After almost 20 years since California became the first ever state to legalize marijuana for medical purposes, State lawmaking body has decided to impose order on the inconsistent system that has governed the industry. As reported in International Business Times, the legislators quietly passed last Friday the state's most significant medical-marijuana legislation paving the way for a much needed framework for the multi-billion dollar industry.
California Senate and Assembly voted to approve the historic Medical Marijuana Regulation and Safety Act which will require cannabis dispensaries license to operate and a new state agency to oversee the industry.
In a report by The Guardian, State Senator Mike McGuire said, "We're making up for two decades of inaction. This legislation brings clarity and desperately needed rules and regulations." McGuire whose district in Northern California includes "Emerald Triangle" where 60 percent of the marijuana in the U.S. is cultivated.
The lawmakers passed a trio of bills that serve as the legal framework and puts the State firmly in control in managing the industry, from "seed to sale". Local municipalities still have the power to impose their own ordinances and taxes accordingly. Under the plan, a new Bureau of Medical Marijuana Regulation will be created alongside the existing Department of Consumer Affairs, handling almost all aspects of marijuana growing, distribution and sale. The bureau will then manage these areas after local license has been secured.
"It's actually innovation in how a state-regulated product gets rolled out in local communities", said Ken Cooley, state assembly member and author of one of the bills.
The bills also cover a large array of other issues, including mechanisms like bar coding to track marijuana from the time it is planted until sold to consumers. They will also give chance to distributors who were charged with felonies connected to the sale of marijuana to still qualify for license from the state. This has been an issue for many dispensary owners who have been operating in the dark for so many years.
"I couldn't imagine a better policy package", Hezekiah Allen said, executive director for the Emerald Growers Association, a trade group of cannabis cultivators with 250 members. "For the first time in generations, we are not going to be criminals ... we are on a level playing field with the other stakeholders".
