Kharla Vezzetti

Some of the citizen lobbyists who participated in Lobby Day.

June 5, 2018 – The Cal NORML / ASA annual Lobby Day, held June 4 in Sacramento, was well attended and well received.

Constituent advocates from Humboldt county to San Diego and all across the state visited dozens of Legislators’ offices to lobby on several key bills affecting cannabis consumers and the industry. Among them were:

– AB 1793 (Bonta), to automatically expunge past cannabis convictions (currently in the Senate).…

May 25, 2018 – The Cal NORML-sponsored bill to protect employment rights for medical marijuana users in California, AB 2069, has been held in the Assembly Appropriations committee, meaning it won’t advance in the legislature this year.

A last-ditch grassroots effort to reach committee chairwoman Lorena Gonzales-Fletcher (D-SD), who had the ability to amend and move the bill, was unsuccessful. At a Labor committee hearing on the bill, Gonzalez-Fletcher expressed concerns for workplace safety raised by the State Building & Construction Trades Council, and her impression that medical marijuana recommendations were too easy to obtain in California.…

Sacramento, May 2nd – Senator Lara’s bill SB 1302 to disallow local bans on cannabis deliveries squeaked by the Senate Governance and Finance committee today on the understanding that further amendments will be needed to address opponents’ concerns.

The bill was sponsored by WeDrop and ASA, with strong support from Weed for Warriors (pictured) and pro-cannabis groups, including Cal NORML. Advocates stressed the lack of legally licensed facilities in most California cities and counties.

SB 1302 would disallow local governments from banning home deliveries of cannabis to residents in their district from state-licensed delivery services headquartered elsewhere.…

Take Action To Protect Workers’ Rights in California

Sacramento, April 25th – The CA Assembly Labor Committee approved a bill to curb employment discrimination against workers who use medical cannabis to treat a disability or medical condition.

The Medical Cannabis Worker Protections Act, AB 2069 by Asm. Rob Bonta, would treat medical cannabis in the same way that current law treats prescription opiates and other drugs, by according it “reasonable accommodation” under the state Fair Employment and Housing Act. The bill exempts employers who are subject to federal regulations, such as the transportation industry, and further disallows any impairment on the job during hours of employment.…

April 20, 2018 – The National Organization for Reform of Marijuana Laws has filed a petition with the FDA calling for the international rescheduling of cannabis.

The World Health Organization Expert Committee on Drug Dependence is reviewing the status of cannabis for the first time this year. The cannabis plant was orginally placed in UN Schedules I and IV when the International Single Convention Treaty was signed in 1964. Under the treaty, Schedule I is for medical drugs with a high liability for abuse or addiction, such as cocaine and opiates, while Schedule IV, or the “prohibition schedule” is for drugs deemed so dangerous as not to be usable in medicine, such as heroin.…

UPDATE 5/25/18 – The bill has failed to advance in the legislature.

March 15, 2018 – Assemblymembers Tom Lackey (R-Palmdale) and Rob Bonta (D-Oakland) have introduced AB 3157 to reduce existing state taxes on cannabis for three years as California implements Proposition 64, which legalized cannabis for adult use.

Assembly Bill 3157 will reduce the state’s excise tax from 15% to 11%. It will also suspend the state’s cultivation tax, which currently charges a flat tax of $148 per pound. Both tax reductions are temporary and would sunset in June 2021 after California’s regulated market has matured and has been fully implemented.…

February 25, 2018 – Cal NORML is opposing a bill, SB 1273 by Sen. Jerry Hill (San Mateo), that would authorize police to test any drivers under 21 for marijuana and automatically suspend their licenses for one year if any detectible amount of THC is found in their systems.

Cal NORML denounced the proposal as a misuse of enforcement resources. “SB 1273 will do nothing to make the roads safer or reduce youth drug abuse,” remarked Cal NORML Director Dale Gieringer.…

February 5, 2018 – The sale and consumption of cannabis at temporary special events could soon become legal with a bill introduced today by Assemblymember Bill Quirk (D-Hayward). AB 2020 will allow greater flexibility for cities that seek to host cannabis related special events.

“Asm. Quirk’s bill to ease restrctions on special marijuana events is a step in the right direction,” said Cal NORML director Dale Gieringer. “It allows local governments to apply for special events permits at places other than county fairgrounds, which we support.…

UPDATE May 18, 2018: The bill was held in the Assembly Appropriations committee this year. We hope to advance it in the next session.

April 25, 2018: The bill passed the Assembly Labor committee.

Take Action To Protect Workers’ Rights in California

February 7, 2018 – Asm. Rob Bonta (D-Oakland) today introduced AB 2069, to protect employment rights for medical cannabis patients in California. The bill would specifically bar employers from discriminating against workers because of their status as a medical cannabis patient, or a positive drug test for medical cannabis use.…

TAKE ACTION: Support State Legislation To Allow Automatic Expungement Of Past Marijuana Crimes

February 1, 2018 – San Francisco District Attorney George Gascón has announced that his office plans to retroactively apply Proposition 64 to past marijuana convictions by expunging and sealing all related records dating back to 1975. That measure, which California voters passed in November 2016, legalized recreational cannabis use and allowed those with marijuana convictions to petition courts to dismiss their cases. But many are unaware that they quality for resentencing or expungement, or are unable to afford to bring such a petition.…

January 26 – At a California Gubernatorial debate, Jorge Ramos of Univision asked the candidates to raise their hands if they had ever smoked marijuana.

Former LA Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa’s hand shot up, followed by cheers from the crowd. He said afterwards, “And different than some, I actually inhaled.” Also raising their hands were former Superintendent of Public Instruction Delaine Eastin, and state Treasurer John Chiang.

See the exchange below:

@jorgeramosnews: "Candidatos, ¿alguna vez han fumado marihuana?" #Debate2018 pic.twitter.com/wTxgRVq7qR

— Univision Noticias (@UniNoticias) January 26, 2018

…

A memorial for Dennis Peron will be held at Cafe Flore in San Francisco on Sunday, March 11th from 5:00 to 10:00 pm

January 27 – We are sad to report that medical marijuana activist Dennis Peron died today at the VA hospital in San Francisco.

“No person is more responsible for the legalization of medical marijuana than Dennis,” Cal NORML director Dale Gieringer told the New York Times. “He was in the right place, at the right time as a gay rights leader at the time of the AIDS epidemic; he had the right experience as a pot dealer, the gumption to go ahead and do it and the trust of the people of San Francisco, who respected his efforts.”…

January 9, 2018 – Rep. Rob Bonta (Oakland), the California Assembly’s Assistant Majority Leader, announced at a press conference in Sacramento today that he has introduced AB 1793, to create a simpler and expedited pathway for Californians to have certain criminal convictions for cannabis-related offenses removed or reduced from their records.

Proposition 64 – which voters passed with 57 percent approval in November 2016 – contained provisions that not only reduced or eliminated many marijuana law violations, it made those changes retroactive.…

TAKE ACTION: Jeff Sessions Is Targeting The Cannabis Community – It’s Time For Congress To Step In

UPDATED 1/8/18

January 4, 2018 – Reaction has been swift from public officials in California following the announcement that Attorney General Jeff Sessions has issued a memo to federal prosecutors which “directs all U.S. Attorneys to enforce the laws enacted by Congress and to follow well-established principles when pursuing prosecutions related to marijuana activities.”

The memo rescinds all previous DOJ memos that allowed both medical and recreational marijuana businesses to operate in legalized states, and came three days after California opened state-licensed shops selling recreational marijuana to adults 21 and over.…

Download this information as a .pdf file

December 29, 2017 – With adult-use cannabis stores opening in California on January 1, Cal NORML reminds our members, tourists coming in to California, and others of the following:

Using marijuana can impair your ability to drive safely. Signs of marijuana impairment can include:

• Loss of concentration and attentiveness.
• Impaired reaction time and emergency decision-making ability.
• Reduced peripheral vision.
• Difficulty maintaining a constant speed, following distance, and lane position.
• Loss of balance.…

December 5, 2017 – Cal NORML has sent comments to state regulators regarding their emergency licensing regulations for cannabis cultivation.

“We are concerned that the CDFA’s proposed emergency regulations on cannabis cultivation licensing fail to limit the total amount of acreage that any one applicant may accumulate. This opens the doors to large-scale, industrial mega-grows that could monopolize California’s limited available acreage, exacerbate environmental harm, and stifle participation by smaller growers,” CaNORML wrote.

“California does not need any new, large-scale, industrial grows,” the comments continue.…

This article is from Ca NORML’s November newsletter, sent to our members. To join, support Cal NORML and receive all the news, click here.

Berkeley Patients Group is one medical marijuana dispenary that plans to open their doors to recreational users on January 1.

November 2017 – New Year’s 2018 is ushering in a new era in California, as the first state-licensed cannabis stores open their doors and adult-use sales begin on Jan. 1, 2018. Officials at the Bureau of Cannabis Control published emergency regulations on November 16, so that it can issue the first licenses by January 1.…