medical marijuana lawyer California

March 16, 2020

California Proposes Regulations for Appellations of Origin for Cannabis

Los Angeles marijuana tax lawyer Regulations were proposed by the California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) last month, suggesting that appellations of origin are established for cannabis. As such, February 20 marked the beginning of the 45-day period required by Californian law, where the public can submit any comments it may have on the matter. The CDFA has continued to welcome and encourage all interested to submit their thoughts. The deadline to do so is April 6, 2020.

Background
Under Section 26063 of the Business and Professions Code, The Medical and Adult-Use Cannabis Regulation and Safety Act (MAUCRSA), requires that the CDFA Cultivation Licensing Division, also known as CalCannabis:

Forms standards that allow licensed cannabis growers to elect a county of origin for their cannabis; and
Establishes a process that licensed cannabis growers can use to establish appellations.

The department has until January 1, 2021 to form the process of appellations of origin. In order to meet this statutory obligation and to fulfill MAUCRSA mandated responsibilities, the department has created what is now know as, the Cannabis Appellations Program (CAP).

December 20, 2019

SB 34 – Reviving California’s Compassionate Cannabis Programs

By Cannabis Law Group

California’s Compassionate Use Act, the 1996 law that made this state the first in the country to allow medical marijuana, gave patients with serious illnesses a means to access cannabis products for free through small, non-profit collectives and dispensaries. However, since the passage of Proposition 64 in 2016, wherein California voters approved cultivation and sales of the drug for recreational use, funding for low-income patients qualified for medical marijuana through CUA has run dry. Los Angeles marijuana lawyer

Our Los Angeles marijuana lawyers know this is largely thanks to the fact that with legalization came a flood of state and local taxation. The drug is taxed at virtually every stage – from seed to sale – making it difficult if not impossible for patients to access the drug at lower costs as they once did. Marijuana is taxed largely the same whether it’s donated for medicinal use or sold for profit. The markup can be as much as 40 percent.

Patients who have relied on cannabis as a daily use medicinal said the prices have resulted in the plant being out of reach. Some point to this as yet another piece of the puzzle as to why the black market thrives. Low-income patients, veterans and others face buying illegal stock or else going without altogether. Some providers who were once paying $10-per-patient suddenly were suddenly paying $100-a-patient after Prop. 64.

SB-34, signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom earlier this year, is an attempt to rectify this problem. Continue reading

June 12, 2019

Medical Marijuana Credited With Fewer California Workplace Injuries

By Cannabis Law Group

Increasing accessibility to medical marijuana is being linked to a one-third reduction of workplace deaths among those between the ages of 24 and 44. Study authors opine workers are consuming less alcohol and pills because of legalization, and the reduction of this lethal combination has meant fewer people killed on-the-job. workplace cannabis attorney

Workplace cannabis lawyers know this contradicts some of the many arguments employers, Chambers of Commerce and other business advocacy groups have made as medicinal and marijuana is becoming increasingly state-legal. Their position was that because marijuana has the potential to impair one’s cognitive and motor function, legalization may cause more an uptick in people using it at work, which in turn would result in higher on-the-job accidents and injuries.

Now, we’re seeing that in fact the opposite is true. Continue reading

February 15, 2019

U.S. Bill Would Allow Medical Marijuana for U.S. Military

By Cannabis Law Group

Medical marijuana has long been known to be effective in treating conditions like anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder and chronic pain. Yet the U.S. military has long taken a hard-line stance against marijuana, a position solidified during the Vietnam War as reports blasted on the evening news indicated that half of all soldiers deployed were regularly using marijuana. A study by the Pentagon later revealed the actual figure was closer to 70 percent. This, along with the crash of an aircraft carrier by soldiers later found to have marijuana in their systems led to a zero tolerance policy. California medical marijuana veterans

This has led to all sorts of injustices. Historically, it’s been military policy to exclude from entrance any individual who previously used marijuana as a civilian. In recent years, waivers for “past misconduct” have risen, and are expected to continue rising. Just last year, for instance, the Military Times reported a Vietnam War veteran and head of a military school in Florida was terminated for using medical marijuana extract to treat cancer.

Now, Congressional leaders have filed twin bills in the House and Senate to change federal law that would allow U.S. veterans who abide by state medical marijuana laws to avoid federal intervention and would allow doctors with the Department of Veterans Affairs to issue medical marijuana recommendations to their patients. The Veterans Medical Marijuana Safe Harbor Act, sponsored by U.S. Senate Democrats from California and Hawaii, notes that the drug is legal in 33 states and that medical marijuana can be used to treat chronic pain without the use of dangerous and highly addictive opiates. The sponsor of the House version of the bill said in a statement, “it’s past time to end the anti-science, anti-health cannabis prohibition laws that prevent veterans from accessing health care.” Continue reading