Medical Marijuana Bill Would Place Harsher Standards On Dispensaries, Doctors
SACRAMENTO (CBS13) — A new bill at the state Capitol would ensure statewide standards for medical marijuana regulation.
Lanette Davies, owner of Cannacare Dispensary has a binder full of bills she's tracking that could enact stricter statewide regulations for medical marijuana.
"It's kind of too much," she said.
It's the first time in her 10 years in business she's seen this many potential new laws, including one by Assemblyman Ken Cooley.
If that bill passes, it would require those who grow, transport and sell pot to be licensed by the state. Doctors would be banned from prescribing pot at clinics in which they had a financial interest, and it would require all clinic employees to complete cannabis classes.
Davies thinks that goes a bit too far.
"At what point does this industry go back into the black market simply because of over regulation?" she said.
But Citrus Heights Police Chief Christopher Boyd supports stricter standards.
"There are no regulations," he said. "In effect, it's made it pretty much legal, almost recreational, for people to use marijuana in California.:
He says it's often confusing for officers when they find people with pot.
"If this passes it would make it much easier for law enforcement to really differentiate and do our jobs between actual medical marijuana users, those who are legitimately sick and entitled under the law to use it and cultivate it, and those that aren't," he said.
Both think there's room to compromise and are hoping a new law will ease anxieties over medical marijuana.
"I think when the state has actual set guidelines, more cities and counties surrounding our area will be more comfortable in opening up and allowing their patients and their people safe access," she said.
Under this bill, cities and counties will still be able to decide whether to allow dispensaries or cultivation in their jurisdictions. But Davies thinks lawmakers are considering these rules, should voters choose to legalize recreational marijuana use in 2016.