Articles Posted in California marijuana legalization

A panel headed by Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsome has released a report urging California legislators and voters to proceed cautiously with legalization of marijuana for recreation.

The Blue Ribbon Commission on Marijuana Policy, which was founded two years ago, outlines a total of 58 strategies, goals and recommendations for marijuana legalization that focus on limiting access to young people, offering sufficient treatment programs and public education campaigns.

The underlying theme throughout the report was that heavy government regulation is key to the process, and several suggestions were made on engaging the federal government to, at minimum, relax the banking standards and IRS rules that currently block these types of businesses.
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As a number of states have opened the doors to the cultivation, manufacture and distribution of hemp and related products, a number of industry advocates have released a series of guidelines for best practices in order to ensure both quality of the product and consumer safety.

The recommendations were made as part of a collaboration between the Hemp Industries Association, Americans for Safe Access, the Cannabis Committee and the American Herbal Products Association. The guidelines were submitted after input from a number of industry experts, and were presented at the National Medical Cannabis Unity Conference last month in Washington, D.C.

According to a February 2015 report by the Congressional Research Service, noted that while precise data is not available for the size of the hemp-based product market in the U.S., it’s estimated to be somewhere around $580 million. It’s a commodity that’s cultivated for use in a wide range of products, which includes food and beverages, cosmetics, personal care products, nutritional supplements, textiles and fabrics, insulation and construction materials and other manufactured goods.
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Those who rely on medicinal marijuana for treatment of severe illnesses and medical conditions fear that the expansion of recreational marijuana may harm their chances for safe access.

An example of this was recently outlined by the Cincinnati Enquirer, which is chronicling the process of marijuana legalization in Ohio.

There are currently 23 states that allow marijuana as medicine, and another four states that have granted permission for recreational use and sales. States that are weighing which path they want to take have been given little direction by the federal government on the issue, other than the necessity of a strong legal framework of checks and balances to ensure the drugs aren’t sold on the black market or to children.
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It’s been nearly two decades since California voters approved the use of medical marijuana. Yet many cities quickly or over the course of the years enacted local bans on cultivation and dispensing, opening those with legitimate need and good motives to the possibility of criminal prosecution, eviction and civil forfeiture.

San Diego was one of those. But now, the city has allowed its first permitted medical marijuana dispensary, in a strip mall situated near the internal border. The lines were modest, though those who waited expressed relief they could finally purchase their medication from an approved shop in the city for the very first time. Customers said with other locations, there was always the concern the facility would be raided.

The new measure that permits medical marijuana dispensaries within city limits requires the facilities to be non-profit operations. They must allow testing of their products, and there needs to be adherence to strict zoning requirements and tight security rules. The process allows a path to legitimacy for the existing underground operations. About 50 other cities in the state have gone the same route.
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