senate and being signed by Governor Jerry Brown. If that happens, California will begin regulating the cultivation and distribution of medical cannabis statewide, as called for by voters nineteen years ago when they passed Proposition 215 and kicked off the modern era of medical pot. "We watched history getting made," said Nate Bradley, lobbyist for the California Cannabis Industry Association, referring to the Assembly floor vote. "The votes came out and it was just a powerhouse - boom, 50. Then it went to 62. Even some 'no' votes flipped. That many votes is nothing but a win." AB 266 is an unprecedented compromise - the merging of one police-crafted bill and one that was more industry-leaning. It is co-authored by Assemblymembers Rob Bonta (D-Alameda), Ken Cooley (D-Rancho Cordova), and Reginald Byron Jones-Sawyer (D-Los Angeles). The bill spreads regulatory authority over seven state agencies, with oversight by the governor's office. It creates twenty specific business licenses for the commercial medical cannabis industry. "Local jurisdictions were onboard - [along with] industry, patients, the reform movement, unions, the medical board; it's really kind of historic that happened," said Hezekiah Allen, director the Emerald Growers Association, which represents small pot farmers. Bonta said in an interview that his bill would benefit East Bay patients and collectives by "fully bringing the industry out of the shadows." The bill also could end the federal crackdown by installing the strong state controls that the US Department of Justice has called for. "By implementing this stronger regime throughout California, it adds a greater chance and a higher level of protection against that type of federal intervention we've seen in the past," Bonta told me. AB 266 now heads to the Senate, where medical pot regulations have already passed two key litmus tests. Last year, a regulatory bill from then-Senator Lou Correa cleared the Senate before it died in the Assembly. The Senate also voted this year to pass pot regulations from Senator Mike McGuire (D-Eureka). "I think that those are good signs," Bonta said. "I think there's some inter-house dynamics that can get tricky. This is when things get a little more difficult." Regulations could cost $10 million annually, but would be financed mostly by licensing fees. There are an estimated 40,000 cultivation sites throughout California, and an estimated 4,000 medical marijuana dispensaries. We're also seeing unprecedented buy-in from California's sprawling bureaucracy, and the Brown administration. The state Board of Equalization has employees assigned full-time to a task force on cannabis taxation. The state water board is working on water regulations. And other state agencies are mobilizing as well. "From what we've been told, divisions are already preparing," Bradley said of the state agencies. "Everyone has people assigned to look at this issue." The bill also creates a first-ever oversight role for the governor's office to ensure accountability and sort out regulatory overlap. Allen of the Emerald Growers Association said he had heard that the governor's office "was part of the conversation through which the bills were merged." Opposition to AB 266 is mostly coming from hardcore marijuana activists and law enforcement groups, which either want fewer regulations or marijuana to remain illegal. AB 266 would have mixed effects on patient rights. The legislation exempts patients "who do not provide, donate, sell, or distribute cannabis to any other person or entity" from having to get a license, as well as primary caregivers who have up to five patients. But the bill also continues the patchwork of bans and restrictions on cultivation and distribution that have been enacted by about half of California's cities. Patients in places such as Fresno and Pleasanton, as a result, would remain behind enemy lines. But statewide rules should ease local bans over time, Bradley said. Local pot industry tax revenue is "also going to be another huge motivating factor," he said. "It won't address the patchwork overnight, but it will start standardizing the elements of regulations [that] locals can customize," Allen added. All in all, a tectonic shift in California policy is occurring. "A revolution is underway in how we talk about cannabis and nowhere is that revolution more obvious than in the legislature," said Allen. "We're really excited with where this bill is," Bonta said. "I think it's historic. It's unique. We've never seen a bill of this nature on this topic have this much momentum at this stage in the process." If California sorts out its regulations in 2015, the stage will be set for adult-use legalization next year in the eighth largest economy in the world, thereby bringing the century-long war on marijuana to an end
You must not live in California. The drug war is FAR from over. A lot of vendors paid by politicians and activist groups like to play the role of "everything is okay" while gram prices are skyrocketing and quality is diminishing due to a "select few big growers" trying to take everything for themselves.AB266 is going to tax the crap out of growers via the EPA. Mother nature is stepping in to balance everything out http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/aug/12/california-wildfires-marijuana-farms If you'll notice the "MMJ advocates" love to bust their arses for politicians and big dispensaries but never for full-on home grows in every neighborhood. People may be fooled in Washington State or Colorado but change is coming in California in 2016. Believe it. "...Marijuana farms have been engulfed by California wildfires over the summer as firefighters work to contain blazes across northern California that have already burned through more than 70,000 acres. While the marijuana crops destroyed are unlikely to cause any statewide supply issues, it could drive up some prices, put small farmers out of business – and disseminate a familiar smell. Hezekiah Allen of the Emerald Growers Association, an association of cannabis growers in California,said a burning marijuana farm would potentially release similar smoke into the air as when a person traditionally smokes. It might smell close to pot, he said, but would be “tainted†because of all the other items and plants like poison oak burning along with it. A representative from Cal Fire cautioned residents to stay away from high smoke areas – even those that smell like pot – because of other substances being burned. “Basically, you'd get sick from other things,†Allen said. “The residents won't get high.†Allen said wildfire damage “isn't going to have an impact on supplies across the state†but may hit many individual farms and dispensaries hard. He did not specify the number of farms destroyed, but did confirm that he was aware of individual farms that had been lost. Marijuana farms suffer the same risks as other farmers in California – facing the potential loss of their crop, on top of the strain of the drought. The profitable Napa wine industry, too, is threatened by wildfires, with winemakers concerned that smoke-infused grape skins will alter the flavor of the wines..."
Senate events Sept 1, 2015 (page 45) http://senate.ca.gov/sites/senate.ca.gov/files/dailyfile/s20150901dailyfile.pdf Senate calendar http://senate.ca.gov/calendar 45 TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 1, 2015 ASSEMBLY SECOND READING FILE-Continued 17 A.B. No. 266-Bonta et al. An act relating to medical cannabis. Vote required: 21 2015 Jun. 4-Read third time. Passed. Ordered to the Senate. (Ayes 62. Noes 8. Page 1923.) Jun. 4-In Senate. Read first time. To Com. on RLS. for assignment. Jun. 18-Referred to Coms. on HEALTH and GOV. & F. Jun. 30-From committee chair, with author's amendments: Amend, and re–refer to committee. Read second time, amended, and re–re- ferred to Com. on HEALTH. Jul. 8-Withdrawn from committee. Re–referred to Coms. on GOV. & F. and HEALTH. Jul. 8-In committee: Set, first hearing. Hearing canceled at the request of author. Jul. 13-From committee chair, with author's amendments: Amend, and re–refer to committee. Read second time, amended, and re–re- ferred to Com. on GOV. & F. Jul. 15-From committee: Do pass and re–refer to Com. on HEALTH. (Ayes 4. Noes 0.) (July 15). Re–referred to Com. on HEALTH. Jul. 16-From committee: Do pass and re–refer to Com. on APPR. (Ayes 8. Noes 1.) (July 15). Re–referred to Com. on APPR. Aug. 17-In committee: Referred to APPR. suspense file. From commit- tee chair, with author's amendments: Amend, and re–refer to committee. Read second time, amended, and re–referred to Com. on APPR. Aug. 31-From committee: Amend, and do pass as amended. (Ayes 5. Noes 0.) (August 27)
http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billCompareClient.xhtml?bill_id=201520160AB243 Legislative Information Today's Law As Amended-Sept 1 Version: AB-243 Medical marijuana.(2015-2016) SECTION 1. It is the intent of the Legislature to enact legislation that would establish a dedicated funding source to address environmental damages resulting from illegal cannabis cultivation. SEC. 2. This measure shall become operative only if both Assembly Bill 266 and Senate Bill 643 of the 2015–16 Regular Session are enacted and become operative. SEC.3. This act is an urgency statute necessary for the immediate preservation of the public peace, health, or safety within the meaning of Article IV of the Constitution and shall go into immediate effect. The facts constituting the necessity are: In order to address the damage done by illegal marijuana cultivation at the earliest time possible, it is necessary that this act take effect immediately.
Nobody seems to discuss the affront any of this legislation is to the long standing architecture of California's medical community. All these bills stand to do is suffocate dispensaries and collectives via licensing fees and dues, payments foisted on an already functional medical matrix. At which point healing is of little to no concern. Americans have a chance now to prevent the problem of a dysfunctional health apparatus at the ground level. It is now clear through congress' clandestinely railroading these bills that a failing marriage has been made born of an outline borrowed from the alcohol/tobacco industry's agenda mated with an eroded American health-care system. Just say no.