June 8 – Advocates of liberalized medical marijuana rules fared poorly in local elections last night. The one bright spot was Nevada County, where voters rejected a proposed ban on outdoor cultivation of medical marijuana, Measure W by 58%. In contrast, Butte County voters approved a pair of restrictive ordinances, Measure G (“Right to Farm” …
Watch the hearing. SACRAMENTO May 24th – The California legislature heard testimony from supporters and opponents of AUMA at a joint legislative hearing of the Assembly Business and Professions Committee, Health Committee, Revenue and Taxation Committee, and Senate Business, Professions and Economic Commttee. The hearing was held under a new law requiring that ballot initiatives …
Take Action on This Bill UPDATE 6/1/2016 – Lawmakers have added language to AB 2243 (Wood) making the bill an “urgency statue.” That means it takes effect immediately when the Governor signs the bill. It must be voted on by Friday, June 3. Amended text SACRAMENTO May 10 – The CA Assembly is expected to …
May 4, 2016 – Sponsors have submitted more than 600,000 signatures for the Adult Use of Marijuana Act, an adult-use legalization initiative that is expected to appear on the California ballot this November. AUMA is funded by internet billionaire Sean Parker with support from Lt. Gov Gavin Newsom and numerous reform groups. The petitions must …
UPDATE 5/31/16 – The bill has failed to win approval in the Assembly Appropriations committee. Thanks to all the NORML supporters who wrote to their legislators against this bill. NORML’s online alert generated the following: Unique Supporters Taking Action: 963 Total Actions Taken: 1267 Total Letters Sent: 1318 UPDATE 6/10/2016: AAA Study: No scientific basis …
TAKE ACTION ON SB 987 SACRAMENTO April 9, 2016 – California legislative committees are considering two different bills by North Coast legislators to tax commercial medical marijuana. • SB 987 by Sen. McGuire (Healdsburg) would impose a 15% excise tax on retail purchases of medical marijuana, above and beyond the current 7.5+% sales tax plus …
TAKE ACTION ON SB 987 and AB 2740 SACRAMENTO – Cal NORML is calling on the legislature to reject proposed legislation to tax medical (only) marijuana. SB 987 by Sen. McGuire would impose a 15% excise tax on retail purchases of medical marijuana in addition to the current 7.5+% sales tax plus various local business …
March 18, 2016 – The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, in long-awaited guidelines on prescribing opioid medications for pain, gives tepid endorsement for the use of urine testing before and during opioid therapy for pain, despite its statements that, “Urine drug tests do not provide accurate information about how much or what dose of …
March 1, 2016 – In a victory for citizen action and democracy, Hesperia city councilmembers unanimously voted to table their medical marijuana ban on its second reading (when ordinances are very rarely halted) on the very day of the dreaded MMRSA deadline for local control that had the League of Cities orchestrating bans throughout the …
SACRAMENTO – California NORML has declared its opposition to a bill to impose a new 15% state excise tax on retail purchases of medical marijuana (SB 987 by Sen. McGuire). The tax would be in addition to the current 7.5+% sales tax plus various local business taxes assessed by some localities. “At this time when …