Robert Celt
New Member
The Sonoma County Board of Supervisors approved on Tuesday a resolution allowing county staff to begin their process for creating rules and regulations for governing medical marijuana in Sonoma County, as allowed under the Medical Marijuana Regulation and Safety Act (MMRSA), which was passed last September.
What they didn't do was pass two urgency ordinances that would have kept the current medical marijuana permissive code on the books until the new rules and regulations were set, which is expected to be in June 2017.
The urgency ordinances were drafted by county staff in response to an error left in MMRSA at the last minute that requires cities and counties to establish their own medical marijuana regulations by March 1, 2016 or forfeit that right to the state.
The urgency ordinances were tabled until next week's Board of Supervisor's meeting because of a bill, AB 21.
AB 21 is Assemblymember Jim Wood's bill that erases the March 1 deadline. As of press time, the bill still sits on Governor Brown's desk. He received it Friday, Jan. 29, and has 12 days to sign it.
In their action, the Board set up their long term solution without stamping approval on a short term plan with hopes the Governor will sign the bill before their Feb. 9, meeting; but as Chair Efren Carrillo pointed out, the Board will meet one day before Governor Brown's deadline. Brown is expected, however, to sign the bill.
"Of course he'll sign it," Supervisor Shirlee Zane said. "He wants those taxes."
Taxation is a large issue in the cannabis industry. At the Sonoma County Medical Marijuana Ad Hoc Committee Town Hall meeting at the Veterans Memorial Hall in Santa Rosa held Monday, Jan. 25, members from the cannabis industry spoke up, one after another, asking county staff – who presented the resolution the Board approved Tuesday – asking to be regulated and taxed. They also asked for the timeline of the process to be expedited.
"We need an opportunity to be recognized as tax paying businesses," Karen Ann of the Sonoma County Growers Alliance (SCGA) said. "This timeline is too long."
Regulation is so desperately wanted because the alternative, which was described at length at the Town Hall meeting – includes to one extreme, raids with dogs, SWAT vehicles, machine guns and policemen who operate on by their own decisions to seize assets and destroy lives and investments, according to Steve Evans.
Less extreme, but just as important is the livelihood and everyday economics of the booming cannabis business trying to bud it's way out of the gray market.
"The issue is there will be no permits available for 18 months," Tawnie Logan, Executive Director of SCGA said. "It leaves operators who are in good standing unable to apply for state licensing that's coming six months later."
Under MMRSA, operators must first obtain a local license before they can apply for a state license. Logan's worry is that a lag in local permitting in Sonoma County will push local operators out of the county to locations that already have permitting regulations set up.
"We completely understand people's anxiety. It's not often you go to a community meeting where people are saying 'tax me.' We're encouraged by that, but we have to balance that by time demand," Wick said.
Logan said there are incentives for both the county and cannabis operators to keep the industry regulated.
"We have the opportunity to be stewards of the industry here," she added. Logan, who attended the Monday Town Hall meeting, admitted she was, at first, frustrated by the long proposed timeline for permitting and regulations to be set up.
"But I'm more invested in making sure we have good regulations the first time," Logan said. "If we have enough time, we can make good policy that meets the middle ground."
That middle ground is the balancing point between the county and the local cannabis industry.
"We have to be consistent with policies," Chair Carrillo said during Tuesday's Board meeting. "We want to be preserving environmental resources, protecting public safety ... and preserving local control."
That's what County staff had in mind when drafting the regulation creation process, which would culminate in June 2017.
The process includes community outreach, research, policy development, public hearings, environmental reviews and workshops.
"We need to learn more about medical marijuana before we can regulate it," said Sita Kuteira at the Town Hall meeting.
Logan said her resources at SCGA could help out with the research aspect of the process, expediting the process.
At Tuesday's Board meeting, County staff addressed the timeline and said they were developing ways to accelerate the process.
"This is unusual legislation. We don't often take businesses out of the black market into the green market," said Tennis Wick, Director of Permit and Resource Management Department. "I don't know if we can get it done in less than this calendar year, but we'll do what we can."
News Moderator: Robert Celt 420 MAGAZINE ®
Full Article: CA: Medical Marijuana Moving Forward
Author: Amie Windsor
Photo Credit: None found
Website: Sonoma West
What they didn't do was pass two urgency ordinances that would have kept the current medical marijuana permissive code on the books until the new rules and regulations were set, which is expected to be in June 2017.
The urgency ordinances were drafted by county staff in response to an error left in MMRSA at the last minute that requires cities and counties to establish their own medical marijuana regulations by March 1, 2016 or forfeit that right to the state.
The urgency ordinances were tabled until next week's Board of Supervisor's meeting because of a bill, AB 21.
AB 21 is Assemblymember Jim Wood's bill that erases the March 1 deadline. As of press time, the bill still sits on Governor Brown's desk. He received it Friday, Jan. 29, and has 12 days to sign it.
In their action, the Board set up their long term solution without stamping approval on a short term plan with hopes the Governor will sign the bill before their Feb. 9, meeting; but as Chair Efren Carrillo pointed out, the Board will meet one day before Governor Brown's deadline. Brown is expected, however, to sign the bill.
"Of course he'll sign it," Supervisor Shirlee Zane said. "He wants those taxes."
Taxation is a large issue in the cannabis industry. At the Sonoma County Medical Marijuana Ad Hoc Committee Town Hall meeting at the Veterans Memorial Hall in Santa Rosa held Monday, Jan. 25, members from the cannabis industry spoke up, one after another, asking county staff – who presented the resolution the Board approved Tuesday – asking to be regulated and taxed. They also asked for the timeline of the process to be expedited.
"We need an opportunity to be recognized as tax paying businesses," Karen Ann of the Sonoma County Growers Alliance (SCGA) said. "This timeline is too long."
Regulation is so desperately wanted because the alternative, which was described at length at the Town Hall meeting – includes to one extreme, raids with dogs, SWAT vehicles, machine guns and policemen who operate on by their own decisions to seize assets and destroy lives and investments, according to Steve Evans.
Less extreme, but just as important is the livelihood and everyday economics of the booming cannabis business trying to bud it's way out of the gray market.
"The issue is there will be no permits available for 18 months," Tawnie Logan, Executive Director of SCGA said. "It leaves operators who are in good standing unable to apply for state licensing that's coming six months later."
Under MMRSA, operators must first obtain a local license before they can apply for a state license. Logan's worry is that a lag in local permitting in Sonoma County will push local operators out of the county to locations that already have permitting regulations set up.
"We completely understand people's anxiety. It's not often you go to a community meeting where people are saying 'tax me.' We're encouraged by that, but we have to balance that by time demand," Wick said.
Logan said there are incentives for both the county and cannabis operators to keep the industry regulated.
"We have the opportunity to be stewards of the industry here," she added. Logan, who attended the Monday Town Hall meeting, admitted she was, at first, frustrated by the long proposed timeline for permitting and regulations to be set up.
"But I'm more invested in making sure we have good regulations the first time," Logan said. "If we have enough time, we can make good policy that meets the middle ground."
That middle ground is the balancing point between the county and the local cannabis industry.
"We have to be consistent with policies," Chair Carrillo said during Tuesday's Board meeting. "We want to be preserving environmental resources, protecting public safety ... and preserving local control."
That's what County staff had in mind when drafting the regulation creation process, which would culminate in June 2017.
The process includes community outreach, research, policy development, public hearings, environmental reviews and workshops.
"We need to learn more about medical marijuana before we can regulate it," said Sita Kuteira at the Town Hall meeting.
Logan said her resources at SCGA could help out with the research aspect of the process, expediting the process.
At Tuesday's Board meeting, County staff addressed the timeline and said they were developing ways to accelerate the process.
"This is unusual legislation. We don't often take businesses out of the black market into the green market," said Tennis Wick, Director of Permit and Resource Management Department. "I don't know if we can get it done in less than this calendar year, but we'll do what we can."
News Moderator: Robert Celt 420 MAGAZINE ®
Full Article: CA: Medical Marijuana Moving Forward
Author: Amie Windsor
Photo Credit: None found
Website: Sonoma West
