[aesop_video width=”700px” align=”center” src=”youtube” id=”lzC80khsUtk” caption=”Moderated By: Matt Kumin, Co-Founder, California Cannabis Voice
Panelists:
Amanda Reiman, Manager, Marijuana Law and Policy, Drug Policy Alliance, Jeff Raber, Founder, The Werc Shop, Dale Gieringer, Director, CA NORML, Fiona Ma, Member, State Board of Equalization, William Waldrop, Director and CEO, Signal Bay Inc
” loop=”on” autoplay=”on” controls=”on” viewstart=”on” viewend=”on”]
Panelists at the recently convened “State of Marijuana” conference held in Santa Monica were unanimous that legalization of cannabis is inevitable.
But, how medical and adult use cannabis will be legalized – whether under the recently passed Medical Marijuana Regulation and Safety Act (MMRSA) signed by Governor Brown on October 9, 2015 or, under the adult-use legalization initiative likely to win in November, 2016, the Adult Use of Marijuana Act (AUMA)– is gaining tremendous attention. This was underscored by panelist Amanda Reiman of the Drug Policy Alliance, who also struck a chord in her passionate pitch for addressing social justice issues as the economic issues of the fledgling industry threaten to drown everything else out.
[aesop_quote type=”pull” background=”#ffd5a9″ text=”#c25800″ width=”360px” align=”right” size=”2″ quote=”Legalization: The ability of a human being to use cannabis without fear of being arrested and prosecuted.” cite=”— Matt Kumin” parallax=”off” direction=”right”]
Clearly to everyone in the room, patients, cannabis cooperatives and those who hope to obtain a license to distribute, grow, manufacture, test, and sell cannabis, whether under the MMRAS or the AUMA (if it passes), will soon face an entirely new world, one that is substantially different from the “immunity from criminal prosecution” that defined California law and which will continue to be the law until licenses are issued, most likely in 2018.
The panelists, and audience members such as Assemblyman Jim Woods, also underscored that the legal environment, including the regulatory and licensing process for medical cannabis, will continue to evolve. Assemblyman Woods, for example, noted that the Legislature will start on “clean-up” legislation during the Spring of 2016, to address problematic issues already identified in the MMRSA.
Consumers of cannabis, whether medical or adult-use, will also experience product consistency and purity as the industry evolves. Jeff Raber of the Werc Shop and William Waldrop of Signal Bay identified numerous quality areas that the industry will need to address, from removal of pesticide and other toxins and contaminants, to quantifying THC and other cannabinoid levels in each product sold.
And of course, we are going to be facing both the pain and joy of taxation as Fiona Ma, the District 2 member of the California Board of Equalization explained. The BOE, California’s retail sales taxing agency, will be able to collect hundreds of millions of dollars a year from retail sales, money that will help the state re-build its infrastructure, schools, roads and provide upgraded government services to its citizens.
Get ready!