SACRAMENTO >> Should police officers be able to use a controversial spit test to see if they believe drivers are high?
Should billboards advertising pot shops be allowed on state highways?
Should marijuana business owners have to drive hundreds of miles with their trunks full of cash to pay their tax bills?
These are a few of the questions California legislators are attempting to tackle through an ever-increasing number of bills proposed since voters legalized recreational marijuana with Proposition 64 in November.
Prop. 64 was 62 pages long. And it combined elements of three lengthy bills approved in 2015 to start to overhaul California’s loosely regulated medical marijuana program. But state leaders say there are still too many conflicts between those two systems, too many loopholes left open, too many protections missing and too many details left vague.
That’s where “clean-up legislation” comes into play.
With the state aiming to issue licenses for both medical and recreational marijuana businesses by Jan. 1, 2018, expect much more of it to come over the next 11 months.
On page 3 is a roundup of key cannabis-related legislation now pending before the California Senate and Assembly.
