ASA’s California Campaign for Safe Access tracks state legislation related to medical cannabis. You can use the links below to see the current text and amendments using the state’s LegInfo website. You may also use that site to communicate with the authors about the bills. ASA will also publish position letters and other relevant documents here. Bookmark this page and check back often. 

 

Bill:  AB 26 – Medical cannabis regulations and licensing

Author:  Jones-Sawyer (San Diego)

Status:  INACTIVE

This bill has merged with AB 34 (Bonta). There will not be a vote on AB 26 this year)

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 Bill:  AB 34 – Medical cannabis regulation

Author:  Cooley (Rancho Cordova)

Status:  INACTIVE

This bill would create and designate regulatory agencies to license and regulate commercial medical cannabis activity. The bill also makes it “unprofessional conduct” for a doctor to recommend medical cannabis without a good faith examination and authorizes additional local taxation of medical cannabis. The bill was held in the Assembly Appropriations Committee and will not be adopted this year.

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Bill:  AB 243 - Indoor and outdoor medical cannabis cultivation

Author:  Wood (Santa Rosa)

ASA Position:  OPPOSE

This bill would establish the Division of Medical Cannabis Cultivation in the Department of Food and Agriculture. The bill would authorize a county, city, or city and county to issue or deny a conditional permit to cultivate medical marijuana and would require an applicant to obtain both a conditional permit from the county, city, or city and county and a state medical marijuana cultivation license from the division prior to cultivation occurring.The licensing provision take effect immediately upon adoption. The bill would also require the division to implement an identification program for medical marijuana in consultation with the State Water Resources Control Board and the Department of Fish and Wildlife. AB 243 imposes a $50 per plant tax on medical cannabis. Individual patients and primary caregivers serving five or fewer patients are exempt from the bill.  

Download a copy of ASA's lobby day fact sheet AB 243 here.

Download a copy of ASA's letter of opposition for the Senate Governance and Finance Committee.

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Bill:  AB 258 - Medical cannabis and organ transplants 

Author:  Levine (San Rafael), Leno (San Francisco)

ASA Position:  SUPPORT

Status: Signed by the Governor on July 6, 2015

The bill will prohibit a hospital, physician, or any participant in the organ transplant process from using a patient’s use of medical cannabis as the sole reason in denying his or her eligibility as an organ recipient, except when medical cannabis use is clinically significant to that decision. ASA is proud to sponsor this legislation. 

Download a copy of ASA's letter of support for AB 258 here.

Download a copy of ASA's Assembly Floor Alert about AB 258 here.

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Bill:  AB 266 - Medical cannabis regulation and licensing

Author:  Bonta (Oakland), Jones-Sawyer (San Diego), and Cooley (Rancho Cordova)

ASA Position:  SUPPORT, SUGGESTED AMENDMENTS

This bill will establish the Governor's Office of Marijuana Regulation to coordinate various agencies and oversee licensing for commercial medical cannabis activity. The bill will also create the Division of Medical Cannabis Regulation inside the Board of Equalization to act in concert with other state agencies to write and enforce state regulations for commercial medical cannabis enforcement and to issue provisional licenses for medical cannabis organizations, which are contingent on local licensing approval. The bill also prioritizes enforcement against doctors who are accused of writing inappropriate medical cannabis recommendations, creates an apprenticeship program for the medical cannabis industry, authorizes additional local taxation, and more.

Download a copy of ASA's lobby day fact sheet on AB 266. 

Download a copy of ASA's letter of support and suggested changes for the Senate Health Committee here.

 Download a copy of ASA's memo regarding suggested changes to AB 266 here.

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Bill:  AB 821 - Sales tax exemption for terminally-ill patients

Author:  Gipson (D-Carson)

ASA Position:  SUPPORT

Status: INACTIVE

This bill would exempt from sales and use taxes the gross receipts from the sale of, and the storage, use, or other consumption of, medical cannabis for consumption by a terminally ill patient, and would require the purchaser to provide an exemption certificate as provided.

Download a copy of ASA's letter of support for AB 821 here.

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Bill: AB 849 - Cannabinoid extraction and explosions

Author: Bonilla (D-Concord)

This bill would provide that a person who extracts, or attempts to extract, Tetrahydrocannabinol or other cannabinoids by means of solvent extraction from marijuana leaves, flowers, or stalks, and causes an explosion that damages property would be guilty of a misdemeanor, as specified. The bill would provide that if the explosion damages a structure or forest land the offense would be punishable by a misdemeanor or felony with specified penalties. The bill would provide for increased misdemeanor and felony penalties if the explosion damages an inhabited structure or causes great bodily injury. By creating new crimes, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program.

Download a copy of ASA's fact sheet on AB 849 here.

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Bill:  SB 140 - Electronic cigarettes

Author:  Leno (D-San Francisco)

Status: INACTIVE

This bill changes the definition of tobacco products to include "an electronic device that delivers nicotine or other substances to the person inhaling from the device..." The phrase "other substance" can be read as to further regulate and restrict the sale and use of medical cannabis vaporizers, vape pens, etc.

Download a copy of ASA's fact sheet on AB 140 here.

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Bill:  SB 165 - Cvil penalties related to cultivation

Author:  Mooning (San Luis Obispo)

ASA POSITION:  OPPOSE

Status: Signed by the Governor on August 7, 2015

This bill adds new and substantial civil penalties under state law for activities associated with illegal medical cannabis cultivation on public and private lands. The penalties relate to dumping waste, dumping hazardous materials, illegally timber harvesting, and violations related to water use.

Download a copy of ASA's lobby day fact sheet on SB 165 here.

Download a copy of ASA's letter of opposition for the Assembly Water, Parks, and Wildlife Committee here.

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Bill:  SB 212 - Manufacturing concentrated cannabis

Author:  Mendoza (Artesia)

ASA Position: OPPOSE

Status: Signed by the Governor on August 7, 2015

The bill would also require the sentencing court to consider the fact that a violation of laws involving the use of a volatile solvent to chemically extract concentrated cannabis occurred within 300 feet of an occupied residence as a factor in aggravation. This bill could inadvertently target private conduct by legal patients acing in good faith. ASA prefers comprehensive safety regulations for manufacturing certain concentrates of cannabis. 

Download a copy of ASA's lobby day fact sheet on SB 212 here.

Download a copy of ASA's letter of opposition for the Assembly Public Safety Committee here.

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Bill: SB 303 - Destruction of seized cannabis and cannabis plants

Author:  Hueso (San Diego)

This bill would change existing requirement for handling cannabis or cannabis plants seized a evidence. The bill would reduce the amount of cannabis required to be kept as evidence from ten pounds to two pounds and make other simplifications to the evidence handling process.

Download a copy of ASA's fact sheet on SB 303 here.

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 Bill: SB 305 - Enhanced sentences for manufacturing concentrated cannabis

Author:  Bates (Laguna Niguel)

ASA Position:  OPPOSE

This bill would authorize enhanced sentences for manufacturing concentrated cannabis in a structure where a child under the age of 16 is present or where a child under the age of 16 is injured as a result of the manufacturing. CA Health and Safety Code Section 11006.5 defines "concentrated cannabis" as resin (crude or purified) separated from the cannabis plant. This could include hash, kerf, honey oil, butane extractions, carbon dioxide extractions, etc.

Download a copy of ASA's lobby day fact sheet on SB 305 here.

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 Bill: SB 443 - Forfeiture: controlled substances.

Author: Mitchell (Culver City)

ASA Position: SUPPORT

This bill would require a state prosecuting agency to seek or obtain a criminal conviction for the unlawful cultivation of cannabis (and other drug offenses) prior to an entry of judgment for recovery of expenses related to the alleged offense. The bill would prohibit maintaining an action for recovery of expenses against a person who has been acquitted of the underlying criminal charges. The bill would prohibit state or local law enforcement agencies from transferring seized property to a federal agency and make other changes to the asset forfeiture laws.

Download a copy of ASA's letter of support for SB 443 here.

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 Bill: SB 643 - Medical cannabis regulation

Author: McGuire (Healdsburg)

ASA Position: SUPPORT, SUGGETED AMENDMENTS

This bill would establish within the Bureau Business, Consumer Services, and Housing Agency the Office of Medical Marijuana Regulation, under the supervision and control of the Chief of the Office of Medical Marijuana Regulation, and, beginning no later than July 1, 2018, would require the bureau office to license and regulate dispensing facilities, cultivation sites, transporters, and manufacturers of medical marijuana and medical marijuana products, subject to local ordinances. The bill would make conditional licenses subject to the restrictions of the local jurisdiction in which the facility operates or proposes to operate. The bill would authorize a facility or entity that is operating in conformance with local zoning ordinances and other state and local requirements on January 1, 2016, to continue its operations until its application for conditional licensure is approved or denied. SB 643 has other provisions, including some related to the conduct of doctors who recommend medical cannabis.

 Documents coming soon.

The California legislature is back in session, and you can expect a lot of activity around medical cannabis. Assembly Member Jones-Sawyer (D-Santee) has introduced AB 26and Assembly Member Rob Bonta (D-Oakland) introduced AB 34. Both bills will seek to regulate and license commercial medical cannabis activity, but neither is in its final form yet. That means there is still time to speak up about what you want to see in state legislation.

ASA will be sponsoring legislation this year to protect legal medical cannabis patients who need organ transplants from discrimination. You can read more about the Medical Marijuana Organ Transplant Act online. You can sign a petition supporting the legislation in the Take Action Now section of this message.

You can use the tools and strategies in ASA’s free Medical Cannabis Advocacy Training Center to help you participate in the legislative process this year. Read more about the online resource in the ASA Website Spotlight section of this message.

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