Colorado has the nation’s most meticulously regulated medical
marijuana industry. Washington has the first-ever blood-level standard
for driving while high.
But in the birthplace of America’s medical
cannabis movement and home of the most robust pot economy, California
lawmakers can’t seem to figure out what they want to do about marijuana.
The
governance of marijuana in California remains hazy as many legislators
are skittish over California’s medical cannabis industry, over an
unfolding federal crackdown and over risking disapproval of law enforcement interests.
An Assembly committee last week advanced a bill to have the state
agency that regulates bars and liquor stores oversee medical cannabis
dispensaries.
The bill’s author argued that state regulation could
discourage ongoing federal raids on California marijuana businesses.
But law enforcement hates the proposal, and marijuana advocates are
divided.
A cop-driven bill in the Senate faces furious resistance
from cannabis advocates who complain that it will criminalize sick
people relying on marijuana. The bill would punish drivers for any
detectable level of nonprescription drugs, including marijuana.
Though
voters made California the first state to legalize marijuana for
medical use by passing Proposition 215 in 1996, California lags behind
in setting the rules.
"Proposition 215 called for the Legislature
to come up with regulations and they never have," said Sacramento lawyer
George Mull, whose California Cannabis Industry Association last year
pushed for a licensing bill for marijuana businesses and is trying again
this year.
State Senate leader Darrell Steinberg said it may take
two years for the Legislature to agree on how
