Now is the time to build on the progress we made in 2023! Please support Cal NORML with a membership donation. Click Here to Donate or see our Cal NORML store and purchase merchandise.

Giving Tuesday / End of Year Special: Get a Free Gift with Your Cal NORML membership through 12/31/23.

LEGISLATIVE GAINS

Once again this year, Cal NORML and its supporters actively lobbied on 40-50 bills affecting California cannabis consumers and the industry. We generated over 3500 letters from supporters to lawmakers though our Action Alert network, and scheduled 200 constituent meetings with lawmakers at our annual Lobby Day in May (pictured).

Among bills signed into law are:

SB 700 (Bradford) strengthens the employment rights bill Cal NORML sponsored last year to add, “It is unlawful for an employer to request information from an applicant for employment relating to the applicant’s prior use of cannabis.”

SB 302 (Stern) extends Ryan’s Law, which requires specified health-care facilities to allow terminally ill patients to use nonsmoked (or vaped) forms of cannabis. SB 302 will now protect all patients 65 and over with chronic diseases.

SB 51 (Bradford) allows the Department of Cannabis Control (DCC) to continue issuing provisional licenses to local equity applicants for retailer activities, indefinitely, if the applicant meets specified requirements. Without the bill, many equity applicants would have lost their provisional permits, which were set to expire this year. The Governor signed the bill while calling for greater support for equity businesses, something Cal NORML supports.

SB 540 (Laird) directs the DCC and CA Dept. of Public Health to develop a one-page educational brochure to instruct consumers on the safe use of cannabis. The bill was backed by the industry and Cal NORML as an alternative to stricter labeling requirements or potency limits in order to address growing public concern over an increase in emergency room visits due to cannabis overdoses from edibles and high-potency products. At Cal NORML’s urging, the bill was amended to require that dispensaries offer all first-time customers the printed brochure.

GOOD AND BAD RESULTS
We were disappointed that SB 512, a bill by Senator Bradford (D-LA) that sought to end double taxation on cannabis at the state and local levels, delivering much-needed relief to what is currently an unfairly overtaxed industry, did not advance this year in the legislature. Cal NORML supporters sent in nearly 1000 letters in support of the bill and we testified in its favor. We will continue to work for tax fairness for cannabis from a consumers’ perspective in 2024. Read more.

Cannabis advocates were pleasantly surprised by Gov. Newsom’s veto of a controversial labeling bill by Asm. Jacqui Irwin, AB 1207, ostensibly aimed at ensuring cannabis products aren’t attractive to children. As originally filed, AB 1207 proposed several new, overreaching restrictions: requiring individual packaging of edible servings, prohibiting food coloring in edibles and flavorings in inhaled concentrates, and banning images of real or fictitious human beings, fruits and vegetables in packaging or advertising. Newsom’s veto statement echoed the same concerns that Cal NORML raised about the bill.

In a more disappointing move, the Governor also vetoed AB 374 (Haney) to allow preparing and selling non-cannabis-infused food, nonalcoholic beverages, and tickets for live performances at licensed cannabis consumption lounges. At present, lounges can serve only prepackaged snacks. Cal NORML supported this bill to expand the opportunities for social consumption and attract canna-tourist revenue, and released a white paper addressing concerns raised by anti-tobacco forces opposed to the bill, who complained that it would expose lounge workers to unacceptable health hazards. On that basis, Gov. Newsom vetoed the bill, but invited Asm. Haney to re-introduce it next year. Cal NORML will continue to work towards its passage by responding with sound science to exaggerated public health claims about the dangers of cannabis smoke.

ENFORCEMENT BILLS IMPROVED
Cal NORML worked to mitigate the impact of new enforcement bills aimed at cracking down on the illicit market so as to not unduly harm personal-use growers and minor offenders. It is generally better to lower barriers to licensure and lessen taxes and regulation rather than spend endless dollars in enforcement, which has never worked well in all the decades of cannabis prohibition.

READ MORE ABOUT BILLS THAT CAL NORML WORKED ON IN 2023.

CONSUMPTION SPACES

Under California state law, cannabis retailers can open on-site cannabis consumption spaces, with local approval. Some are moving forward (see list below) while others, like Los Angeles and Berkeley, have resisted consumption rooms altogether, as anti-tobacco forces have falsely conflate cannabis smoke with tobacco and show up at local meetings to fight off our rights. Help us make cannabis consumption allowed across California!

EMPLOYMENT RIGHTS AWARENESS CAMPAIGN

California workers will be protected from employment discrimination for off-the-job use of marijuana under a new law sponsored by Cal NORML—Government Code 12954—taking effect January 1, 2024. Enacted last year under bill AB 2188 by Asm. Bill Quirk, the new law bans employers from firing or refusing to hire workers based on drug tests that detect inactive cannabis metabolites—in particular, urine and hair tests, which can detect marijuana residues days or weeks after last use and have no relation to on-the-job impairment.

Complaints about illegal discrimination for off-the-job marijuana use are to be handled by the California Civil Rights Department. Cal NORML has met with the CRD, and has posted information about complaint resolution and securing a “right to sue” once administrative remedies are exhausted.

Cal NORML has been reaching out to unions, businesses and human rights groups to help raise awareness of workers’ rights under AB 2188 and SB 700. We have developed flyers and Fact Sheets for Employers and Employees in both English and Spanish about the new laws. Read more.

MEDICAL MARIJUANA PATIENTS’ PROTECTIONS

Another bill from last year that Cal NORML supported, SB 1186 by Senator Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco), preempts local bans on medicinal cannabis delivery, expanding patients’ access to legal, regulated cannabis products. This law will also take effect on 1/1/2024. Local jurisdictions that ban all cannabis delivery are in the process of changing their ordinances to comply with the new state law, with some confusion about what it requires. Cal NORML Legal Committee member Lauren Mendelsohn will be giving a presentation about SB 1186 at the Cal NORML Legal Seminar on January 20, 2024.

We are also working to raise awareness about a 2022 Cal NORML-sponsored bill, AB 1954 (Quirk), which is now law and protects the right of patients to medical treatment if they use marijuana, and the right of physicians and clinics to treat them. Many physicians are under the mistaken impression that they can’t prescribe medication to patients who test positive for cannabis. In California, many health plans, health systems, and hospitals require patients to sign agreements not to use illicit or controlled substances for the duration of their prescribed opioid treatment and agree to drug testing.

AB 1954 specifies that a positive drug test for cannabis should not in itself be the sole basis for denying medical treatment to a patient absent a medically significant reason. It became law on January 1, 2023. Read more.

Cal NORML has also been watchdogging implementation of these bills:

• AB 1706 by Assemblymember Mia Bonta (D-Oakland), ensuring that Californians with old cannabis-related convictions will finally have those convictions sealed. DOJ reports that while 212,344 of eligible past cannabis convictions have been cleared by county courts, 8% of cases eligible for resentencing—numbering 15,306—still have not been cleared at the local level, as was required by July 1. DOJ says it will continue to work towards compliance at the county level. Read more.

• AB 2595 by Asm. Reggie Jones-Sawyer (Los Angeles) to require the State Department of Social Services to treat a parent’s use of cannabis in the same manner as alcohol or legally prescribed medication. As of this writing, DHS still has not issued instructions to case workers, as required by the law. We will continue to press for this to happen and hope to support further legislation in this area next year.

CAL NORML’S PRIORITIES FOR 2024

• Advocate for lowering cannabis taxes in California, especially for medical users.
• Inform workers and employers about their rights under AB 2188 to off-the-job use of cannnabis.
• Support opening more cannabis consumption lounges and allow them to serve food and beverages.
• Advocate for extending SB 34, allowing compassionate donations of medical cannabis.
• Support better consumer education on cannabis dosage and high-potency products.
• Support more accurate / improved product testing and labeling.
• Support parental rights for cannabis users, and end drug testing of newborns and their mothers.
• Oppose policies that would unduly limit consumer choice or restrict personal use and cultivation.
• Lobby Congress for federal descheduling, the SAFER banking act, and other reforms.

PLEASE SUPPORT CAL NORML IN 2024

Now is the time to build on the progress we made in 2023! Please support Cal NORML with a membership donation. Click Here to Donate or see our Cal NORML store and purchase merchandise.

Giving Tuesday / End of Year Special: Get a Free Gift with Your Cal NORML membership through 12/31/23.

PLEASE SUPPORT CAL NORML IN 2023

Now is the time to build on the progress we made in 2022! Please support Cal NORML with a membership donation. Click Here to Donate or see our Cal NORML store and purchase merchandise.

It was a banner year for cannabis reform measures in 2022, in no small part due to the efforts of California NORML and our supporters.

LEGISLATIVE GAINS

Cal NORML lead a successful legislative effort to protect the employment rights of California’s cannabis consumers, along with a second bill to protect medical marijuana patients against discrimination by their doctors. The bills were part of a group of reform bills that Cal NORML advocated for and activated our members to support, through several committees and floor votes in both houses of the legislature, all the way through their signing by the Governor. These laws will help protect parental rights, expunge past marijuana convictions, expand local access for medical patients, allow terminally ill patients to use cannabis in hospital settings, permit veterinarians to recommend cannabis for pets, among other reforms. Read more. 

In May we held our first post-COVID Lobby Day in Sacramento, bringing dozens of citizen lobbyists from around the state to meet with lawmakers and their staffs and advance our reform bills. Through our email network and social media alerts, we generated over 5200 letters to lawmakers on eleven different state bills, most of which were signed into law. 

Allied with industry groups and others, our efforts towards tax relief for California cannabis businesses bore fruit when legislation to eliminate the cannabis cultivation tax passed into law. We testified for tax reform and worked with the Governor’s office and legislators to advance this measure.

OTHER ACTIVITIES

Cal NORML issued two election guides in 2022, one for the June primary and a second for the November general election, publishing candidates’ positions and records on cannabis reform, and letting our members know about propositions on local ballots, as well as deadlines to register to vote.

In July, Cal NORML participated in the historic first-ever cannabis exhibit and competition at the California State Fair in Sacramento. We did outreach to attendees from a Cal NORML table and hosted panels on Sustainability and Equity, as well as the Past, Present and Future of Cannabis Reform in California.

In August, we hosted an online webinar for attorneys and the public, “Leading Issues in Cannabis Law and Policy” featuring our new board members Lauren Mendelsohn and Hirsh Jain as part of our commitment towards keeping Californians informed of current cannabis laws and regulations.

In September, Cal NORML director Dale Gieringer picked up a “High Achievement” award from Oaksterdam University, which announced it would be establishing four home-grow yearly scholarships in his name.

We wrapped up the year in November by sponsoring a party celebrating the 50^th anniversary of the ballot measure that kicked off marijuana reform in California and beyond, and lead to the founding of Cal NORML. The California Marijuana Initiative of 1972 was funded by the sales of hemp rolling papers and sponsored by Amorphia, the grass roots organization that morphed into Cal NORML in 1974.

As always, Cal NORML works to inform the public about developments in cannabis. We publish an informative website, www.CaNORML.org and put out a weekly email blast summarizing the week’s state, local and federal news stories along with Action Alerts and notices of Coming Events. We regularly publish updates on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and Instagram.

PRESS COVERAGE

Cal NORML’s Deputy Director Ellen Komp was interviewed about our employment rights bill for a story on ABC 10 in Sacramento that ran the night before the bill was signed; afterwards she appeared on KTVU FOX 2 and Telemundo, both in the Bay Area.  She was heard on KNX radio in LA​ and CBS’s Channel 8 in San Diego about the announcement from President Biden that he would be pardoning anyone convicted under federal law for pot possession, and calling for HHS and DOJ to review the scheduling status of cannabis.

Dale was quoted in Marijuana Moment about DOT’s move to switch from urine testing to more scientific oral swabs for truck drivers. He was interviewed on KRON-TV about the pain patients’ rights bill, and in LA Weekly when we worked to fight off a bill that would have re-felonized the cultivation of more than 6 marijuana plants. He spoke on KQED Radio about the 50th Anniversary event, and both Dale & Ellen appeared on The Cannabis Connection on KSCO radio in Santa Cruz to talk about the 50-year history of cannabis activism in California.

CAL NORML’S PLANS FOR 2023

• Watchdog implementation of AB 1954 (pain patients’ rights) and other bills
• Inform public and employers about AB 2188 (employment rights), taking effect in 2024
• Push for federal rescheduling and legalization
• Support cannabis industry efforts towards public education on high-potency cannabis products
• Advance greater access and less taxation for medical patients
• Support local activists in opening more cannabis retail outlets and consumption lounges, while fighting off smoking/vaping bans in apartments
• Support parental rights for cannabis users, and end drug testing of newborns and their mothers
• Watchdog AG Bonta’s new EPIC program against illegal cannabis grows

PLEASE SUPPORT CAL NORML IN 2023!

Now is the time to build on the gains we made in 2022! Please support Cal NORML with a membership donation. Click Here to Donate or see our Cal NORML store and purchase merchandise.

Please donate to Cal NORML to support our advocacy work, or join as a regular or business member:

Cal NORML regular membership	Business Membership with Free Listing
$20.00 – $100.00 / year	$50/month – $500/year

 

Cal NORML PRIORITIES FOR 2022

• Pass employment rights legislation to forbid pre-employment drug testing for marijuana using urine and hair tests.
• Pass legislation to end discrimination against pain patients who are denied medication for using cannabis.
• Reduce taxation on cannabis products, including eliminating the cannabis cultivation tax.
• Protect right to smoke and vape cannabis at home and expand venues for public consumption.
• Expand number of legal cannabis businesses, including equity businesses, by ending local licensing bans.
• Protect medical access, prevent discrimination against Prop 215 patients, and lower taxes on medical products.
• Continue to back federal cannabis legalization bills by lobbying the California congressional delegation.
• Continue to watchdog and inform & involve our members on all state cannabis bills and the expungement process for past marijuana crimes. 
• Publish 2022 election guide to candidates for office in California.

EMPLOYMENT RIGHTS FOR ALL CANNABIS CONSUMERS

Cal NORML’s major effort in 2021, which will continue in 2022, is our campaign for employment rights for cannabis users in California.

Asm. Bill Quirk (D-Hayward) stepped up this year to introduce a Cal NORML-sponsored employment rights bill, AB 1256, as a two-year effort. Our intent is to end employment discrimination based on testing for non-psychoactive cannabis metabolites in urine, hair, or bodily fluids for both recreational and medical cannabis users, while allowing employers to maintain a safe workplace by disallowing and testing for cannabis use or impairment on the job.

We are seeing much movement in this fight at the national level, starting with unprecedented support for sprinter Sha’Carri Richardson, who was banned from the US Olympic team for legally using marijuana in Oregon. Also this year, Amazon announced it would cease testing for marijuana in its employees, and New York state issued guidelines to employers instructing them not to test for marijuana, the latest state to pass employment protections for recreational users.

With Cal NORML’s support, the city councils of Oakland and San Francisco passed resolutions in support of AB 1256, and a similar resolution has been introduced in the LA City Council. Oakland has now gone further, introducing an ordinance that seeks to protect most city workers from drug testing that merely detects cannabis use off the job, not use or impairment in the workplace. Meanwhile, the California State Personnel Board issued a ruling in June reinstating a DOT employee who had been fired for failing a urine test, because such a test does not establish that an employee is under the influence of marijuana, exactly the argument we have been making.

Cal NORML has been meeting with human rights groups, union representatives, and business stakeholders at the state and local levels to answer concerns and shore up support for our employment rights bill in 2022, which will be introduced by Asm. Quirk under a different number.

Cal NORML is also seeking legislation to end the cultivation tax, and to protect pain patients’ access to medical cannabis

OTHER 2021 LEGISLATION

2021 began with over 30 cannabis-related bills, most of them business oriented, introduced again this year in Sacramento. Cal NORML tracked these bills and responded from a consumer rights perspective, alerting our members when key bills were up for a vote.

Cal NORML generated over 750 letters to Gov. Newsom asking him to sign SB-311 “Ryan’s Law,” a bill to require hospitals to allow terminal patients to use cannabis. The bill was signed into law; now the fight will be to watchdog health care facilities to make sure they are implementing the new law (already there has been some resistance).

Much energy was expended in 2021 on extending the expiration date for cannabis provisional licenses, which had been set to expire in July 2021. After much debate among cannabis advocates and environmentalists, the Governor’s budget trailer bill allowed provisional licenses to be extended up to January 1, 2026. The Governor also budgeted $100 million to aid local governments in processing EIRs for cannabis license applicants.

Asm. Aguiar-Curry reintroduced her bill (AB-45) allowing for hemp-derived CBD products to be included in foods, beverages, and cosmetics. Cal NORML objected to its ban on hemp cigarettes, and an amendment was made that removed the hemp cigarette ban only once they are taxed. AB-45 was signed into law.

Because billboards provide useful information to consumers in search of legal cannabis outlets, Cal NORML supported a bill by Asm. Bill Quirk, AB 1302, to allow billboard ads for cannabusinesses on certain state highways. AB 1302 passed in the legislature, but was vetoed by Gov. Newsom, who says he will work with the bill’s author to “refine and advance its regulation of cannabis while also remaining faithful to the will of the voters.”

OTHER ACTIVITIES

In September, we published an election guide to the Guberatorial recall campaign, providing information on candidates’ stances and records on cannabis.

In April, we alerted our business and consumer members about a new policy from USPS banning the shipment of vape products, and we held  a Zoom meeting to address the complicated issue of expungement of past marijuana crimes in California, another process that is requiring watchdogging.

In March, a report from a three-year CHP committee on drugged driving on which Cal NORML director Dale Gieringer and deputy director Ellen Komp sat was released. The report contains numerous recommendations on improving DUI detection and prevention, data collection, public education, etc., but does not recommend adopting per se drug DUI thresholds like those used for alcohol, something Cal NORML (and science) insisted upon.

In February, we held a Zoom meeting and published a Local Action Toolkit titled, “Where the Reefer Meets the Road” to help counter some of the local resistance to cannabis business licensing we are seeing at the local levels. We continue to support local NORML chapters in Los Angeles, Orange County, San Diego, the Inland Empire, the Central Valley, and Contra Costa county as well as other local activists as they fight these battles and others.

One local issue has been cities and counties proposing bans on smoking in private apartments that include cannabis smoking and vaping.  We successfully opposed proposals to ban cannabis smoking in West Hollywood and San Francisco and are currently working with activists in San Jose to derail such an effort there, again fighting propaganda from anti-tobacco interests.

We hope to work towards opening more cannabis consumption lounges and spaces (especially as COVID restrictions end) in 2022. Several cities have opened for such spaces, which are allowable under state law for licensed retailers, but most places have not.

FEDERAL ACTIVITIES

As always we continue to work with our national NORML office to bring the California congressional delegation onboard with federal legislation. This year saw unprecedented support for legalization at the federal level, with the latest bill being introduced by a Republican congresswoman from South Carolina with the support of Republican Tom McClintock of California. The MORE Act, re-introduced this year by Congresswoman Barbara Lee (D-Oakland) and others, continues to be a priority for NORML, as does a new bill by Rep. Nancy Macy (R-South Carolina), the States Reform Act.

EVENTS

Despite COVID restrictions, Cal NORML was able to hold two successful events in 2021. The first was an online Legal Seminar held June 1 & 2 at which acting BCC director Tamara Colson appeared, and she and other attorneys discussed compliance & enforcement, local government issues, appellations petitions, equity, hemp/CBD, federal legalization, parental rights, criminal law, descheduling and employment rights.

On November 5, we held an in-person event in San Francisco to commemorate and celebrate the 25^th anniversary of Prop. 215, which legalized medical marijuana in California and lit the fire for further legalization laws around the world. The event was well attended and much appreciated by all. The Los Angeles Times, LA Weekly and others covered the event, where attendees viewed a recorded greeting from AG Rob Bonta and were also greeted by Sen. Scott Wiener.

We were sorry that Luke Scarmazzo, who continues to serve a 20-year sentence in federal prison for running a California cannabis dispensary, could not attend the party. We hope to work to free him in 2022.

PRESS COVERAGE

Cal NORML is  often quoted calling for fewer regulations and taxes on cannabis in California, and for broader human rights for cannabis consumers.

The announcement of our employment rights bill got national press, and we got some media attention when we called for a “Drug Peace Day” on the 50^th anniversary of Nixon’s War on Drugs on June 17.

Cal NORML director Dale Gieringer was quoted in an OC Register story about the CHP driving report (see above). He co-authored an oped titled, Free States from Obsolete Federal Marijuana Laws, which ran in the LA Daily News, commenting on the MORE Act in the House, and a draft Senate bill by Sen. Schumer, and arguing that the federal role in cannabis regulation should rightly be restricted to products in interstate or foreign commerce.

Deputy Director Ellen Komp was quoted on the front page of the San Francisco Chronicle in a story about Oakland’s move to protect its employees against urine and hair testing. She recently appeared on a 420Radio Network segment.

BUSINESS MEMBERSHIP UPDATE

We greatly expanded our website SEO capabilities and business membership perks in 2021, publishing business member blog posts on handling DCC inspections, SEO tips for cannabis companies, and firearm possession law.  Look for Business Membership Manager Kharla Vezzetti at the Cal NORML booth #411 at the NCIA Show in San Francisco in December to sign up for end-of-the-year advertising specials, or write to her for more info.

An online Cal NORML survey is finding that 60% of respondents report they have stopped using cannabis due to drug testing by their employers or doctors. Based on this, we are launching a Capital Campaign to raise funds from the cannabis industry for our employment rights campaign. Business members can join on a sliding scale, based on their income. READ MORE.

PLEASE SUPPORT CAL NORML IN 2022!

Cal NORML keeps our members informed of cannabis news at the federal, state, and local levels through our newsletter, website, and weekly email alerts, as well as public outreach tables at events. Through NORML’s networks we generate thousands of constituent letters in favor of progressive bills, and against ones that take away our rights.

Now is not the time to stop the fight! Please support Cal NORML with a membership donation. Click Here to Donate or see our Cal NORML store and purchase merchandise.

Please support Cal NORML with a 2021 membership!

When 2020 began, dozens of bills addressing cannabis were introduced in Sacramento, including a Cal NORML–sponsored bill to protect employment rights of medical marijuana users, and another bill we endorsed to lower taxes on cannabis, plus a bill to help with the persistent roadblock of local licensing.

At the end of January, we testified before Berkeley City Council at a pair of contentious meetings that pitted activists in favor of opening a vape lounge in Berkeley against anti-tobacco forces that tried to argue second-hand marijuana smoke is harmful. In the end, the council voted to allow licensing for vape lounges.

The Berkeley experience, coupled with hearings in Sacramento that examined last year’s EVALI crisis and conflated cannabis and tobacco vaping, lead us to release a white paper titled, “Health Benefits and Risks of Cannabis Vaporizers and Vape Pens,” reinforcing Cal NORML’s warning to consumers not to use vape pens purchased from illegal sources, but making the case with evidence that regulated and tested vape pens can offer valuable harm reduction benefits to users wishing to avoid exposure to smoke.

Cal NORML director Dale Gieringer had a letter published in the Wall Street Journal titled, “No Vape Disease From Legal Marijuana in California” and also corresponded with editors at USA Today regarding their reporting on the issue.

By the end of February, the COVID-19 crisis had stalled all state legislation not related to the pandemic or other emergencies, causing us to cancel our yearly Lobby Day in Sacramento. We did make progress, however, in getting cannabis declared as “essential” during the crisis both on local levels in San Francisco and elsewhere, and at the state level. Cal NORML board member David Goldman helped make sure that state medical marijuana ID cards were automatically renewed during the COVID crisis.

In April, Cal NORML issued warnings about safely celebrating 4/20, working with retailers to help consumers #FlattenThe420Curve by stocking up in advance for 420 celebrations, instead of crowding retailers on 4/20. It was deemed another benchmark of acceptance when SF Mayor London Breed suggested as an alternative to the traditional “Hippie Hill” celebration in Golden Gate Park: “Order food. Watch Netflix. Stay home and stay safe.”

We helped get out word in El Dorado county about supervisors there attempting to limit medical marijuana cultivation to the six-plant limit in Prop. 64, something that other cities and counties have been enacting. In El Dorado, thanks to local action and help from Cal NORML legal committee attorneys Bill Panzer and Joe Elford, the ordinance was amended to exempt 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.

In May, Cal NORML sprang into to action to counter misinformation about the explosion and fire at the “Smoke Tokes” facility in downtown Los Angeles, resulting in injuries to several firefighters. It was widely reported that it was a hash lab explosion, but it fact it did not happen at a facility that contained cannabis, nor did it have any license for manufacturing or distributing cannabis products.

The state legislature reconvened in May and heard three bills, each of which would enact $30,000 fines for unlicensed commercial cannabis activity, mirroring the amount included in the Governor’s budget bill last year. Cal NORML opposed these bills, arguing for “carrots” rather than “sticks” to incentivize illicit operators to become licensed. We also assembled a subcommittee of attorneys to tackle issues around enormous and immediate abatement fines at the local level.

In June, we put together a Local Action Toolkit to empower local activists to open up cannabis access in their cities and counties, countering efforts by SAM (Smart Approaches to Marijuana), a national anti-marijuana group, and Getting It Right From the Start, a well funded Oakland-based focused on stopping progress at the local level in California and beyond. They are pushing bans, or a limited number of licenses, which only encourages a few well-funded people to game the system, setting up “equity in name only” businesses and leaving most applicants out in the cold.

We continued to watchdog the process by which county DAs were required to review past marijuana cases presented to them by the DOJ for automatic resentencing or clearing of records by July 1. California has started a national movement in expungements, with the new state legalization laws including provisions for clearing past records, an even Joe Biden saying he was in favor of such laws.

In July, Cal NORML deputy director Ellen Komp was quoted in several press accounts via an Associated Press story about and ACLU report and the yearly crime report from the California District Attorney showing continuing disparities in arrests for marijuana among people of color. Cal NORML did its own analysis and found that, when adding in crimes other than possession, the arrest disparities are even worse. “The percentage of Black and Hispanic arrests is troubling, especially now that we’ve legalized it,” Komp said. “It’s legal if you have the venture capital to open up on Main Street.”

We took on the anti-tobacco lobby again in West Hollywood, helping to fight off an ordinance that would have required all new apartment buildings to ban all forms of smoking and vaping (tobacco and cannabis). We reached out to city council members and alerted our activist network to do the same. Meanwhile, we refuted claims made by the California Department of Public Health that cannabis smoke and vapes produce similar second-hand smoking dangers as tobacco.

By the end of the year we were writing letters and activating activists again, this time in San Francisco, which was planning to pass an ordinance banning all smoking and vaping in apartment buildings with three units or more. After hearing from cannabis activists, the Supervisors amended the ordinance to exclude cannabis smoking and vaping.

Again this year Cal NORML participated in meetings of the CHP Impaired Driving Task Force, whose report is due to the legislature by the end of this year. It is expected that the report will not call for a per se standard of THC in drivers, since, as Cal NORML has argued throughout the process, levels of THC in the body do not correlate with impairment.

Throughout the year, Cal NORML put together and promulgated voting information for the March primary election, a special election in May, and the November presidential election. We contributed to NORML’s “Smoke the Vote” guide ranking federal and state candidates on their cannabis voting records and statements, and also sought and published well-read information about local candidates for office, and the 38 local measures that appeared on ballots across the state. In addition, we put out information to our members and supporters about registering to vote, and voting.

As well as supporting state and local reform efforts, Cal NORML supports our national NORML office in targeting the California congressional delegation for their support on federal legislation, most importantly the MORE Act, which made history as the first marijuana legalization bill to have a full vote in the House of Representatives, where it passed by a vote of 228-164. 22 California Congress members co-sponsored the bill, 46 voted for it, and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris sponsored it in the Senate.

Cal NORML worked with the national NORML office, which has a strong lobbying presence in the Capitol, to drum up support for cannabis reform legislation all year. Members sent over 170,000 messages to their Congress members through the Cal NORML and NORML websites on the MORE Act. The House also approved the SAFE Act to provide banking services for cannabusinesses, and the McClintock-Blumenauer-Norton amendment to protect state cannabis programs from federal interference, though neither was adopted by the Senate.

With support from our members, Cal NORML will continue with its mission to broaden the rights of cannabis consumers at the state and local levels in California into 2021. We are pushing for a broader employment rights bill, and another to clarify that local governments can allow cannabis consumption, even where tobacco is banned. This is in line with our recent membership survey, where respondents voted their top priorities as:

• 76% Lowering taxes on cannabis
• 63% Employment rights for medical patients
• 63% Opening local markets for marijuana businesses
• 54% Employment rights for recreational users
• 44% Opening consumption rooms

There’s still time to let us know what your priorities are! Click here to take the survey.

Please support Cal NORML with a 2021 membership! Members receive our print newsletter, with news and analysis not seen online, and get discounts on events throughout the year.

As a special offer, 2021 members (420 Club members and more) will receive a vintage gold “California NORML” lapel pin (pictured) to celebrate NORML’s 50th anniversary.

Cal NORML keeps our members informed of cannabis news at the federal, state, and local levels through our newsletter, website, and weekly email alerts, as well as public outreach tables at events. Through NORML’s networks we generate thousands of constituent letters in favor of progressive bills, and against ones that take away our rights.

Now is not the time to stop the fight! Please support Cal NORML with a membership donation. Click Here to Donate or see our Cal NORML store and purchase merchandise.

SACRAMENTO ACTIONS IN 2019

Cal NORML watchdogged another 60 cannabis-related bills in Sacramento in 2019. We testified in hearings, met with lawmakers, and organized a citizen’s lobby day in May, bringing citizen lobbyists from across the state to meet with their legislative offices.

In a victory for cannabis advocates, Governor Newsom signed SB 34 (Wiener) this year, to exempt compassion programs that give away cannabis to needy patients from taxation. Newsom also signed SB 223 (Hill) to allow parents to bring cannabis medicines to their children at school (if their school districts approve). Gov. Brown vetoed similar bills last year.

Another bill Cal NORML lobbied for, AB1261 (Jones-Sawyer), to eliminate the state narcotics registry for drug offenders, was signed. Under past law, certain convicted drug offenders were required to register with their sheriff for five years after their release.

Other bills we lobbied for did not pass. There is more work to be done!

FEDERAL ACTIONS

On the federal level, we’re progressing as never before on descheduling, expungement, and access to banking. Cal NORML attended NORML’s Lobby Day in September and regularly lobbies key members of the California Congressional delegation, sending out alerts to our members about upcoming votes.

In September, the House overwhelmingly passed the SAFE Banking Act, which would end federal rules that prevent banks from offering financial services to state-legal cannabusinesses. The bill was approved by a bipartisan vote of 321-103.

In an unprecedented blow against federal prohibition, the House Judiciary Committee approved a comprehensive bill to legalize marijuana in November. The Marijuana Opportunity, Reinvestment and Expungement (MORE) Act, from Rep. Barbara Lee, which would deschedule and legalize cannabis nationally, was approved by a vote of 24-10.

In the two days leading up to the vote, nearly 60,000 people sent messages to their lawmakers in support of the MORE Act through the NORML legislative action center.

EMPLOYMENT RIGHTS FOR CALIFORNIANS

In November, Cal NORML deputy director Ellen Komp testified at a hearing on employment rights for cannabis users that was held in the Senate Labor committee after we approached the committee asking for the hearing. Look for at least one Cal NORML-sponsored employment rights bill to be introduced in 2020. We are working both for protections for patients and for eliminating inappropriate tests for inactive metabolites (e.g. urine and hair testing) for all marijuana users.

WEBSITE REDESIGN AND BUSINESS OUTREACH

In April, Cal NORML unveiled its redesigned website CaNORML.org. We attended the NCIA convention in Long Beach to reach out to cannabis businesses about our new services. Look for our table at the ICBC in SF in February 2020 to learn more about our business memberships.

LEGAL EDUCATION

Cal NORML held two well-attended legal seminars in 2019 for attorneys and others, covering civil and criminal aspects of emerging California laws. Our legal committee of attorneys defending all aspects of cannabis law remains one of our organization’s strengths.

TAKING ACTION ON VAPING 

In August, the news hit that people were becoming ill, and sometimes dying, due to vaporing cannabis or nicotine. Cal NORML investigated and put out health warnings to our members, particularly against using unlicensed cannabis vapes. We have stayed on top of the story, separating the hype from the facts, and keeping our members informed.

In October, Cal NORML testified at a hearing on vaping in Sacramento, arguing against bans on vaping that would only send users to an unsafe black market. We’re consulting with activists in cities and counties where vape bans are being proposed. (If your city or county is considering a vape ban, write here.)

DRIVING RIGHTS

Throughout the year Cal NORML has participated in a CHP Task Force on drugged driving, serving on the research and best practices subcommittees. We have been active every year since the 1980s in fighting for your driving rights, using the latest scientific studies. The next CHP subcommittee meeting will be held on January 7, 2020 from 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. at the California Highway Patrol Headquarters, 601 N 7th St., Sacramento.

TAXATION

Cal NORML has consistently lobbied for lower taxes on cannabis, particularly for patients. Cal NORML denounced the announcement that the state plans to increase taxes on cannabis next year (absent a legislative change). Ellen Komp was quoted in the press on the long-awaited report from the state Legislative Analyst Office that recommends shifting to a potency-based tax (or raising the current 15% state excise tax). We expect at least one taxation bill to be introduced in the state legislature next year and will be prioritizing passing a bill that will provide tax relief to Californians and boost legal businesses.

CAL NORML IN THE NEWS

Cal NORML has been your advocate in the press for reasonable, science-based cannabis policy again this year. Cal NORML director Dale Gieringer helped unpack a recent report on teen vaping, and deputy director Ellen Komp criticized a study that claimed pot-smoking parents were more abusive to their children.

Dale was quoted in Vice and elsewhere on the connection between California’s high taxes and the cases of lung disease from untested products being sold outside the regulated system, and in Leafly on the connection with Vitamin E acetate oil. “The illegal market is competitive because legal marijuana is so expensive to produce under Prop. 64,” he told the LA Times in August.

Ellen was quoted on the “cannabis deserts” where cannabis remains unlicensed throughout the state, and the overreach of local governments attempting to ban deliveries made into their jurisdictions,  as well as the “sticker shock” from new taxes that sent cannabis consumers back to the black market.

PLANS FOR 2020

In 2020, along with Employment Rights and Pain Patients Rights, Cal NORML will advocate for lower taxes and better regulations at the state and local levels, and support opening up access to safe, tested cannabis products in more cities and counties across the state, including consumption rooms and events where Californians can legally consume cannabis.

Please support Cal NORML with a 2020 membership! Members receive our print newsletter, with news and analysis not seen online, and get discounts on events throughout the year.

Save the Date for the Cal NORML/ASA Lobby Day on May 4, 2020.

As California enters new territory with the opening of adult-use sales this year, Cal NORML continues its fight to secure consumers’ rights to use cannabis freely, legally, and affordably. We are glad to have made some progress with the state’s lawmakers and regulators this year, but much work remains to be done.

While the year got off to a bang with the first legal sales on January 1, 2018, progress has been rocky, fraught with glitches and bottlenecks, costly new taxes and regulations, and a persistent shortage of legal outlets in many parts of the state. Many long-time medical users complain that they can no longer afford what they need nor grow it legally. Legally licensed dispensaries and delivery services have difficulty competing against unlicensed black-market suppliers due to costly regulations and taxes.

So far, existing Prop 215 collectives have enjoyed some legal protection under the state’s old SB 420 law authorizing medical cultivation collectives and cooperatives, but this will expire on Jan. 9, 2019. Crackdowns on unlicensed operators are certain thereafter, putting the squeeze on consumers who still rely on collectives and other inexpensive gray-market sources for affordable medicine.

Cal NORML has been working to resolve these problems with state regulators, the legislature, and local governments this year, and will continue to do so in 2019. In response to Cal NORML’s e-mail action alerts, our members and local chapters have generated thousands of messages to state officials.

Through our website and telephone hotline, and at outreach tables at events, Cal NORML provides the public and press with accurate information on marijuana, the law, medical use, drug testing, and pending reform bills.

We are preparing to upgrade our site www.CaNORML.org with a new user-friendly design this coming February.

REGULATORY ISSUES

On the regulatory front, we were successful this year in lobbying the Bureau of Cannabis Control on several issues:

• Eliminate unnecessary, cumbersome, non-recyclable, packaging at dispensaries. The BCC agreed to require only opaque exit bags starting in 2020.

• Stop requiring dispensaries to collect and hold customer ID records. In the future, we’d like to eliminate mandatory ID checks entirely except for proof of age. Buying pot should be no more complicated than getting a drink at a bar or restaurant, or buying liquor in a liquor store.

• Allow licensed deliveries to any residence in the state. In the legislature, we backed a bill by Sen. Lara to ban local governments from prohibiting home deliveries. When that bill failed to pass, we supported a proposal by BCC to do so via state regulations. That regulation is likely to be challenged by local governments, who claim Prop 64 gives them sweeping powers to regulate cannabis. Cal NORML attorneys disagree and argue that local delivery bans violate Prop 215.

• Reduce unnecessary, costly regulations. Progress here has been slower. State product-testing requirements continue to be far stricter and costlier for marijuana (~$800 per batch) than comparable products such as food and herbal medicines. BCC has so far moved to cut some excessive regulations, but much remains to be done.

STATE LEGISLATION

On the legislative front, Cal NORML tracked some 60 cannabis-related bills in Sacramento this year. Of these, 14 were of sufficient interest for us to testify and lobby on. At the end of the day, a few good bills—and no bad ones­—became law, although many were stalled or vetoed and need to be revisited next year.

We kept our members posted about the most important bills via our e-list alerts, generating nearly 5,000 messages to the legislature. For the second year in a row, we sponsored a Citizens’ Lobbying Day in Sacramento in conjunction with Americans for Safe Access, where one hundred supporters joined us to lobby on behalf of cannabis consumers in the State Capitol.

• Criminal sentencing: In a major step towards eradicating past injustices of the war on marijuana, Gov. Brown signed AB 1793 by Asm. Rob Bonta to automatically expunge or correct the criminal records of prior offenders who qualify for resentencing under Prop. 64. In testimony to the legislature, Cal NORML reported that the state recorded 649,065 felony marijuana arrests from 1975 to 2016, the bulk of which should be eligible for reduction under AB 1793.

• On-site consumption: Opportunities for consumption at special events were expanded by AB 2020 (Quirk), allowing events to be held at any venue permitted by local governments, rather than just county fairgrounds. We would like to see on-site consumption further expanded to everyday customers at coffeehouses, hotels, restaurants and other venues, as well as other locations where public use of tobacco and alcohol are permitted.

• Drug testing and DUI: Cal NORML continues to regard stopping discriminatory drug testing for marijuana as a high priority issue. In conjunction with national NORML, Cal NORML has made it a point of following the latest scientific studies on drug testing, which have consistently shown that there exists no fixed, numerical “per se” standard for determining impairment from chemical tests for marijuana.

For the seventh year in a row, Cal NORML provided key scientific testimony to the legislature to help defeat proposed “per se” drug testing thresholds for driving offenses. This year, we defeated a bill by Sen. Hill to suspend the licenses of drivers under 21 who are found to have any trace of cannabis in their system.

Cal NORML was invited to sit on the California Highway Patrol’s Task Force on Drug Impaired Driving this year, which is scheduled to issue a report on drug DUI enforcement by Jan. 1, 2021. We have been encouraged so far to find that the Task Force is taking a sober view of its mandate, and seems skeptical about per se testing thresholds for impairment. In the meantime, the Center for Medicinal Cannabis Research at UCSD is conducting a driving simulator study on the effects of marijuana on driving and its measurement by blood, oral fluid, and performance testing. Cal NORML director Dale Gieringer recently visited the research facility and tried out the driving simulator.

• Employment rights remain a high priority for Cal NORML. We continue to hear from workers who are wrongly dismissed on the basis of unscientific drug tests that have no relation to workplace performance. This year we sponsored AB 2069 by Asm. Bonta to protect workers’ right to use medical marijuana in the same way as other, legal medications under the state’s Fair Housing and Employment Act.

Unfortunately, AB 2069 was stalled due to misunderstanding and confusion on the part of legislators, employers, and even some unions. Construction unions in particular objected that it might compromise safety and override drug-free workplace agreements. We intend to continue pressing this issue next year in light of growing evidence that medical cannabis is safer than other drugs that workers are allowed to use, in particular prescription opiates. In the longer run, we would like to see urine and hair testing for marijuana abolished for all Americans who use marijuana, not just medical users.

• Taxation remains an ongoing sore point for consumers. Dispensary prices have jumped since Jan. 1 on account of the new Prop 64 taxes, which include a 15% excise tax on sales plus $9.25 per ounce on cultivation, as well as the standard state sales tax of 8-9%, and local taxes sometimes approaching 10%. Between state and local taxes, California has the highest tax rate on cannabis of any legal state. As a result, the legal market has been hard pressed to compete with black-market alternatives, and many needy medical patients complain they can no longer afford their medicine.

This year, we supported AB 3157 by Asm. Tom Lackey, Rob Bonta and others, to temporarily cut the tax rates for cannabis so as to let the legal market better compete with unlicensed supplies. Although that bill failed in the legislature due to concerns over its budgetary impact, we will continue to press on this issue. In particular, we strongly support eliminating taxes on medical sales, such as the 15% excise tax, and capping the tax rate of local governments. We are happy to note that competitive pressures have begun to induce some local governments to scale back their tax rates, including Berkeley.

• Compassion programs for needy patients remain in jeopardy. Ever since the passage of Prop. 215, it has been the practice of many providers to donate a portion of their product free of charge to needy patients through charitable compassion programs. These programs are now threatened by Prop. 64, which requires that all donations be taxed at the same rate as if they were sold. Thus every pound of cannabis which is donated free of charge to legal patients is liable for nearly $1000 in state taxes. This year, Cal NORML worked with Sen. Scott Wiener’s office on a bill, SB 829, to exempt compassion programs from taxes. Although the bill didn’t go as far as we would have liked, it passed the legislature only to be perversely vetoed by Gov. Brown. Sen. Wiener is going to reintroduce his bill this December. Further legislation may be necessary to fully protect patients’ rights to “safe and affordable” medicine under Prop 215.

• Cannabis as a safer opiate substitute. Mounting evidence shows that medical cannabis can be an effective “harm reduction” substitute for prescription opioids in the treatment of chronic pain. Over two dozens studies involving thousands of subjects have found lower levels of opioid abuse and mortality among chronic pain patients who use cannabis. Nonetheless, Cal NORML continues to receive complaints from pain patients around the state who have been denied treatment by their medical providers for using or testing positive for medical cannabis.

We have been seeking to get the legislature to pass a bill outlawing discrimination against cannabis use by pain patients, in the same way as it passed a bill banning discrimination against organ transplant patients who use medical cannabis in 2015. Unfortunately, we have so far been stymied by opposition from vested interests in organized medicine. In light of the national opiate crisis, Cal NORML regards this as a priority issue, and are working to publicize it in conjunction with national NORML’s Deputy Director, Paul Armentano, a widely published expert on cannabis science.

• Medical cannabis at schools: Prop 64 continues to ban the presence of medical cannabis at schools, even though many seriously ill children depend on cannabis oils and extracts to treat severe epilepsy and other conditions. This year we supported a bill by Sen. Hill, SB 1127, to let parents administer medical cannabis to their children at school, but it was vetoed by Gov. Brown, who thought it should apply only to epilepsy patients.

• CBD: A growing variety of CBD (cannabidiol) products are now being marketed in health food stores and pharmacies nationwide, derived from the oil of hemp plants produced out of state. Although they are widely sold in California, the state health department recently determined that they are not actually legal under state law. Cal NORML believes this decision was misguided but can be corrected if, as expected, hemp oil is legalized under pending federal legislation.

LOCAL ISSUES

Many pressing issues, such as lack of licensed dispensaries and businesses, inadequate consumption spaces, restrictions on personal cultivation, and excessive taxes, are due to negligence or hostility on the part of local city and county governments. Cal NORML fields innumerable inquiries about local laws from activists, chapters, and affiliates around the state, and empowers them to advocate for better policies, including helping with the formation of local NORML chapters.

A new ruling from San Bernardino County Superior Court strikes down parts of a City of Fontana ordinance placing restrictions on residential marijuana growers. The ruling is the result of a lawsuit filed against the city by the Drug Policy Alliance and the ACLU at the urging of Cal NORML. The filing of the suit likely prevented other jurisdictions from passing similarly restrictive ordinances, and going forward cities and counties will be re-evaluating their policies. Contact Cal NORML about taking action locally to protect your rights under Prop. 64.

LEGAL COMMITTEE

Cal NORML has a legal committee of over one hundred attorneys with expertise in different aspects of cannabis law. For the third year in a row, we are sponsoring a legal conference in Oakland on February 9, 2019.

This year our legal committee chair, Bill Panzer, won an appellate decision, People v Ahmed, ruling that compliance with local regulations is not required to protect medical marijuana defendants from criminal prosecution under the state Medical Marijuana Program Act (SB 420).

VOTER’S GUIDE

Before every national election, Cal NORML publishes a California Voter’s Guide on cannabis issues in conjunction with the Drug Policy Forum of California (DPFCA) and our national office. Included are the voting records of every California legislator in the State Assembly, Senate, and Congress on cannabis-related issues. We are happy to note that this year’s election boosted the number of cannabis-friendly representatives to record numbers in California’s Congressional delegation.

FEDERAL LAW

The overriding obstacle to complete legalization remains the continued illegality of cannabis under federal law. Legalization at the federal level has been NORML’s ultimate goal since its founding in 1970. Our national office is now deeply engaged in efforts to reform federal laws and has been instrumental in organizing a Congressional Cannabis Caucus to focus on the issue. A record number of reform bills were submitted in the past Congress with bipartisan support, and a majority of members seem inclined to vote favorably but were stifled by conservative leaders this year.

The election of new pro-reform leaders in the House, plus voters’ record 60+ % approval for legalization in public opinion polls, makes the next year ripe for meaningful reform legislation. Cal NORML will be supporting these efforts with internet action alerts to our subscribers urging them to contact their Congressmembers on important legislation. We also participate in the national NORML lobby day, at which Cal NORML’s director Dale Gieringer accepted a Lifetime Achievement Award this year from NORML founder Keith Stroup.

Protecting State Laws: One of the simplest and most urgent measures would be to protect states with legal cannabis laws from federal interference. A promising bill to do so is the STATES Act by Sen. Elizabeth Warren (MA) and Cory Gardner (CO), which would make actions that are legal under state marijuana regulations also legal under federal law.

De-Scheduling: Beyond this, removing marijuana from the federal list of controlled substances would effectively legalize marijuana at the national level. Politically, this is a heavier lift than the STATES Act since it would also affect states that now prohibit marijuana. NORML has been working with Congressional staff on various broad de-scheduling and legalization bills, such as the Marijuana Justice Act by Sen. Cory Booker (NJ) and Rep. Barbara Lee (Oakland) and the Marijuana Freedom and Opportunity Act by Sen. Schumer (NY).

Banking Services: It’s widely agreed that federal banking laws must be changed to let banks deal more freely with cannabis businesses, which are now generally compelled to deal in cash instead. It is unclear whether the STATES Act would accomplish this. A bill to do so, the SAFE Banking Act, is co-sponsored by Sen. Kamala Harris. In the state legislature, Cal NORML supported a bill by Sen. Hertzberg (Van Nuys) to establish special state-chartered banks to serve the cannabis industry, but it failed due to doubts about its practicality.

Cannabis Research: So long as cannabis remains a Schedule One substance, federal laws forbids licensed researchers from working with cannabis sources that are not DEA-approved. This has made it impossible for researchers to investigate the innumerable state-licensed cannabis products now available in California and elsewhere. A number of research bills are in Congress, and California NORML has been supporting state legislation to let California’s Center for Medicinal Cannabis Research cultivate cannabis for its own research purposes. California NORML has sponsored medical cannabis studies in the past, and our director, Dale Gieringer, is a member of the CMCR national advisory board.

Veterans’ Access: In the absence of rescheduling, the Veterans Administration is precluded from treating veterans with medical cannabis. This year, the House Veterans’ Committee approved a VA Medicinal Cannabis Research Act co-sponsored by Rep. Lou Correa (Santa Ana), but it wasn’t allowed a floor vote.

Travel Rights: Federal law continues to forbid entry to the U.S. of persons known to have used or trafficked in marijuana. Rep. Correa has proposed addressing this in the next Congress.

Gun Rights: Marijuana users are forbidden to purchase firearms under federal law. In the absence of federal legalization, specific legislation will be required to fix this.

PLEASE JOIN CALIFORNIA NORML OR RENEW YOUR MEMBERSHIP TO HELP US KEEP FIGHTING ON ALL THESE FRONTS IN 2019.

Read more about Cal NORML and our goals.

Over 60 cannabis bills, most of them regulatory, were introduced in Sacramento this year, a three-fold increase from last year. Cal NORML tracked bills with a focus on consumer rights and kept our members informed of pending changes and hearings. We fought for allowing mixed premises for recreational and medical cannabis businesses, and for temporary event licenses, among other amendments.

Once more, Cal NORML protected driving rights for cannabis consumers, lobbying for changes to SB 65, which as introduced would have increased penalties for smoking while driving. We were able to get the bill amended to keep violations to infractions only. Another bill, AB 6, would have allowed for oral swab testing for drivers, a still-unproven technology. With input from Cal NORML, the bill was amended to convene a task force on impaired driving, on which Cal NORML has a seat. A bill that would establish a per se standard for a marijuana DUI if found in combination with alcohol was defeated this year, but will likely be introduced again next year.

We campaigned against legislation to increase penalties for smoking or vaping marijuana, including a bill that would have outlawed vaping on beaches, which was vetoed by Gov. Brown with help from our members who contacted his office.

Meanwhile, draft regulations were issued by all three agencies that will govern cannabis commerce. Cal NORML reviewed them and sent comments requesting changes to promote affordable access. We worked with the manufacturing committee of the California Cannabis Industry Association on a petition drive addressing dosage and labeling of medical products. We also submitted comments on the state Environmental Impact Report on cannabis cultivation.

We are making progress on our campaigns for employment rights and medical rights for patients, aligning with supportive groups and honing language for legislative measures we hope to see introduced in 2018. We held a Lobby Day in Sacramento in April that was attended by hundreds of advocates visiting scores of legislators’ offices, and we issued a comprehensive report titled “Marjuana Legalization and the Opioid Crisis” in November.

We are working on redesigning our website with all the new information about laws and regulations, in a more user-friendly format. This will be a costly but worthwhile project, enabling us to educate and activate more Californians.

As California begins recreational marijuana sales on January 1, much work remains to be done, in the legal and regulatory arenas at the state and local levels, and in the realm of human rights.

PLEASE JOIN CAL NORML OR RENEW YOUR MEMBERSHIP TO HELP US CONTINUE OUR WORK IN 2018.

Read more about Cal NORML’s mission, accomplishments, and goals

CalNORML used its new twitter feed @CaliforniaNORML to tweet stories and photos throughout the day. Citizen journalist Jose Gutierrez was arrested during the raid and made to stand trial. The San Francisco rally was a huge success, in part perhaps due to the federal actions of the previous day.

The following week, Norma Torres’ zero-tolerance DUID bill AB 2552 was amended so as to no longer apply specifically to marijuana, but to any non-medical use of controlled substances. Unsatisfied with the changes, CalNORML again contacted the committee in continued opposition to the bill and its amendments.

Finally, on April 20(!), California NORML reported that Assemblywoman Torres amended the DUI bill to drop objectionable new criminal penalties for driving with residues of marijuana or illicit drugs. Instead, the new bill will allow the state to finally collect statistics on the number of arrests for alcohol, drugs, and drugs+alcohol.

That day, CaNORML staged a protest at the Obama Campaign Headquarters there, in opposition to the raid at Oaksterdam.

At months’ end, CalNORML challenged a bad court ruling in a medical marijuana case in Los Angeles, disallowing sales by a collective because it did not qualify as a primary caregiver.

In May, a new zero-tolerance DUI bill was introduced in the California legislature by veteran drug warriors state Sen. Lou Correa (D-Santa Ana) and Sam Blakeslee (R – SLO). The bill, SB 50, would have made it a crime for a person to have a controlled substance in his or her blood while driving a vehicle. Once again, CalNORML sprang into action to defeat the bill. “SB 50 is essentially another make-crime bill for the state’s bloated prison-law enforcement establishment,” said Gieringer.

Tom Ammiano’s bill to establish a state medical marijuana regulation system passed the Assembly Appropriations Committee and headed for a floor vote. CAL NORML urged Californians to call on their Assembly members to support AB 2312 and attended a Unity conference and lobbying day when every legislator’s office was visited.

AB2312 passed to Assembly (much to everyone’s surprise!) but was amended radically in the Senate. Hearings on the measure are still expected. We also supported Leno’s SB1182, which would have legalized medical marijuana sales.

In June, patient advocates won an important victory in Butte County, where voters rejected Measure A, which would have sharply restricted patients’ right to cultivate on their own property. Medical cannabis supporters, including CalNORML, had sponsored a referendum to repeal the measure.

CalNORML issued the strongest statement of any group when Eric Holder testified that his agency was only going after medical cannabis dispensaries and growers that are going “beyond what states had authorized.” CalNORML’s headline was, “US Attorney General Lies to House Judiciary Committee about Medical Marijuana Crackdown,” pointing out that in fact, the DOJ has targeted some of the most well respected and law-abiding facilities in California. Our June newsletter detailed the bizarre reasons why some San Francisco collectives were being closed.

Our phone lines heated up at the end of June with reports that the Lake county sheriff’s department was destroying medical marijuana gardens, following the defeat of a ballot measure to regulate gardens in Lake. CalNORML spoke to public officials, locals and lawyers about a pending ordinance in the county, and attended a meeting in Lake, which turned into an impromptu rally. Ultimately, the new ordinance was challenged in court and has been stayed.

In July, it was protest time once more, as Obama visited Oakland just after the DOJ moved to close down Harborside Health Center there. CalNORML helped plan the march and press conference. “This raid belies the administration’s pretense to be targeting only dispensaries that are in violation of California law,” said Cal NORML Director Dale Gieringer.

The next day, at a pretrial detention hearing, federal magistrate Donna Ryu ordered medical cannabis activist Jose Gutierrez to find another legal drug than Marinol to treat his chronic back pain during his trial. CalNORML was able to find a lab that could run a test distinguishing between Marinol and marijuana, so that Gutierrez could continue taking his prescription.

CalNORML continues to spread the word and organize response to the continued federal actions in California, like when in September, the federal-led raid on marijuana growers in a Santa Rosa neighborhood that was described by eyewitnesses as a full-scale paramilitary assault. Or when, in contrasting moves, the city of Oakland sued the federal government to stop its forfeiture actions against city-regulated dispensaries, while Long Beach joined the feds to arrest 40 dispensary workers.

In October, a letter was sent to SF US Attorney Melinda Haag outlining CalNORML’s objections to her policy of usurping local regulation of collectives.

GreenAid and CalNORML convened a committee to address issues of child custody and marijuana. We had a strong response from attorneys across the state, and the committee is investigating CPS policy and cases statewide.

In November, oral arguments were held in CalNORML’s challenge to Tehama county’s restrictive medical marijuana cultivation ordinance. We continue to consult with residents of California’s 58 counties and 400-some cities about pending ordinances and cases regarding cultivation rights and others.

As the year ends, CalNORML remains busy dealing with calls from parents who have child custody issues, Mendocino residents concerned about a subpoena from the federal government demanding records from the 9.3.1 registration program, and much more, as well as planning our January conference, “Cannabis in California: Ending the 100 Year War.” There we will mark the 100th anniversary of cannabis prohibition in California and map a way towards the end of that failed and unjust policy.

Please support CalNORML’s efforts in 2013. We are only as strong as our membership. Your generosity is greatly appreciated.

See our plans for 2012

To say 2011 was a busy year would be an understatement. Following up on the strong but losing campaign of the Prop. 19 legalization initiative, Cal NORML began the year with statewide activist conferences to plan the future of marijuana reform in California. As the year progressed, our energies were increasingly tied up in defensive efforts to combat mounting challenges from local, state, and federal authorities: bans and restrictions on dispensaries and cultivation, hostile legislation in Sacramento, and a full-fledged federal crackdown from the Obama administration. Prospects for reform nonetheless strengthened as legalization picked up unprecedented support from the California Medical Association, the national Gallup poll, and the first-ever prohibition repeal bill in Congress.

This year started off with Cal NORML’s “Next Steps for Legalization” conference in Berkeley, where activists and officials from across the state were invited to a post-Prop. 19 discussion. Response was so favorable that we held a follow-up conference in LA co-sponsored by DPA, ASA and MAPS. By year’s end, participants in the conferences had submitted no less than five initiatives for the 2012 ballot.

Reform efforts fared disappointingly in Sacramento this session. While the legislature failed to pass two bills (SB 129 and AB 1017) strongly supported by Cal NORML, it handily passed a pair of anti-dispensary bills. AB 1300, by Assemblyman Blumenfield (Van Nuys), which gives local governments unambiguous power to restrict and regulate medical cannabis collectives, was signed by Gov. Brown. Thankfully, Brown vetoed the second bill, SB 847 by Sen. Lou Correa (Anaheim), which would have banned collectives near residentially zoned areas.

Cal NORML was invited to testify in support of another bill by Sen. Ron Calderon (Montebello), which would have created a commission, including patient advocates, to propose a legal, regulated system for medical marijuana distribution analogous to that in Colorado. The bill didn’t pass, but California NORML worked to organize activist groups and allies throughout the state to develop a unity proposal for a legal distribution system for medical marijuana, in the hopes of pre-empting other, more hostile proposals from law enforcement and local officials.

Hostile local governments mounted an escalating offensive against Prop. 215, enacting a flock of nuisance ordinances to restrict or ban patient cultivation and collectives. NORML activists fought cultivation bans or restrictions in the city of Redding and the counties of Butte, Fresno, Tehama, Kern, Lassen, and elsewhere. In an important test case, Cal NORML attorneys filed a lawsuit challenging a Tehama County ordinance severely curtailing patients’ right to grow for personal use. The ordinance was upheld by a lower court, but is being appealed by attorneys J. David Nick and Edie Lerman, who argue that it is an unconstitutional violation of Prop. 215. In other cases, Cal NORML deputy director Ellen Komp lobbied local officials against cultivation bans, successfully scotching a proposed outdoor ban in Roseville.

Elsewhere, Cal NORML supported local activists in referendum drives aimed at repealing restrictive ordinances. In San Diego, where Cal NORML testified against a highly restrictive ordinance that would have outlawed almost all of the city’s collectives, local activists launched a referendum drive that succeeded in forcing the city to repeal the ordinance. Cal NORML supported a similar petition drive by Butte County activists, who succeeded in forcing the county to hold a June 2012 ballot referendum on a controversial ordinance sharply restricting collectives and cultivation. NORML members also assisted with successful referendum drives in San Jose, and Kern and Lake Counties.

The ongoing federal war on marijuana took most of our attention this year. In Congress, the year began on a positive note with the introduction of the first-ever bill to legalize marijuana, the “Ending Federal Marijuana Prohibition Act” by Rep. Barney Frank (MA) and Ron Paul (TX), along with Californians Rep. Barbara Lee (Oakland) and Dana Rohrabacher (Orange County). However, prospects for passage of any reform measure remain firmly blocked by the conservative Congressional leadership.

In May, Cal NORML organized a protest in Sacramento against the imprisonment of Dr. Mollie Fry and Dale Schafer, who were sentenced to a five year mandatory minimum for three modest gardens totaling 100 plants.

Meanwhile, the DEA flatly rejected a petition to reschedule marijuana for medical use. The petition, filed in 2002 by the Coalition to Reschedule Cannabis, of which Cal NORML is an active member, was rejected only after the sponsors sued in federal court for regulatory delay. The CRC is planning to appeal the DEA’s decision imminently. In an important new development, the governors of Rhode Island, Washington, and Colorado announced that they are filing rescheduling petitions as well. Cal NORML is calling on Governor Brown and Attorney General Kamala Harris to join in support.

The number one highlight – or lowlight – of the year was undoubtedly the federal crackdown on medical marijuana, announced by the four U.S. attorneys of California. Cal NORML received word of the crackdown before it was announced on Oct. 7th and played a leading role in organizing protests in Sacramento and San Francisco. Cal NORML organized a call-in campaign to the White House, and rallied supporters to protest a fundraising visit by President Obama to San Francisco with reminders of his campaign pledge not to use Justice Department resources to circumvent state marijuana laws.

On Nov. 7th, a group of NORML attorneys including Matt Kumin, David Michael, Alan Silber and Eric Shevin filed a lawsuit against the crackdown in all four federal court districts of California. However, federal judges in Oakland and San Diego declined to block the crackdown, and legal experts concur that there is little chance of stopping it in federal court. The government has already filed forfeiture suits against at least two landlords and forced the closure of scores of facilities, among them the world’s longest-operating dispensary, the Marin Alliance for Medical Marijuana.

Advocates point out that California has experienced similar crackdowns before, and that they have never caused more than a temporary disruption. The U.S. Attorneys publicly announced that they did not intend to close the whole industry. Attorney General Holder subsequently affirmed his policy of trying to respect state marijuana laws, especially where “people are acting in conformity with the law, not abusing it.”

The A.G.’s remarks highlight the need for improved state regulations regarding medical marijuana distribution in California, one of California NORML’s major priorities for 2012. Cal NORML helped organize a coalition of advocates to develop a statewide initiative for comprehensive, patient-friendly industry regulation. In the meantime, Attorney General Kamala Harris is reported to be developing a medical marijuana reform proposal for the legislature.

In other news this year:

• Cal NORML Director Dale Gieringer was presented the Robert C. Randall Award for Achievement in the Field of Citizen Action at the Drug Policy Alliance conference in November.

• California NORML put up a Facebook page with the help of our outreach coordinator, Alexa Klingler. The page supplements our website, email alert lists and newsletter to keep supporters informed and activated.

• California NORML published a study estimating that there are now between 750,000 and 1,125,000 legal medical marijuana users in California, with a retail market between $1.5 billion and $4.5 billion per year. Marijuana use by teens, highway fatalities, and workplace injuries are all down in California since medical marijuana was made legal in 1996.

• In conjunction with ProjectCBD.org, California NORML also conducted a “Ring Test” to assess the accuracy of the growing number of analytical laboratories that have arisen offering potency testing of cannabis. The study found that THC potency measurements of cannabis samples are generally accurate to within plus or minus 20%. However, the accuracy of measurements for liquid samples and edibles remains questionable. Seven out of the ten labs appeared to perform reasonably well, but three made substantial errors.

PLANS FOR 2012
California NORML fields dozens of requests for information and help by phone and email daily (including evenings and weekends). Many of the callers are not CalNORML supporters but are indigent, seriously ill, and facing the loss of their jobs, their housing, their parental rights, and their freedom.

NORML has been known since the 1970s as a reliable source of information and a resource for those in need. Members and supporters like you make that lifeline possible.

With proper funding, our plans for 2012 are:

• Push hard legislatively in January for SB129, Sen. Leno’s employment rights bill; and AB 1017, Rep. Ammiano’s cultivation decriminalization bill.
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• Continue to challenge local cultivation bans.

• Support efforts in cities and counties with pending ballot measures.

• Press for federal rescheduling of marijuana.

• Campaign for employment rights by raising public awareness of the discriminatory nature of urine testing and its ineffectiveness in improving workplace safety. Inform unions, businesses, insurance companies, and government officials about alternatives such as performance testing.

• Support the child custody rights of medical marijuana-using mothers who are responsible parents; assist with legal cases and work towards more enlightened public policy with CPS at state and local levels.

• Redesign our website to make it more user-friendly.

It is Cal NORML’s view that fixing the state’s medical marijuana laws must be an urgent priority. Until the public is confident that the state can regulate medical marijuana, they are unlikely to back adult use legalization.

California needs clear and unambiguous laws legitimizing and regulating the distribution, production, and processing of medical marijuana. Local governments should retain the power to regulate and zone, but not ban, dispensaries.

With this in mind, Cal NORML is actively pursuing efforts to reform the state’s marijuana laws so as to fulfill Proposition 215’s mandate for a “safe and affordable” distribution system, most immediately by way of a 2012 ballot initiative or, failing that, future legislation.

Please give what you can towards our efforts. This is a critical moment for reform in California.

California NORML
2261 Market St. #278A
San Francisco, CA 94114

Fighting for our rights since 1972.

CalNORML was back in Sacramento in February, when in a landmark report to the state legislature, the California Center for Medicinal Cannabis Research announced that its studies have shown marijuana to have therapeutic value in six different human clinical trials regarding chronic pain, spasticity and vaporization. California NORML, which has promoted research on vaporizers, advised CMCR researcher Dr. Donald Abrams on their study.

In March, State Sen. Mark Leno (D-SF) announced the introduction of a bill (SB1449) to downgrade possession of one ounce or less of marijuana to an infraction instead of a misdemeanor. California NORML supported SB 1449 after making sure it was rewritten so as not to raise the present $100 fine. The Senate Public Safety committee passed the bill on 4/20.

In April, a bill that would drastically limit medical marijuana dispensary siting was introduced by Assemblymember Joan Buchanan (D-Contra Costa). As originally introduced, AB 2650, would have forbidden any medical marijuana collective, dispensary or other provider from being located within 1000 feet of a school. CalNORML successfully lobbied to change the distance to 600 feet, the same as for alcohol.

The California Board of Equalization reported in May that the state is collecting some $100 million in sales taxes from medical marijuana, confirming the estimate previously published in an economic analysis by California NORML. A subsequent analysis by the RAND institute confirmed Cal NORML’s estimates on the cost of marijuana enforcement ($200 – 300 million in California) and state consumption of marijuana (1 million pounds per year).

In June, California NORML joined Tehama County patients to file suit against a county ordinance that limits their right to grow marijuana at home. The Tehama ordinance declares it a public nuisance to grow marijuana anywhere within 1,000 feet of a school, school bus stop, church, park, or youth facility. California NORML attorneys argue that local governments cannot legally declare activities that are protected by state law to be nuisances. The Tehama suit is expected to be heard this winter.

Cal NORML opposed a mischievous bill by Sen. Ron Calderon to tax medical marijuana at a 41% rate like tobacco. The bill was withdrawn, but then Calderon tried to push through another bill that would have required all commercial growers, retailers, wholesalers, and transporters to register with the state, without providing them any legal protection. CalNORML also opposed this bill, which was withdrawn but could well be revived next year.

California NORML consulted on an ambitious proposal to establish a large-scale industrial size medical marijuana growing facility in Oakland. When the city ultimately approved an ordinance that would license just four large-scale grows for $211,000 per year, Cal NORML protested that the proposal failed to allow for the city’s many small-time growers and processors. Oakland’s city attorney raised questions about the legality of the measure, which has also attracted interest from the DEA. California NORML has continued to favor measures that would legally protect small-to-moderate growers, while backing stricter controls and taxes for larger, commercial facilities.

On September 30, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed SB1449 (Leno), making marijuana possession an infraction with no criminal record, marking the first time in 35 years that penalties for non-medical use of marijuana have been reduced in California. California NORML originally called for making petty possession an infraction when the state passed its landmark decriminalization law in 1975, but the legislature made it a minor misdemeanor. Misdemeanor possession arrests in California have mounted to new highs in recent years, reaching 61,164 in 2009. SB 1449 takes effect on Jan 1, 2011.

Cal NORML supported the Prop 19 campaign despite misgivings about its wording and timing. At the start of the campaign, CalNORML director Dale Gieringer predicted that anything over 45% should be considered a victory in view of Prop 19’s tenuous lead in the polls.

With the November election looming, California NORML fielded countless press inquiries about some of the issues raised in the Prop. 19 campaign, publishing op-eds to counter opponents’ phoney charges about workplace and driving safety. On November 2, Prop. 19 carried 46% of the California vote and cities and counties passed all 13 of their measures to tax medical or recreational marijuana (had 19 passed).

In the aftermath of Proposition 19, California NORML will host a statewide conference to discuss the future of marijuana reform efforts in California at the David Brower Center in Berkeley on Saturday, January 29, 2011.

Join CaNORML today and help us continue our work!