Editor's Note: This bill, which faced a hearing Wed., is likely ruffling some feathers of medical marijuana growers and dispensaries who have been in the business since marijuana was legalized in California since 1996. I'd love to hear some comments from some of those people about what they think of the proposed regulations.
State Sen. Mike McGuire has introduced a sweeping bill that would legalize and regulate the medical marijuana industry from cultivation to consumption and all the steps in between.
The bill, SB 643, passed out of the state Senate’s Business and Professions Committee on April 20 and received a hearing in the Senate’s Governance and Finance Committee on Wednesday.
The Compassionate Use Act of 1996 and subsequent state legislation exempted qualified medical patients and their caregivers from state criminal sanctions related to possession, cultivation and transportation of limited amounts of marijuana. Nevertheless, a lack of statewide regulation has resulted in uncertainty about the legality of some medical marijuana cultivation and distribution activities.
