Gov. Brown Signs Bill Eliminating Deadline For Local Governments To Regulate Medical Marijuana
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) - Gov. Jerry Brown has signed an emergency bill that eliminates an upcoming deadline local governments faced to ban or regulate medical marijuana cultivation.
The governor on Wednesday signed AB21 by Democratic Assemblyman Jim Wood of Healdsburg. The bill amends the comprehensive medical marijuana regulations the California Legislature passed in September.
The framework approved in the closing hours of the legislative session included a paragraph that would have given the state alone authority to license pot growers in jurisdictions that did not have laws on the books by March 1 specifically allowing or outlawing cultivation.
Fearful of losing their power to set policy to the state, dozens of cities chose to ban pot-growing within their borders.
Wood says the deadline made it into the regulations by mistake and that local officials now can take time to consider the issue.
Copyright 2016 The Associated Press.