Katelyn Baker
Well-Known Member
State pols did their part last year in finally bringing some semblance of order to the state's 20-year-old medical marijuana industry.
Now it's the bureaucrats' turn.
The three new state agencies tasked with making real the landmark Medical Cannabis Regulation and Safety Act have been on the road the past month, gathering input and intel from stakeholders across California.
That magical medical tour rolled into San Diego on Wednesday, as more than 200 cannabis entrepreneurs, manufacturers, scientists, attorneys and dispensary owners waded into the regulatory malaise during a six-hour meeting with two of the agencies - the Bureau of Medical Cannabis Regulation and the Office of Medical Cannabis Safety.
The state's medical cannabis industry would exist entirely apart from recreational cannabis, if voters approve Prop 64 next month.
The January 2018 start date for license applications to start pouring in gives the newly minted agencies only a few months to hammer out the legalese of what is taking shape to be a labyrinthine landscape of license types and regulations. Officials will feed the findings from their eight-stop tour, as well as info gleaned from online surveys, into recommendations that will go to a public comment period sometime in mid-2017, followed by enactment a few months later.
"We're not the experts; you guys are the experts," Stephen Woods, a division chief in the state Department of Public Health, told attendees.
Most of Wednesday's forum was spent huddled into brainstorming groups - folks in cargo shorts and trucker hats mingled amiably with those in wingtips and blazers - as attendees wrangled with the finer points of the regulatory framework.
Will employees be subject to criminal background checks? How can chain of custody be ensured as cannabis goods are transported and tested? Should delivery services be licensed? What should caps be for the amount of cannabis patients can consume per month?
Even arriving at a definition of "owner" has proved thorny.
Some of the heaviest lifting will come in figuring out the newly created distribution license - one of 17 licenses spelled out in the MCRSA. Attendees on Wednesday struggled to wrap their minds around the real-world ramifications of requiring every single gram of medical cannabis in California to go through brick-and-mortar distribution facilities.
"It's a new process, and everybody's learning - I guess this is why I sense this much frustration," said Jonathan Teeter, director of government affairs for the Solana Beach-based startup Tradiv, an online marketplace for wholesalers and retailers. "The fact of the matter is, a lot of folks are going to run into barriers. A lot of folks are going to sink money into ideas and then realize, 'Oh shoot I'm totally backwards.' There are going to be bumps and bruises in everything; it's just the way it goes."
One of the afternoon's most common refrains: clamor for state officials to be more proactive in coaxing their local counterparts into canna-friendlier policies.
"We can't do that," said An-Chi Tsou, senior policy adviser for the Bureau of Medical Cannabis Regulation. "All we can do is educate."
Their work is only half of the equation, since no state license will be awarded without the applicant first having a license from his or her local government.
"There are 58 counties, 482 cities, and they all like to do things a little bit differently," said Tsou.
Learn more about the state's cannabis road show here. The tour wraps up with a recently added eighth stop in Santa Ana on Oct. 18.
News Moderator: Katelyn Baker 420 MAGAZINE ®
Full Article: Sacramento Report - The State's Long Road To Licensing Medical Marijuana
Author: Staff
Contact: (619) 325-0525
Photo Credit: Sebastian Montes
Website: Voice of San Diego
Now it's the bureaucrats' turn.
The three new state agencies tasked with making real the landmark Medical Cannabis Regulation and Safety Act have been on the road the past month, gathering input and intel from stakeholders across California.
That magical medical tour rolled into San Diego on Wednesday, as more than 200 cannabis entrepreneurs, manufacturers, scientists, attorneys and dispensary owners waded into the regulatory malaise during a six-hour meeting with two of the agencies - the Bureau of Medical Cannabis Regulation and the Office of Medical Cannabis Safety.
The state's medical cannabis industry would exist entirely apart from recreational cannabis, if voters approve Prop 64 next month.
The January 2018 start date for license applications to start pouring in gives the newly minted agencies only a few months to hammer out the legalese of what is taking shape to be a labyrinthine landscape of license types and regulations. Officials will feed the findings from their eight-stop tour, as well as info gleaned from online surveys, into recommendations that will go to a public comment period sometime in mid-2017, followed by enactment a few months later.
"We're not the experts; you guys are the experts," Stephen Woods, a division chief in the state Department of Public Health, told attendees.
Most of Wednesday's forum was spent huddled into brainstorming groups - folks in cargo shorts and trucker hats mingled amiably with those in wingtips and blazers - as attendees wrangled with the finer points of the regulatory framework.
Will employees be subject to criminal background checks? How can chain of custody be ensured as cannabis goods are transported and tested? Should delivery services be licensed? What should caps be for the amount of cannabis patients can consume per month?
Even arriving at a definition of "owner" has proved thorny.
Some of the heaviest lifting will come in figuring out the newly created distribution license - one of 17 licenses spelled out in the MCRSA. Attendees on Wednesday struggled to wrap their minds around the real-world ramifications of requiring every single gram of medical cannabis in California to go through brick-and-mortar distribution facilities.
"It's a new process, and everybody's learning - I guess this is why I sense this much frustration," said Jonathan Teeter, director of government affairs for the Solana Beach-based startup Tradiv, an online marketplace for wholesalers and retailers. "The fact of the matter is, a lot of folks are going to run into barriers. A lot of folks are going to sink money into ideas and then realize, 'Oh shoot I'm totally backwards.' There are going to be bumps and bruises in everything; it's just the way it goes."
One of the afternoon's most common refrains: clamor for state officials to be more proactive in coaxing their local counterparts into canna-friendlier policies.
"We can't do that," said An-Chi Tsou, senior policy adviser for the Bureau of Medical Cannabis Regulation. "All we can do is educate."
Their work is only half of the equation, since no state license will be awarded without the applicant first having a license from his or her local government.
"There are 58 counties, 482 cities, and they all like to do things a little bit differently," said Tsou.
Learn more about the state's cannabis road show here. The tour wraps up with a recently added eighth stop in Santa Ana on Oct. 18.
News Moderator: Katelyn Baker 420 MAGAZINE ®
Full Article: Sacramento Report - The State's Long Road To Licensing Medical Marijuana
Author: Staff
Contact: (619) 325-0525
Photo Credit: Sebastian Montes
Website: Voice of San Diego
