Ellen Komp

UPDATE November 2021 – Voters in the city of Santa Cruz overwhelmingly passed a ballot measure upping the allocation of local cannabis tax monies from 12.5% to 20% for their Children’s Fund. Because it specifically allocated tax funds, the measure required a supermajority to pass, and won 83% of the vote. Read more.

June 18, 2020 – Two new reports, taken together, have found that California communities where huge racial disparities in marijuana arrests have been happening for decades are spending cannabis tax dollars to increase their police budgets since the passage of Prop.…

UPDATE 6/30/2020 – We have had several reliable, confirmed reports that police in San Francisco and Oakland are warning cannabis businesses that a second wave of robberies could happen over the July 4 weekend, especially on Saturday when police will be busy with fireworks celebrations, etc. Businesses are advised to take precautionary safety measures. It is unknown how widespread these actions may be; if anyone has more information please let us know. 

A boarded up and guarded cannabis shop: Cookies on Melrose.  …

UPDATE 6/30/20 – The Governor has extended ID cards for another 60 days. The extension is contained in Paragraph 25 of Executive Order N-71-20. (Originally paragraph 5 in executive order N-65-20).  

May 19, 2020 – The Governor has issued an executive order extending the expiration date of Medical Marijuana Identification Cards (MMIC) issued by county health departments. Under the order, MMICs that would otherwise have expired between March 4, 2020 and any day within 60 days from the date of the executive order shall remain valid for 60 days from the date of the order.…

UPDATE: May 31, 2021 – The Marijuana Opportunity, Reinvestment, and Expungement (MORE) Act has been reintroduced in Congress. MORE would allow veterans to obtain medical cannabis recommendations from their VA doctors in states that have an established medical cannabis program. Please contact your Representative and tell them to support its swift passage.

May 25, 2020 – On this Memorial Day, we remember all those who gave their lives in military service, and the veterans who commit suicide at a rate of 22 per day.…

THIS STORY WILL BE UPDATED AS IT DEVELOPS

May 18, 2020 – The explosion and fire at the “Smoke Tokes” facility in downtown Los Angeles, resulting in injuries to several firefighters, did not happen at a facility that contained cannabis, nor did it have any license for manufacturing or distributing cannabis products, according to a search at the CA Bureau of Cannabis Control and Department of Public Health. Alex Traverso, a spokesman for the state Bureau of Cannabis Control, confirmed to Forbes magazine on Monday that there was no state-licensed cannabis business at the address.…

THIS PAGE WILL BE UPDATED AS BILLS ARE AMENDED OR VOTED ON.

UPDATE 5/8/2020 – On May 21, the Assembly Business & Professions Committee will hear three bills, each of which would enact $30,000/day state fines for operating unlicensed cannabis businesses, or allowing property to be used for one. They are:

AB 3330 (O’Donnell) – Would impose a civil penalty of up to $30,000 for collecting a fee or any other form of compensation for advertising or marketing the sale or provision of cannabis or cannabis products, or for the completion, initiation, or facilitation of the sale or provision of cannabis or cannabis products, unless the sale or provision is done in compliance with MAUCRSA (the law establishing state licenses for cannabis businesses).…

April 21, 2020 – The ACLU released a report on 4/20 finding that on average, 3.6 times as many black people are arrested for marijuana possession offenses than are white people in the US, despite similar usage rates. This disparity has not improved over the last decade, and in fact, disparities have actually worsened in most states.

On average, states that have legalized or decriminalized marijuana tend to have lower racial disparities than states in which marijuana remains fully illegal. In some legalized states, such as Maine and Vermont, racial disparities in marijuana possession arrests increased between 2010 and 2018, while in other legalized states, such as California and Nevada, the disparities decreased.…

UPDATE May 5, 2020 – The El Dorado County Board of Supervisors voted today to approve an ordinance that limits cannabis cultivation to six plants per parcel, but exempts for 2020 existing personal medical gardens that have been planted under the old ordinance allowing 200, 400 or 600 square feet, depending on parcel size. The ordinance was passed as an urgency and takes effect immediately.

The last-minute amendment exempting medical gardens is in effect through December 1, 2020 and came after members of the El Dorado American Alliance for Medical Cannabis  contacted Cal NORML, and we contacted attorney Joe Elford.…