California to Try Again With MMJ Regulations

Will 2015 be the year that California finally passes medical marijuana regulations? It will if a pair of Democratic state lawmakers have their way.

State Assembly Members Reggie Jones-Sawyer and Rob Bonta, from Los Angeles and San Francisco respectively, introduced a pair of bills this week in advance of the beginning of the next legislative session.

Assembly Bill 26, by Jones-Sawyer, is another version of a failed bill from earlier this year. Assembly Bill 34, by Bonta, has yet to be fleshed out and written, but declares that the Legislature intends to “establish a comprehensive and uniform state regulatory structure” for the MMJ industry.

There will be plenty of political pressure on the Legislature to get the job done next year. Not only have the feds warned the state to “get your regulatory act together,” but there will in all likelihood be a ballot measure in 2016 to legalize recreational marijuana.

If that passes without the state having an infrastructure in place to govern the MMJ industry, it could result in regulatory havoc for businesses, officials and consumers.