California voters legalized pot in 2016. But for many seeking jobs in state government, cannabis use has become an obstacle to getting hired. Now, a spike in the number of job applicants disqualified by state agencies after failing tests for marijuana use has spawned calls for new legislation and debate over whether employment rules should […]
Proposition 64
Tribes at odds with Calif. officials over the right to sell marijuana
The legalization of recreational marijuana in California left Native Americans out in the cold. Proposition 64, which voters approved in 2016, lets local governments decide whether to allow cannabis dispensaries to operate within their jurisdictions. But it made no provisions for tribes. As far as the state is concerned, tribes can do whatever they want […]
California Measure Would Expunge Many Marijuana-Related Crimes
California lawmakers have approved a measure requiring prosecutors to expunge convictions or reduce sentences for many marijuana-related convictions dating back decades. The bill is now awaiting a signature from Gov. Jerry Brown, according to the Associated Press. The bill, passed by the state Senate on Wednesday by a 22-8 vote, would require the state’s Department of […]
Marijuana is not really legal in California if residents don’t have a reasonable way to buy it
California law allows adults to buy marijuana. It allows licensed businesses to deliver marijuana to customers, and it says specifically that cities and counties cannot prevent delivery services from traveling on public roads. Yet even though cities can’t stop deliveries traveling through their jurisdiction, many cities currently ban deliveries to their jurisdiction. That means that unlike deliveries of virtually […]
California Finally Releases Marijuana Rules For Jan 1
Cannabis businesses in California can’t be within 600 feet of schools. Shops have to close by 10 p.m., and they need 24-hour video surveillance. Those regulations are in the new rule book for California’s cannabis industry, which state regulators released Thursday. “I feel a big sigh of relief. It’s a big milestone for us to […]
California Is on Its Way to Becoming a Marijuana ‘Sanctuary State’
California moved a step closer Thursday to becoming a “sanctuary state” where local and state police would not assist federal enforcement of marijuana laws. The state Assembly approved a bill Thursday barring state and local law enforcement officers, absent a court order, from helping federal drug agents in arresting people who are complying with state […]
California’s Prop 64 Allows Some Marijuana Convicts to Wipe Their Record Clean
Jay Schlauch’s conviction for peddling pot haunted him for nearly a quarter century. The felony prevented him from landing jobs, gave his wife doubts about tying the knot and cast a shadow over his typically sunny outlook on life. So when an opportunity arose to reduce his record to a misdemeanor under the voter-approved law […]
California cannabis group of stakeholders working on banking solutions
With the passage of California Proposition 64, the California Marijuana Legalization Initiative, in November, 2016, came a plethora of questions surrounding the regulatory processes that must be established before the sale of adult-use cannabis begins on January 1, 2018. The primary question: How does the state bank the cannabis industry? It seems paradoxical to require […]
California Studies How Marijuana Farming Effects State’s Energy
SAN FRANCISCO (CBS SF) — As California gears up for the implementation of Proposition 64, which legalized recreational marijuana use, state regulators are trying to figure out how the new industry will impact the energy supply. In February, the California Public Utilities Commission held a workshop to assess the potential energy impacts of widespread legal […]
Nine Ways the Federal Government Restricts Legal Marijuana States
Even as he celebrated the end of a big year for his cannabis-focused company, Terra Tech, Derek Peterson was scrambling to cope with some bad news. On the one hand, in 2016, his Newport Beach business raised close to $20 million to produce and sell marijuana products across the country, tripled its workforce and applauded […]
Ahead of Vote, San Jose Temporarily Bans Any Sale of Marijuana
Worried that California might legalize recreational marijuana, the state’s third-largest city by population, San Jose, voted to ban pot sales ahead of Election Day. San Jose isn’t alone in scrambling to block the possible effects of Proposition 64, which would legalize pot but also allow local bans on sales. Dozens of cities and counties from […]
California Medical Cannabis Related Legislation Update
In 2015, nearly 20 years after California voters approved the groundbreaking Proposition 215 ballot measure known as the California Compassionate Use Act, the California legislature undertook the task of regulating a now robust and diffusive medical cannabis market at the state level. The Medical Cannabis Regulation and Safety Act (“MCRSA”) establishes eighteen license types in […]
An Inside Look at Medical Marijuana Dispensaries Today
Brightly lit rooms, enticing menus and a smiling staff greet customers from the entrance of the Green Door. What initially might seem like a favorite coffee bar is actually a San Francisco dispensary. The Green Door in San Francisco is one of the oldest medical marijuana dispensaries in the United States, having opened in 2003. […]
California Marijuana Growers Split On Prop 64
(HUMBOLDT COUNTY, Calif.) — Hezekiah Allen is a third-generation marijuana farmer in this Northern California county, where the cool coastal fog pours off the Pacific Ocean, coaxing pot plants to heights of 20 feet. The executive director of the California Growers Association trade group, Allen has long sought an end to what he calls “prohibition” […]
California Poll Shows 58% of Voters Support Legalization Initiative
Six years after a similar initiative was rejected, a clear majority of California voters supports a measure on the November ballot that would legalize the recreational use of marijuana in their state, according to a new USC Dornsife/Los Angeles Times poll. Proposition 64, which would legalize personal use, is backed by 58% of California voters, […]
If Legalized, California Marijuana Sales Stand to Rise $1.6 Billion in the First Year
If Californians legalize marijuana under Proposition 64 in November, legal cannabis sales in the state likely will climb by $1.6 billion within the first year of implementation, according to a report released Tuesday. That would put the state’s medical and recreational market on track to hit $6.5 billion in revenue by 2020 – up from […]
California’s Legalization Bill Brings Mixed Feelings To The Industry
A potent tension is disturbing the aromatic green fields and verdant centers of marijuana commerce in California as pot farmers and weed merchants brood over a future that is even more uncertain as the corporate world cozies up to the smokable herb. A ballot measure that would legalize recreational pot has divided people who produce […]
