Purps!
Purps (60% Sativa, 40% Indica) This medical marijuana strain is commonly prescribed to fight depression. The high percentage of sativa provides patients with a refreshing, alert high.
California Medical Marijuana Bill Denied – California Pot Industry Remains Unregulated
By Staff
A bill that could have regulated medical marijuana regulation in California has failed to pass the State Assembly in a vote late last week.
The legislation, created by Assemblyman Tom Ammiano (D-San Francisco), was aimed to control medical marijuana through California’s Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control. The oversight would have been similar to what the Colorado Depart of Revenue was doing, tracking the marijuana from where it is grown through to its point of sale.
There is still no clarity and no agency regulating California’s billion dollar marijuana industry. Medical marijuana regulation has been left up to individual municipalities since MMJ was legalized by voters in 1996. Some cities create loose rules while many choose to ban medical marijuana dispensaries entirely.
From “dude” to dividends – the budding industrialization of pot
By Martha Whlte
At NBC News
The pot industry isn’t being cultivated with grow lights behind blacked-out windows anymore. Despite federal drug-enforcement and tax laws that render it illegal — and hard to turn a profit as a mainstream business — the economics of pot are becoming closer to what one advocate dubs “Big Marijuana.”
“It’s been an industry for a long, long time. It’s just been an underground industry,” said Jeffrey A. Miron, a senior fellow at the Cato Institute and senior lecturer in economics at Harvard University.
Pot has a trade association, and is planning its third annual lobbying day in Washington, D.C., for this week, signaling that the industry is growing up, said Betty Aldworth, deputy director of the National Cannabis Industry Association.
“The most interesting thing about what’s happening to the marijuana marketplace right now is it’s moving from the underground to essentially being just any other commodity that’s sold in a regulated market,” she said. “So you’re going to see the same kind of business and political functions that happen with any other product.”
California Senate acts to clarify legality of medical cannabis
By Patrick McGreevy
At The Los Angeles Times
Medical marijuana dispensaries that abide by security rules in California would not be subject to local or state prosecution for illegal sales under a measure approved Monday by the state Senate.
Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg (D-Sacramento) proposed the measure to clarify ambiguous laws on medical marijuana, which was approved for legal use in California by voters in 1996. The current law allowing the sale of medical cannabis has resulted in “needless” arrests and prosecutions, he said.
SB 439 says collectives, cooperatives and other business entities can receive reasonable compensation for the services they provide, and will not be prosecuted as long as they comply with security and reporting guidelines drafted by the state Attorney General.
Senate OKs regulations for medicinal marijuana
By Don Thompson
At Associated Press
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — California would take steps to regulate the sale of medical marijuana under a bill approved Monday by the state Senate, restricting cannabis dispensaries that federal prosecutors say have grown out of control.
California voters first supported legalizing marijuana to treat illness in 1996, but federal prosecutors recently cracked down. They said the industry has grown enormously profitable and has made marijuana essentially available for recreational use.
The Senate sent the bill to the Assembly on a 22-12 vote and without any Republican support.
The legislation makes it clear that dispensaries cannot operate at a profit, but that the owners can receive reasonable compensation and reimbursement for expenses.
California Supreme Court allows cities to ban weed dispensaries:(
By Howard Mintz
At The Mercury News
SAN FRANCISCO — Unless the Legislature intervenes, California will be dotted with a few cities that allow medical marijuana dispensaries but otherwise be ruled by large areas that outlaw the pot businesses.
That appears to be the medical marijuana landscape statewide under a ruling Monday by the California Supreme Court, which settled the latest legal battle over the state’s 17-year-old experiment with medical pot by upholding local governments’ right to ban dispensaries. The unanimous decision leaves intact a growing movement to forbid pot businesses despite a 1996 state law permitting medical use of marijuana.
California Legislation Addresses Medical Marijuana Throughout State
By Blake Bunch
Through the Independent Voter Network
This week, the Supreme Court of California is tasked with making a decision regarding the functionality of medical marijuana dispensaries throughout the state. The court will hear the case of City of Riverside v. Inland Empire Patient’s Health and Wellness Center, which should prove a major catalyst in formulating marijuana regulations.
A new bill, AB 473, introduced by Assemblyman Tom Ammiano (D-San Francisco), aims to formulate concrete legislation to which all counties would adhere.
“We thought it was time to implement some standardization around the regulation of medical marijuana,” Ammiano said. “It will protect patient rights and it will give communities clear guidance.”
California Medical Marijuana Regulation Bill Passes State Assembly Committee
By Carly Schwartz
At The Huffington Post
SAN FRANCISCO — A bill to regulate California’s billion-dollar medical marijuana industry cleared a major hurdle Tuesday when the state assembly’s public safety committee voted to move it forward.
AB 473, introduced by Assemblyman Tom Ammiano (D-San Francisco), would require all pot-related entities, except for caregivers and patients, to follow rules to be created by the Department of Alcohol Beverage Control.
As it stands, medical marijuana in California is “chaos,” Ammiano told The Huffington Post. “It’s never been regulated by the state as any other business. Cities and counties don’t know what to do or what they can do. Police are unsure how to respond, and the federal actions are confusing.”
Legality of Medical Marijuana in California
Can cities regulate Medical marijuana dispensaries through zoning laws? Listen to Jessica Levinson, Associate clinical professor at Loyola Law School (Los Angeles, CA), describe her thoughts on this issue. This discussion incorporates many aspects of our legal system Federal vs. State (and how local jurisdictions come into play).
Riverside is trying to ban marijuana dispensaries but a group of MMJ activists say “No you don’t” thanks to Proposition 215 (Compassionate Use Act). What are cities options regarding medical marijuana? We have to wait for a court decision from the California Supreme Court. Other medical marijuana states and the Feds will be watching this decision unfold and assess how to move forward.
California bill would create new regulations for medical marijuana industry
By:
at S.F. Examiner
California’s medical marijuana industry would be overseen by a Sacramento-level bureaucracy under a reform bill introduced Tuesday by Assemblyman Tom Ammiano, D-San Francisco.
Similar to how Alcoholic Beverage Control regulates California bars and liquor stores, the Division of Medical Cannabis Regulation would establish statewide standards and applicable fees for how medical cannabis is grown, transported, sold and taxed. The division would be under ABC’s control.
“This is a concrete plan that will keep medical marijuana safe,” Ammiano said in a statement. “We will get it into the right hands and keep it out of the wrong hands.”