Coalition Rallies around Measure that Will Provide Clarity and Uniformity on Marijuana

Medical marijuana dispensaries have been targeted recently by the federal government in major crackdowns across the state and caught in the middle are local governments who are left with little clarity on regulations and distribution. The government has failed to reconcile its policy with its practices, which has tested the patience of city and county officials due to the ongoing conflict between federal law and California's Proposition 215. The voters gave their approval to Prop 215 to allow for safe and affordable distribution of medical marijuana, but intervention on the part of the courts, state, and federal government have only muddied the waters.

Consequently, a coalition of patients, advocates, cultivators, dispensary operators, and labor have come together to support the Medical Marijuana Regulation, Control, and Taxation (MMRCT) Act to ensure that medical patients have continued access to marijuana but with clearer, stronger, and more uniform statewide rules. This collaborative effort, comprised of reasonable solutions, is intended to meet the calls of local officials who have asked for more guidance in developing consistent and clear guidelines on medical marijuana distribution.

Notably, 71 percent of Californians support the state’s law allowing the use of marijuana for medical reasons, which has led the committee Californians to Regulate Medical Marijuana to join forces and call for the implementation of regulations that will allow patients to have safe access to medical marijuana. The State needs uniform statewide policy and oversight; uniform statewide taxation; and stronger penalties for fraudulent medical recommendations. The Sacramento Business Journal reports that many dispensaries that have faced crackdowns have also called for new state oversight and have cited the MMRCT Act as a reasonable solution to create a safe system with above-board distribution.

This committee Californians to Regulate Medical Marijuana has begun the work of launching a campaign to qualify the MMRCT Act for the November 2012 ballot. If this initiative is approved, it will protect patients’ civil rights and create a state bureau to enact and enforce regulations governing the cultivation, processing, manufacturing, lab testing, transportation, distribution, and sale of medical marijuana. This state bureau will rely on the authority and voices of local officials to develop statewide regulations, and to respect local control, municipalities that have already implemented regulatory ordinances will be “grand-fathered in” for a 3-year period. This Act also grants local governments the authority to establish their own land use laws to regulate the location and operation of dispensaries.

You can read the full text of the initiative here and find out more about the campaign here.