Jacob Redmond
Well-Known Member
A host of bills proposing restrictions on medical marijuana cultivation are set to go before the state Assembly this week, including a bill introduced by 2nd District Assemblyman Jim Wood setting greener standards for medical marijuana growers.
After attending a forum in Garberville on Friday that brought top state officials together with Southern Humboldt County cannabis growers to discuss an expected marijuana legalization initiative for the 2016 ballot, Wood (D-Healdsburg) said on Saturday that the need to set environmental regulations on the medical industry will be essential before a recreational industry emerges. Wood said the bill is not meant to be some that places large burdens on growers, but rather acts as a “carrot” to bring them into compliance with best management practices.
“There is big difference between what traditional agriculture deals with and what small cannabis farmers do,” Wood said. “So how do we get them closer to what traditional agriculture does? That’s the idea behind this. It’s not meant to be onerous. It’s not meant to be overly burdensome or costly. It’s meant to be environmentally sensitive and a lot of it is common sense.”
“... This is a pathway for people who are legitimate cannabis cultivators to be a part of a system that brings them into compliance with some common sense regulations,” he continued. “This is the transition to allow them to be part of a traditional farming community.”
Wood said that he was surprised how many growers voiced support for being taxed and regulated during the Garberville forum.
Having passed though the Assembly Appropriations Committee, Wood’s bill - AB 243 - will now head to the Assembly floor this week where legislators will have until Friday to decide whether it will move on to the Senate or shot down. Unlike the many other marijuana-related bills in the two houses, AB 243 focuses primarily on environmental issues related to cultivation, setting parameters on both indoor and outdoor grows. If approved, medical patients growing more than just for personal use will be required to obtain a permit from the state or local jurisdiction that specifies how many plants are being grown and where they are being grown. The bill sets a limit of 99 plants for outdoor grows and six plants for indoor grows, but allows local jurisdictions to set their own parameters on plant growth as well as their proximity to areas like schools.
“I take exception when people want to put overarching policies on rural counties with very little regard with what’s going to work for us,” Wood said.
Wood said whether local jurisdictions will be able to pick and choose which of the regulations they would want to control or leave to the state is up for interpretation.
The grow permit will include a fee that would be used to cover the costs sustained by the responsible jurisdiction in enforcing the regulations. Every plant would also be required to have a zip tie attached to it that would be issued by the responsible jurisdiction with more possible fees included to pay for inspection, monitoring, and enforcement. The Appropriations Committee set a $6 million annual price tag for the bill, but Wood said that amount would drop over time due to revenue coming in from permitting fees.
The environmental portion of the bill would give the State Water Resources Control Board and its regional water quality control boards the authority to mandate growers to obtain another permit that would set requirements on water discharging. Growers would be required to show that cultivation practices such as fertilizer use, irrigation runoff and soil disposal, and development such as erosion control and road grading complied with state water laws. This section of the bill would effectively root an ongoing pilot project initiated by Gov. Jerry Brown last year that directed the Department of Fish and Wildlife and the State Water Board to enforce watershed impacts from marijuana grows.
While the bill cannot be modified on the Assembly floor, Wood said he is open to amendments by the Senate where he’ll be able to continue working with stakeholders. Aspects such as plant number restrictions could be changed to square footage, for example.
“I put language in there to start a conversation,” he said.
While receiving support from both cannabis organizations and other legislators, Wood said he has also met more resistance from more conservative representatives.
“In some counties they don’t want to talk about it. Their sheriffs hate it,” he said. “Law enforcement has a tremendous influence on their position.”
Two other bills relating to medical marijuana regulation - AB 34, authored by Assemblyman Bonta, D-Oakland, and Assemblyman Reggie Jones-Sawyer, D-Los Angeles; and AB 266, authored by Assemblyman Ken Cooley, D-Rancho Cordova - were also merged by the Appropriations Committee last week, which may cause friction with Wood’s bill. Wood said that while the cultivation regulations proposed in his bill are not in line with those proposed in the other bills, he said that the environmental regulations have been generally supported. Having not seen the merged bills, Wood said he is unsure what regulations survived.
“There was no way both of those big bills were going to survive. I didn’t expect a merger,” he said. “... Now you’ve taken these two separate bills - which are in some ways like oil and vinegar - now you’re going to shake it all up and make something that dresses the salad.”
Wood said he requested to have his bill stand alone as he said he would lose his ability to advocate for North Coast issues if it were merged into a bill created by more urban representatives.
“They don’t know what goes on in our counties,” he said.
If approved by both houses, the bill will go to Gov. Brown after Sept. 11. The bill would take effect on July 2016 if approved.
“People may perceive that this may be the wrong approach, but I’m not afraid to try, and if I have to adjust and have to learn and I have to change I will, but I’m not going to quit working on the issue,” Wood said. “... If I’m not successful this year I will have learned a lot, I’ll regroup and we’ll come at it again. These are hard issues, and I’m not afraid to take on hard issues.”
News Moderator: Jacob Redmond 420 MAGAZINE ®
Full Article: Wood’s green pot bill heading to Assembly floor
Author: Will Houston
Contact: whouston@times-standard.com@times-standard.com
Photo Credit: Will Houston - The Times-Standard
Website: Eureka Times-Standard: Breaking News, Sports, Business, Entertainment & Eureka News
After attending a forum in Garberville on Friday that brought top state officials together with Southern Humboldt County cannabis growers to discuss an expected marijuana legalization initiative for the 2016 ballot, Wood (D-Healdsburg) said on Saturday that the need to set environmental regulations on the medical industry will be essential before a recreational industry emerges. Wood said the bill is not meant to be some that places large burdens on growers, but rather acts as a “carrot” to bring them into compliance with best management practices.
“There is big difference between what traditional agriculture deals with and what small cannabis farmers do,” Wood said. “So how do we get them closer to what traditional agriculture does? That’s the idea behind this. It’s not meant to be onerous. It’s not meant to be overly burdensome or costly. It’s meant to be environmentally sensitive and a lot of it is common sense.”
“... This is a pathway for people who are legitimate cannabis cultivators to be a part of a system that brings them into compliance with some common sense regulations,” he continued. “This is the transition to allow them to be part of a traditional farming community.”
Wood said that he was surprised how many growers voiced support for being taxed and regulated during the Garberville forum.
Having passed though the Assembly Appropriations Committee, Wood’s bill - AB 243 - will now head to the Assembly floor this week where legislators will have until Friday to decide whether it will move on to the Senate or shot down. Unlike the many other marijuana-related bills in the two houses, AB 243 focuses primarily on environmental issues related to cultivation, setting parameters on both indoor and outdoor grows. If approved, medical patients growing more than just for personal use will be required to obtain a permit from the state or local jurisdiction that specifies how many plants are being grown and where they are being grown. The bill sets a limit of 99 plants for outdoor grows and six plants for indoor grows, but allows local jurisdictions to set their own parameters on plant growth as well as their proximity to areas like schools.
“I take exception when people want to put overarching policies on rural counties with very little regard with what’s going to work for us,” Wood said.
Wood said whether local jurisdictions will be able to pick and choose which of the regulations they would want to control or leave to the state is up for interpretation.
The grow permit will include a fee that would be used to cover the costs sustained by the responsible jurisdiction in enforcing the regulations. Every plant would also be required to have a zip tie attached to it that would be issued by the responsible jurisdiction with more possible fees included to pay for inspection, monitoring, and enforcement. The Appropriations Committee set a $6 million annual price tag for the bill, but Wood said that amount would drop over time due to revenue coming in from permitting fees.
The environmental portion of the bill would give the State Water Resources Control Board and its regional water quality control boards the authority to mandate growers to obtain another permit that would set requirements on water discharging. Growers would be required to show that cultivation practices such as fertilizer use, irrigation runoff and soil disposal, and development such as erosion control and road grading complied with state water laws. This section of the bill would effectively root an ongoing pilot project initiated by Gov. Jerry Brown last year that directed the Department of Fish and Wildlife and the State Water Board to enforce watershed impacts from marijuana grows.
While the bill cannot be modified on the Assembly floor, Wood said he is open to amendments by the Senate where he’ll be able to continue working with stakeholders. Aspects such as plant number restrictions could be changed to square footage, for example.
“I put language in there to start a conversation,” he said.
While receiving support from both cannabis organizations and other legislators, Wood said he has also met more resistance from more conservative representatives.
“In some counties they don’t want to talk about it. Their sheriffs hate it,” he said. “Law enforcement has a tremendous influence on their position.”
Two other bills relating to medical marijuana regulation - AB 34, authored by Assemblyman Bonta, D-Oakland, and Assemblyman Reggie Jones-Sawyer, D-Los Angeles; and AB 266, authored by Assemblyman Ken Cooley, D-Rancho Cordova - were also merged by the Appropriations Committee last week, which may cause friction with Wood’s bill. Wood said that while the cultivation regulations proposed in his bill are not in line with those proposed in the other bills, he said that the environmental regulations have been generally supported. Having not seen the merged bills, Wood said he is unsure what regulations survived.
“There was no way both of those big bills were going to survive. I didn’t expect a merger,” he said. “... Now you’ve taken these two separate bills - which are in some ways like oil and vinegar - now you’re going to shake it all up and make something that dresses the salad.”
Wood said he requested to have his bill stand alone as he said he would lose his ability to advocate for North Coast issues if it were merged into a bill created by more urban representatives.
“They don’t know what goes on in our counties,” he said.
If approved by both houses, the bill will go to Gov. Brown after Sept. 11. The bill would take effect on July 2016 if approved.
“People may perceive that this may be the wrong approach, but I’m not afraid to try, and if I have to adjust and have to learn and I have to change I will, but I’m not going to quit working on the issue,” Wood said. “... If I’m not successful this year I will have learned a lot, I’ll regroup and we’ll come at it again. These are hard issues, and I’m not afraid to take on hard issues.”
News Moderator: Jacob Redmond 420 MAGAZINE ®
Full Article: Wood’s green pot bill heading to Assembly floor
Author: Will Houston
Contact: whouston@times-standard.com@times-standard.com
Photo Credit: Will Houston - The Times-Standard
Website: Eureka Times-Standard: Breaking News, Sports, Business, Entertainment & Eureka News
