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STATE: Medical marijuana regulation bill passes Assembly
On Thursday the California Assembly passed a bill to protect access to medical marijuana and regulate the industry.
AB 2312, the Medical Marijuana Regulation and Control Act, passed the Assembly by a 41-30 vote.
Authored by Assemblymember Tom Ammiano (D-San Francisco), the bill would create the first statewide regulatory framework for the medical cannabis industry in California.
“Today's vote was significant because it represents a considerable shift that the Legislature is now willing to take responsibility for the effective regulation of medical cannabis in California, 15 years after voters passed Proposition 215,” said Ammiano.
He added, “With the continuing federal crackdown, we simply cannot afford to continue keeping our heads in the sand and pretend that everything is fine. AB 2312 is an opportunity for the Legislature to defend Proposition 215 by regulating and controlling an industry that has the support of over 80 percent of Californians."
AB 2312 creates the Board of Medical Marijuana Enforcement within the California Department of Consumer Affairs to oversee and regulate the medical marijuana industry in California.
It also would authorize local governments to impose an excise tax.
Assemblyman Wesley Chesbro (D-North Coast), who represents Lake County in the Assembly, spoke in support of a bill on Thursday and was among the 41 Assemblymembers who voted for it. He also is a coauthor of the bill.
“I support this bill because it would establish a statewide regulatory system that would remove ambiguities between state law, federal law and local regulations,” Chesbro said in a statement on the Floor of the Assembly today when Ammiano presented the bill.
“Many counties have assembled their own regulations, but the inconsistencies in those regulations put patients and dispensary owners at a disadvantage,” Chesbro said. “Good actors trying to follow state law and local regulations have been penalized for their best efforts to follow the law.”
He said the goal of AB 2312 is not to limit local control, but assist local governments in grappling with the differences in local, state and federal law. “Counties still have the ability to opt out of these regulations and ban the sale of medical marijuana in their counties.”
AB 2284, Chesbro’s bill to protect the public, forests and fish habitat from illegal, environmentally destructive drug producing operations on resource lands, also was approved by the full Assembly with bipartisan support and no opposition.
Both bills now go the Senate.