It is well known\u00a0that California initiatives and legislation have provided for medical marijuana to be legal in California. But did you know that until very recently, medical marijuana collectives and growers still faced unpredictable raids from the federal government? Indeed, some still believe raids and enforcement activity are likely to continue, despite numerous reforms already in place in California as well as scheduled to be implemented in the near future.<\/p>\n
History of Federal vs. State Governments Approach to Medical Marijuana<\/strong><\/p>\n In the past, the federal government has been reluctant to follow the will of local and state governments when it came to medical marijuana. For example, when Washington, D.C. voters approved medical marijuana legalization in 1998 for their city, Congress used its authority over the city\u2019s activities to prevent the law from taking effect for the entire decade following.<\/p>\n After California voters passed Prop. 215, which legalized cultivation of medical marijuana for patients or caregivers, federal raids continued to target growers who were operating within the legal limits placed by Prop. 215 (also known as the Compassionate Use Act) and SB 420.<\/p>\n After similar medical marijuana initiatives passed in cities and states like Alaska, Oregon, Washington, Arizona, Nevada, Colorado, Hawaii legislature passed medical cannabis legislation, Montana (just to name a few), followed by the passage of recreational use initiatives in Colorado and Washington, the federal government was In 2013, the U.S. Department of Justice issued a memo<\/a>\u00a0in essence stating that if a state has \u201cimplemented strong and effective regulatory and enforcement systems to control the cultivation, distribution, sale, and possession of marijuana,\u201d then this means the federal government is less likely to interfere, although the federal government was clear that it retained its discretion to enforce at will. The rationale behind the policy stated in the memo was that if the state was regulating\u00a0marijuana effectively, this would aid the federal government’s goal of making sure that marijuana was coming from sources not benefiting or in any way related to organized crime. Unfortunately, in the eyes of the federal government, California had not implemented the “strong and effective regulatory and enforcement systems,” and California dispensaries and growers were constantly at risk for raids, even if they were in compliance with local county government sheriffs and officials.<\/p>\n California Medical Marijuana Laws<\/strong><\/p>\n One of the reasons why the federal government did not consider California to effectively regulate medical marijuana is because Prop. 215 is one of the most loosely written initiatives ever. It simply states that marijuana use and cultivation is legal for patients, or a patient\u2019s caregiver, if they received their doctor\u2019s recommendation for use. There was no regulatory framework for keeping track of doctor’s recommendations, for example. This was rectified by SB 420, which aimed to clarify Prop. 215 and provide some regulatory guidance. SB 420 required the State Department of Health to create a program for issuing identification cards to qualified medical marijuana patients (the so-called \u201cmedical marijuana card\u201d).<\/p>\n Federal Enforcement Efforts Continue in California<\/strong><\/p>\n Because California\u2019s law is so relaxed when it comes to who can qualify for medical marijuana \u2013 a doctor can recommend its use for treating anything from AIDS drug related nausea and chemotherapy side effects to anxiety or ADHD \u2013 the federal government has continued to raid dispensaries and collectives. This is still occurring even after Congress lifted the federal ban on medical marijuana. But take one look at\u00a0the White House\u2019s position on marijuana \u2013 not just medical marijuana \u2013\u00a0and it is clear that in some cases, the federal government will choose to enforce the Controlled Substances Act in California,\u00a0without distinguishing between\u00a0so-called street sales of marijuana or a \u00a0dispensary providing marijuana to patients in accordance to California\u00a0state law.<\/p>\n The 2015 Medical Marijuana Regulation\u00a0and Safety Act (MMRSA)<\/strong><\/p>\n In 2015, three bills were passed that make up the entirety of the Medical Marijuana Regulation and Safety Act. The bills attempt to regulate medical cannabis from cradle to grave, dealing with prescribing, licensing, cultivation, <\/a>transportation (so-called “virtual dispensaries”), distribution, sales and the environmental impacts of marijuana farms.<\/p>\n The Act contains many regulatory provisions, and a good summary<\/a> of them are available from Americans for Safe Access, but some of the most interesting and important ones are discussed here.\u00a0Doctors face new standards they must meet, for example, when\u00a0prescribing medical cannabis and are also now prohibited from receiving kickbacks from dispensaries or cannabis providers. In addition, under MMRSA,\u00a0the Medical Board of California must prioritize the investigation\u00a0and discipline of doctors who overprescribe medical marijuana or fail to conduct a good faith examination prior to prescribing.<\/p>\n The bill also allows counties to tax specified medical cannabis-related activities, requires applicants for state licenses to sign applications under the penalty of perjury and sets forth certain duties relating to environmental impacts of growing or processing the marijuana. Most importantly, however, is the establishment of a\u00a0Bureau of Medical Marijuana Regulation under the supervision and control of the Director of Consumer Affairs, as well as the involvement of the state\u00a0Board of Equalization and\u00a0the Department of Food and Agriculture to track\u00a0the movement of commercial cannabis and cannabis products.<\/p>\n Lastly, the bill had in place a provision that mandated localities to regulate cultivation by March 1, 2016 or else defer to state regulations, but this section was deleted\u00a0by urgency bill<\/a> just\u00a0this past month on February 3, 2016.<\/p>\n
\nforced to shift its approach on legalized marijuana as the will of the people became harder to ignore.<\/p>\n