SAN FRANCISCO -- A trio of bills aimed at bringing order and oversight to California's medical marijuana industry, nearly 20 years after the state led the nation in legalizing pot for medical use, got Gov. Jerry Brown's signature, his office said Friday.
The first statewide licensing and operating rules for pot growers, manufacturers of cannabis-infused products and retail weed stores comes as multiple groups try to qualify voter initiatives in 2016 that would allow adults to use marijuana recreationally.
Even before Brown approved the package of new rules, initiative sponsors had started rewriting their proposed measures to incorporate many of its elements in hopes of not alienating the governor ahead of next year's election.
"My hope is this will be viewed as a starting point, a solid foundation on which to build from," Assemblyman Rob Bonta, D-Oakland, the lead author of one of the bills, said Friday. "Whatever happens with recreational use, there needs to be proper regulation. This is a very strong contribution from the Legislature about what those regulations should look like."
The Democratic governor's endorsement of the 70-page Medical Marijuana Regulation and Safety Act hammered out by lawmakers in the closing hours of their legislative session was expected because his office contributed many of the details.
"This new structure will make sure patients have access to medical marijuana, while ensuring a robust tracking system," Brown said in a signing statement. "This sends a clear signal to our federal counterparts that California is implementing robust controls not only on paper, but in practice."
The package seeks to manage medical marijuana by requiring individuals or companies engaged in any aspect of the industry to obtain at least one of 17 different licenses. It restricts the number of licenses one company could have.
The legislation includes separate licenses for indoor and outdoor cultivation, transportation, product testing, distribution and dispensaries of different sizes. It also tasks various state agencies to develop guidelines for packaging, potency, pesticide use and advertising.
"Today, the Wild West era of medical cannabis came to an end, and a new era of responsible regulation has begun," said Jim Araby, executive director of the United Food and Commercial Workers Western States Council, which lobbied for employment standards in the bills.
In addition, the bills preserve the right of individuals to grow small amounts of medical marijuana for personal use and allows local governments to ban or tax marijuana-related businesses. Another provision commissions the University of California to study how marijuana affects driving and to recommend appropriate impaired-driver standards.
A Section on 10/10/2015