Kharla Vezzetti

UPDATE 11/13 – CNN: Opioid commission’s anti-marijuana argument stirs anger

November 2 – The US Opioid Commission has jettisoned the voluminous research showing that cannabis serves as an exit drug to opioid use, in favor of a study looking at 12-year-old data.

New Jersey Governor Chris Christie wrote in a letter from the Commission to President Trump: “The Commission acknowledges that there is an active movement to promote the use of marijuana as an alternative medication for chronic pain and as a treatment for opioid addiction.…

Marijuana Legalization and the Opioid Crisis
California NORML
November 1, 2017

The evidence is mounting that allowing access to marijuana, used medicinally or recreationally, could be an answer to the opioid crisis. On almost a weekly basis, a new study emerges confirming the pain-killing properties of cannabis, or finding that states with medical cannabis laws have lower rates of opioid use and abuse or opioid-related overdose deaths, as well as hospitalizations, traffic fatalities, and drug treatment admissions related to opioids.

Cal NORML has heard from innumerable patients and physicians who report having substantially reduced or eliminated their use of prescription opioids by substituting cannabis instead.…

October 30, 2017 – The evidence is mounting that allowing access to marijuana, used medicinally or recreationally, could be an answer to the opioid crisis. On almost a weekly basis, a new study emerges confirming the pain-killing properties of cannabis, or finding that states with medical cannabis laws have lower rates of opiate use and abuse or opioid-related overdose deaths, as well as hospitalizations, traffic fatalities, and drug treatment admissions related to opiates.

Cal NORML has heard from innumerable patients and physicians who report having substantially reduced or eliminated their use of prescription opioids by substituting cannabis instead.…

Updated 10/9/17 – The Governor vetoed bills banning smoking on the beach, regulating edibles (AB350) and the sale of butane (AB1120). He signed AB-1159 clarifying that legal services on marijuana issues is protected under existing laws.

SACRAMENTO September 18 – The California legislature has approved SJR-5 (Stone), a joint resolution calling for Congress “to pass a law to reschedule marijuana or cannabis and its derivatives from a Schedule I drug to an alternative schedule, therefore allowing the legal research and development of marijuana or cannabis for medical use.”…

UPDATE 10/6/17 – Gov. Brown has vetoed the bills. See veto messages here and here. Thanks to all the NORML supporters who contacted the Governor.

SACRAMENTO, September 15 — The California legislature is reaching for a new low in nanny-state legislation.

Two bills passed by the legislature would not only ban smoking marijuana and tobacco outdoors at the beach, they also ban smokeless e-cigarettes. E-cigs pose none of the alleged hazards of cigarettes (i.e. harmful smoke and beach litter).

Californians should be free to inhale what they wish at the beach.…

July 2017 – Legislation to improve the state’s cannabis regulations in time for the January 2018 deadline has moved forward expeditiously in Sacramento, with the legislature approving the Governor’s comprehensive budget trailer bill to unify the regulation of medical and adult-use cannabis. The bill, SB 94, entitled the Medical and Adult-Use Cannabis Regulation and Safety Act (MAUCRSA), took effect immediately upon the Governor’s signature after receiving well more than the required 2/3 vote.

MAUCRSA melds the state’s medical-only regulations passed by the legislature (a.k.a.…

July 11 – The State Water Resources Control Board will accept public comments on a Draft Cannabis Cultivation Policy – Principles and Guidelines for Cannabis Cultivation (Cannabis Policy), a Draft Cannabis Cultivation Policy Staff Report, and Draft General Waste Discharge Requirements for Discharges of Waste Associated with Cannabis Cultivation Activities (General Order).

The Notice, draft documents, and other information are available on the State Water Board’s Cannabis Cultivation webpage.

The Board will hold two staff informational workshops (July 20, 2017 – Eureka and July 27, 2017 – Sacramento) to present information and answer questions.…

June 14 – The California Department of Food and Agriculture CalCannabis Licensing Program has issued a Cultivation Licensing Draft Program Environmental Impact Report (PEIR) for public review and comment. California is the first state to conduct a full Environmental Impact Report on cannabis cultivation.

The Draft PEIR provides information about the potential environmental effects associated with the adoption and implementation of statewide cannabis cultivation regulations. Additional information on the PEIR can be found by reading the Frequently Asked Questions handout on the environmental review process.…

SACRAMENTO – The state Assembly voted 41-33 to approve a bill by Asm. Reggie Jones-Sawyer (AB 1578) barring California law enforcement officials from cooperating with federal officials seeking to interfere with California’s marijuana laws. The bill’s sponsor Asm. Reggie Jones-Sawyer spoke at the ASA / Cal NORML lobby day on June 5 and enjoined the crowd to contact their state Senators to support the bill. Take action on AB 1578

With the deadline for passing bills out of their house of origin at hand, two other measures backed by cannabis advocates passed the Assembly: AB 64, Asm.…

Sign a Petition To Protect Patient Access from Burdensome Manufacturing Regulations

California’s Bureau of Medical Cannabis Regulation has released a notice of rule making with hearing dates starting June 1 and draft regulations for retailers and distributors as well as laboratories.

The California Department of Food and Agriculture has proposed regulations for cultivation, nurseries, and processing.

The Department of Public Health has proposed rules for manufacturing, including extraction, processing and infusion.

Download a petition regarding manufacturing regulations

Public Comment Info • Public Hearing Schedule

CAL NORML REPORTS, May 2017 – California is racing to enact new rules to regulate marijuana before January 1, 2018, when state licensing and taxation of the industry is set to begin, along with adult-use sales in localities that permit it.…

See Lobby Day 2018 Page

May 16, 2017 – For the first time, California NORML is teaming up with Americans for Safe Access to co-sponsor a Citizens Lobby Day in Sacramento on June 5, 2017. Cannabis consumers across California are urged to attend and make their views known to lawmakers on several key bills that have been introduced on commercial cannabis regulations, drugged driving, federal non-cooperation, and more. The guest speaker will be Assembly Member Reginald Jones-Sawyer of Los Angeles, the author of AB 1578, a bill to prevent state law enforcement from cooperating with federal authorities to interfere in activities that are lawful under California’s cannabis laws.

SACRAMENTO, Apr 26th – The Assembly Housing and Community Development Committee approved a bill to ban smoking and vaping of tobacco, cannabis and other medicinal herbs. The bill, AB 62 by Asm. Jim Wood, passed by a unanimous vote and now proceeds to the full Assembly.

Cal NORML opposed the bill on the grounds that it bans cannabis as well as tobacco, making it impossible for medical cannabis patients to inhale their medicine legally. Unlike cannabis users, tobacco smokers are allowed to smoke in the streets, where use of cannabis is banned under Prop 64.…

UPDATE 9/12/17: SB 65 was signed by the Governor. It reads: “A person shall not drink any alcoholic beverage or smoke or ingest marijuana or any marijuana product while driving a motor vehicle,” or “while riding as a passenger in any motor vehicle,” whether on a highway or off-road. Violations will be punished as infractions.

SB 698 did not advance in the legislature after being held in committee in May.

SACRAMENTO, Apr 25: Two bills by Sen. Jerry Hill (D-San Mateo) to create stricter laws against drivers testing positive for marijuana were watered down substantially before being passed by the California Senate Public Safety Committee today.…

UPDATE: The bill number is SB 94

April 4, 2017 – The Governor’s office has released a draft trailer budget bill, attempting to reconcile MCRSA (medical marijuana law passed by the legislature in 2015) and AUMA (passed by the voters as Prop. 64 in November 2016).

Unlike Gov. Brown’s proposal of last year to merge the medical and recreational markets as much as possible for cost-cutting purposes, this year’s proposal seeks to draw a bright line between medical and recreational licenses on all levels.…

February 24 – Asked about state marijuana laws yesterday, Press Secretary Sean Spicer said that while medical marijuana was “very different than recreational use,” he opined, “When you see something like the opioid addiction crisis blossoming around so many states … the last thing we should be doing is encouraging people.”

It is widely understood that overuse of prescription opioids, not marijuana use, is what’s driving the opiate crisis in the US. In fact, states with medical marijuana laws are seeing positive trends regarding opiates, as people are often able to substitute cannabis for pain relief.…

February 22, 2017 – The final bills for this year’s legislative session have been introduced in Sacramento. There are 44 bills that could affect cannabis law and policy in California. Cal NORML is consulting with our attorneys and others on positions and priorities on these bills, which we will be tracking and announcing hearings and votes on. Stay tuned to this page for updates.

CRIMINAL BILLS

• Six bills concern DUID laws:

AB 6 (Lackey) – would have permitted the collection of oral swab tests for drivers who are lawfully arrested for driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs, now has been amended to form a task force on drugged driving.…

January 1, 2017 – Prop. 64 inadvertently failed to spell out any penalty for smoking or using marijuana while driving, although it did state this was not legal (HSC 11362.3(a)7), and explicitly make possession of an open container of marijuana in a vehicle an infraction (HSC 11362.4(b) & 11362.3(a)4).

Now, Senator Jerry Hill (San Mateo) & Asm Evan Low (San Jose) have stepped into the gap by proposing that smoking while driving explicitly be made a woblette, or alternative misdemeanor or infraction with their bill SB 65.…

UPDATE 2019: AB 1793 (Bonta), to automatically expunge or resentence certain past marijuana crimes without requiring the filing of a petition, passed and was signed into law in 2018, and is codified as Ca Health & Safety Code 11361.9. READ MORE. 

The California Judicial Council has forms online for any cannabis convict or defendant—adult or juvenile—to petition for a resentencing, for reduced charges, or to expunge and seal their record.

Several Cal NORML legal committee attorneys have reported that their clients have avoided jail time by having charges reduced under the Adult Use of Marijuana Act.…