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[mojave green]

League of California Cities Report New Amendments to Medical Marijuana Bill Would Create a Local-Only Regulatory Scheme

Last Updated on Saturday, 17 May 2014 05:18
SB 1262 (Correa), the League co-sponsored medical marijuana legislation, is set to be amended in the Senate Appropriations Committee on Monday.

May 16, 2014 - Sen. Lou Correa (D-Santa Ana) introduced his SB 1262 in February with the California Police Chiefs Association as sponsor and the League as co-sponsor. As introduced, the bill provided a significant regulatory responsibility for the Department of Public Health (DPH). The new amendments will replace DPH with a local-only licensing structure for the implementation of the Compassionate Use Act (Proposition 215), giving local code enforcement offices a leading role in regulating dispensaries.

In brief these amendments will:

• Eliminate the need for a state licensing entity altogether, making all marijuana dispensary licensing local, and dependent upon local ordinances and other regulations;
• Enhance local control and protect any and all jurisdictions that have enacted bans;
• Designate municipal code enforcement officers as responsible for local regulation/enforcement;
• Charge the State Department of Justice with performing background checks; and
• Significantly reduce state cost, making both licensing and enforcement a local responsibility, and can be implemented for a fraction of the cost of Assembly Member Ammiano’s (D-San Francisco) AB 1894.

The Senate Health Committee amended SB 1262 on April 30 to remove nearly all the provisions that would have regulated physicians. For more information, please see “Crucial Doctor Provisions Deleted from Medical Marijuana Bill in Senate Health Committee,” CA Cities Advocate, May 1. The local control provisions remain intact in the bill. Future amendments are expected to fine-tune its health and safety provisions, and will seek to restore a modified component on the doctor-patient relationship.

More information can be found on the League’s website at www.cacities.org/SB1262.

fookers better leave the doctor relationship part alone or i'm gonna be really pissed!