The State of California took the biggest step in regulating the use of medical marijuana after California Governor Jerry Brown signed three bills on Oct. 9 that will create a Bureau of Medical Marijuana Regulation.
California's Compassionate Use Act (Proposition 215) was enacted on Nov. 5, 1996 to give exemption to patients and medical officials who use and cultivate marijuana for medical treatment. Its enactment highlighted Golden State as the frontier in the use of medical cannabis, propelling Districts of Columbia and Guam and 22 more states in the United States to follow suit.
The most recent signing of the three laws in California will establish a state organization that will oversee the licensure, production and clinical tests of medical marijuana. This news evidently made California Cannabis Industry Association executive director Nate Bradley very happy.
Through the USA Today, Bradley said, "The ones who have the financing are doing a good job working together to get past their differences. There are lots of strong personalities in the discussion. Nobody has officially has done their own thing."
The once dark industry has been drawing wealthy investor including Facebook investor and Napster co-founder Sean Parker. Industry players are well aware that the new laws can be a strong motivation in legalizing the recreational use of marijuana.
Parker and InvestInCannabis.com CEO Eddie Miller, predict cannabis legalization as inevitable. The two are pushing for corporate-friendly state policies with only a few privately-owned firms for distribution.
Marijuana Policy Project based in Washington applauded Brown for his move. Lauren Vazquez, the group's deputy director for communication, pointed out that the laws will provide patients with access to the medical marijuana that is legal, consistent and clinically safe.
The new laws will as well lead to new guidelines for product tests and categorizations, giving patients and health official surety that they are getting the right products.
These signed laws will take effect in 2018, and therefore, marijuana cultivation currently is still in gray market farms. The laws will regulate cultivation activities together with the imposition of the state tax. Agriculture leaders will also have to create a system to track the development and the sale of cannabis products for medical use.
On the contrary, Reuters noted that opponents to the laws argue that the policies will result in a business organization that could lead to harmful use. The co-founder of Smart Approaches to Marijuana Kevin Sabet said that some individuals are against seeing marijuana stores in their communities.
Sabet added that the current way of acquiring medical marijuana from a doctor's office and smoking it are favored by recreational users of the drug.