Kharla Vezzetti

UPDATED 11/28/16

According to the Secretary of State, Proposition 64 to legalize the adult use and sale of marijuana, carried in 39 of California’s 58 counties, with only 19 counties voting against the measure, many of them by narrow margins.

San Francisco led the pack with a whopping 74.3% voting in favor of legalization. Coming in at 70 per cent were Marin and Santa Cruz counties, with Alameda county following at 66% and San Mateo at 63%.

Unlike with Prop. 19, which was on the ballot to legalize adult use of marijuana in 2010, the Emerald Triangle voted in favor of Prop.…

November 9, 2016 – Californians have approved Prop. 64, the Adult Use of Marijuana Act (AUMA) by a margin of 57%. The approval of Prop. 64 by the nation’s largest state should send a powerful message to lawmakers in Washington, DC and the world to end marijuana prohibition. Nearly two thirds of California counties approved the measure, which should help local reform efforts.

As of Nov. 9th it became legal for any adult 21 years or older to:

•  Possess, transport, obtain or give away to other adults 21 or older no more than one ounce of marijuana or 8 grams of concentrated cannabis.…

All Parties are on Tuesday, November 8, 2016

DPA LA party 8 PM – 2 AM
Kyoto Gardens at Double Tree by Hilton
120 S. Los Angeles St., LA
Live Broadcast of CannabisRadio.com, jazz music, light refreshments, cash bar.
(The party is free but RSVP is required for admission. [email protected].)

BPG Party 8PM-2AM
The New Parish
1743 San Pablo Ave., Oakland

Monterey NORML Party 7 PM – 10 PM
470 Tyler St. Monterey

San Diego NORML Party 8 PM – 2 AM
with Medicinal Mike, Live Comedy & Live Music by Tribe Out West
Andaz Rooftop 600 F.…

Although Cal NORML doesn’t see the need for any local ordinance to regulate six-plant gardens as required by Prop. 64, we have posted a draft ordinance that would allow for outdoor, greenhouse, and indoor personal gardens.

Track your local activity and get active! See Cal City and County Ban Watch Facebook Page

October 31, 2016 – California’s League of Cities, which was responsible for pushing the “banopolooza” on medical marijuana that happened in hundreds of cities and counties in California at the beginning of this year, has released a memo to its members about the pending measure, Prop.…

UPDATE 11/22: State leaders scramble to delay tax break for medical marijuana patients

October 28, 2016 – The California State Board of Equalization has issued an announcement about the effect of Proposition 64 on sellers of medical marijuana.

The BOE states that if Proposition 64 passes, effective November 9, 2016, qualified patients or their primary caregivers will be exempted from retail sales tax on medical cannabis, medical cannabis concentrate, edible medical cannabis products, or topical cannabis if they present a valid Medical Marijuana Identification Card issued by the California Department of Public Health at the time of purchase.…

Californians will join the voters of Arizona, Nevada, Maine and Massachusetts in voting on an initiative to legalize adult use of marijuana on November 8th. California’s Proposition 64, the Adult Use of Marijuana Act (AUMA), would let adults use and buy marijuana legally in the nation’s largest state. Although Prop 64 has drawbacks and isn’t all it should be from a consumer perspective, on balance it offers signficant improvements over California’s current laws and would be a powerful boost for cannabis reform nationwide.…

August 2016 – Advocates cheered when a three-judge panel of the Federal Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled unanimously on August 16 that the US Department of Justice may not prosecute medical marijuana operations that are in compliance with state law. The ruling rested on the Rohrabacher/Farr amendment, a rider to the federal budget bill that prohibits the DOJ from spending funds to prevent states’ implementation of their own medical marijuana laws.

Five of those who appealed to the court allegedly ran four marijuana stores in the Los Angeles area known as Hollywood Compassionate Care (HCC) and Happy Days, and nine indoor marijuana grow sites in the San Francisco and Los Angeles areas.…

Excerpted from Cal NORML’s October 2016 newsletter. Join Cal NORML today and receive all the news and analysis by mail or email.

UPDATED 8:46 AM 9/29/16

SACRAMENTO, Sept. 29 – This year’s legislative session saw a record number of marijuana bills, both good and bad, in Sacramento. Happily the worst ones were all defeated, and a few good ones survived to reach the Governor’s desk.

The Governor signed into law:

• AB 2516 by Asm. Jim Wood to authorize a new “specialty “cottage” license for home growers with no more than 2,500 square feet of outdoors space.…

See Cal NORML’s analysis of Prop. 64.

The following suggested legislative fixes to Proposition 64 were discussed and agreed upon at Cal NORML’s membership meeting on September 8.

(1) Expand areas where marijuana can be used for medical and adult use, particularly when vaporized.

(2) Protect cannabis users from discrimination in employment, housing, parental and medical rights.

(3) Forbid local bans on deliveries of cannabis from licensed providers to qualified individuals.

(4) Increase tax breaks for qualified medical marijuana patients.

(5) Encourage and protect licensing of small businesses, nonprofits and agricultural cooperatives with financial and regulatory incentives, and discourage monopolization and ownership concentration by large-scale corporate and big-money interests.…

Left to Right: Blanco (labor), Farnsworth (pesticides), Morland (BOE), Woods (DPH), Schultz (water), Tsou (BMCR), Morris (agriculture).

UPDATE: Cannabis was discussed at a CDFA board meeting on August 2. See video.

July 29 – Regulators from seven different state agencies, including the new Bureau of Medical Cannabis Regulation, spoke at a policy workshop sponsored by the California Grower’s Association in Sacramento.

“There are a lot of different strings in this Gordian knot,” said Casey O’Neill, CGA’s president. “Growing up in the hills under the choppers, we never thought we’d be here.”…