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Battling Bills: The latest in L.A.’s Green fate

 Anybody
who has been paying attention to the trend in cannabis law in SoCal knows it
hasn’t been great lately. Although there are laws on the books protecting
medical cannabis, L.A. law enf

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Anybody
who has been paying attention to the trend in cannabis law in SoCal knows it
hasn’t been great lately. Although there are laws on the books protecting
medical cannabis, L.A. law enforcement has been cracking down on dispensaries
and doctors lately, and if there’s one thing cannabis patients and the police
could probably agree on it is that something has to change.

Enter
Senate Bill 1262 (SB-1262). Introduced by Senator Leo Correa of Santa Ana, this
bill is unprecedented in California because it is supported by the California
Police Chiefs Association and the League of California Cities: The first time a
cannabis law has been supported by these groups. It is also supported by
pro-medical cannabis groups like Americans for Safe Access (ASA) and the
National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML).

Voters
may remember the recent law which was voted down in the June election: AB-1894.
SB-1262 is a huge improvement because AB-1894 wanted cannabis regulated by the
Department of Alcohol Beverage Control whereas SB-1262 would let cannabis be
regulated by the Department of Consumer Affairs (DCA). The DCA is better
equipped to do this according to the ASA because, “the mission and experience of DCA already involves licensing and
consumer protection.” Furthermore, ASA has put their support behind SB-1262
because they believe, “the provisions regulating cultivation and distribution
of medicine are reasonable.”

Although
the regulations of SB-1262 may seem specific or even stringent, it is this type
of regulation that allowed Colorado to pass
Amendment
64, and have made it successful thus far. The regulations in this bill are
mostly to protect children and make sure decisions made by local government
will be upheld. Among the regulations in the bill are, “1) Protect local
control by precluding an operator from obtaining a state license unless the
operator has first secured all necessary local permits from a particular
jurisdiction; 2) Uphold local governments’ ability to ban dispensaries and all
related facilities; 3) Impose tighter regulations on doctors who issue medical
marijuana recommendations, including new training and record keeping requirements
as well as fines, and a strict regimen for recommendations to minors,”
according to the bill’s fact sheet. This last point also includes strict
guidelines for how edibles are packaged, including a label saying “keep out of
reach of children” and even goes so far as to decree that “only generic food
names may be used to describe edible marijuana products. For example,
‘snickerdoodle’ may not be used to describe a cinnamon cookie.”

Obviously,
since this bill is careful not to meddle in local government’s decisions, if
you live in an area where cannabis is currently banned from being prescribed,
this bill won’t help you much, but overall it seems to set a good precendent
that could be a building block for ultimate legalization.

This bill
has spurred a lot of controversy, although much of it is based on an earlier
versions of the bill which included a very harsh provision, which would
prohibit sales of concentrates that has now been removed. Some critics also
seem to assume if law enforcement officials are supporting the bill there must
be a catch, but it seems only logical that as enforcers of laws, police
officers would like the law to be in line with what the public wants, since
this makes it easier to enforce.

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Admittedly,
this is not the complete legalization that many would like to see eventually
come to pass, and it is fairly clear that it is for patients who use medical
cannabis to treat a specific disorder: It does not legalize recreational use. However,
compared to the current state of affairs where many patients are suffering
without their much-needed medicine, this seems like a great improvement, and it
protects the people who need cannabis most. This bill
has recently passed the State Senate and is moving to
the assembly, so look for more about it in the upcoming months.

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