An Assembly committee Tuesday passed a bill to create state oversight for pot businesses, as its chairman implored the Legislature to act to stave off federal raids on medical marijuana providers.
"The worst public policy choice for California is to sit idly by, doing nothing, and let this failed war on medical cannabis continue unchecked," said San Francisco Democrat Tom Ammiano as his Public Safety Committee voted 4-2 along party lines to create a state bureau to police the California medical cannabis industry.
Despite clearing his committee, Ammiano's Assembly Bill 2312 faces long odds of reaching the desk of Gov. Jerry Brown because of strong opposition from police.
John Lovell, a lobbyist for California narcotics officers and police chiefs, blasted the bill as failing to come close to stricter rules passed in Colorado. "This is not regulation," Lovell said. "This is open-ended permissiveness."
AB 2312 would charge fees to dispensaries and other medical cannabis businesses to create a policing agency – the Bureau of Medical Marijuana Enforcement – in the state Department of Consumer Affairs. The board would approve licenses for businesses selling, growing or transporting marijuana for use by people with physicians' recommendations.