UPDATE 9/7/2019 – The California Dept. of Public Health has put up a website page about Risks of Vaping. UPDATE 9/6/2019 – Los Angeles county has reported the first death in California related to the use of e-cigarettes. Officials are holding a press conference this afternoon. The Center for Disease Control has announced there have
Today, on International Overdose Awareness Day, we note with sadness the recent passing of Tyler Skaggs, a 27-year-old pitcher with the LA Angels of Anaheim, who had fentanyl and oxycodone in his system when he died, as well as alcohol. A new study published in the journal Economic Inquiry found that when state adult-use cannabis
The California Department of Justice has issued updated Guidelines for the Security and Non-Diversion of Cannabis Grown for Medical Use that are in keeping with the advice Cal NORML has been giving patients and collectives in the state. The DOJ guidelines give an overview of the state marijuana laws that have passed, starting with Prop. 215
August 8, 2019 – Today, California NORML announces a fundraising campaign to support its efforts to protect the employment rights of cannabis consumers in California. All donations made to the campaign through Labor Day (September 2 will be doubled by a matching donor. Please make a donation today to Cal NORML’s employment rights campaign! California
In the yearly Medical Cannabis Access Report Card from Americans for Safe Access, California still has only a B+ Grade. The report states: In 2019, medical cannabis cooperatives became illegal under state law, which is a devastating blow to low- or fixed-income patients. The state also released updated guidance on testing and carried out
UPDATE August 14 – Just Added! Counsel for the Bureau of Cannabis Control Tamara Colson will join us as our luncheon speaker. Read more and buy tickets to attend the workshop. For sponsorship opportunities, contact Steve Gross at CWCBE. August 5, 2019 – For the first time, California NORML is teaming with Cannabis World Congress
July 8, 2019 – Gov. Newsom has signed a little-noticed bill to ban drug-test masking aids such as additives and synthetic urine. The bill, AB 851 by Jim Cooper (Sacramento), passed quietly and unanimously through both houses with no debate or input from opponents. Cal NORML blasted the bill as a gift to the powerful
July 5, 2019 – The number of marijuana arrests in California continued to decline toward new lows in 2018 according to data released by the Criminal Justice Statistics Center. The total number of felony arrests was 1,617, down 22% from 2017 and the lowest since the 1950s. Misdemeanor arrests totaled 3,835, down 4% since 2017.
A 45-day emergency moratorium on hemp cultivation failed to carry by a narrow vote at a meeting of the in Plumas County Board of Supervisors on June 4. Cal NORML was contacted by members in the county and sent a letter to Supervisors asking them not to pass the moratorium. We also alerted supporters in the
June 6, 2019 – Yesterday, multijurisdictional force of more than 700 personnel from the Army National Guard, the FBI, US Drug Enforcement, and numerous other police and government agencies descended on the Anza Valley region in Riverside County at daybreak and worked throughout the day. Police and military helicopters, and trucks pulling trailers were spotted removing
About 100 people testified at a public hearing held on May 31 by the FDA “in order to inform the regulatory path forward” on CBD. Manufacturers, researchers, doctors, laboratory representatives, lawyers and advocates (pro and con) were among those who spoke. Speakers expressed concern over the lack of uniformity and purity of available CBD preparations,
UPDATE 5/30 – Assemblyman Ting could not muster the two-thirds vote of the Assembly required to alter the voter-approved initiative to prevent cities and counties from banning pot shops. Read more. A new report from Applied Development Economics (ADE) in Walnut Creek, CA estimates that the passage of AB 1356, a bill currently before the
UPDATE 5/30 – Assemblyman Ting could not muster the two-thirds vote of the Assembly required to alter the voter-approved initiative to prevent cities and counties from banning pot shops. He plans to try again with the bill next year, a representative told the LA Times. Proposition 64, the Adult Use of Marijuana Act, earned more
A review of 42 scientific studies conducted by Leafly.com has found that the broad body of published research suggests crime near licensed dispensaries has generally stayed flat or decreased, teen cannabis use in legalization states has fallen since legalization, and property values near cannabis outlets generally are not affected or even rise. Leafly editors David
Governor Gavin Newsom has issued a revised state budget with several cannabis provisions, according to the budget summary. The revised budget forecasts the state cannabis excise tax will generate $288 million in 2018-19 and $359 million in 2019-20, a reduction of $67 million and $156 million, respectively, from the original Governor’s Budget forecast. It states,
May 8, 2019 – California NORML has submitted testimony to the state Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA) opposing the inclusion of cannabis on the state’s Prop 65 list of known reproductive hazards. Prop 65 requires businesses to post warning signs regarding the presence of substances known to pose a risk of reproductive
Around 100 citizen lobbyists from across California visited scores of legislative offices in Sacramento as part of the Third Annual Cal NORML / ASA Lobby Day on Monday, May 6, 2019. NORML chapter members from Orange County, the Central Valley, the Inland Empire, and Contra Costa county joined Americans for Safe Access chapter members
UPDATE 5/27/19 – AB 1465 has stalled in the Assembly appropriations committee for the year, after an incomplete analysis by committee staff looked only at the cost to produce a new license, instead of also examining potential revenues that could be generated by the bill. We hope to see it reintroduced next year. SACRAMENTO, Apr
UPDATE 5/7/19 – Thanks to all who participated in Lobby Day! We visited hundreds of legislative offices and had a productive day. A special thanks to all of our sponsors who made the day possible. California NORML is once again teaming up with Americans for Safe Access to co-sponsor a Citizens Lobby Day in
April 9, 2019 – AB 1530, a bill that would have allowed local jurisdictions to ban cannabis deliveries originating outside their jurisdictional borders, was defeated in its first committee hearing today after cannabis activists and industry representatives objected to the bill. Cal NORML wrote to the committee and testified against the bill, and promulgated an
