Will pot users be risky drivers?
Gov. Brown approves a study to find out the answer, along with several measures aimed at marijuana regulation.
SACRAMENTO — Gov. Jerry Brown on Thursday signed a series of bills preparing California for a new era of marijuana regulation, including one launching a study of the effects of cannabis on motor skills.
Brown also approved measures preserving small medical marijuana growing operations from bigger competitors and allowing cannabis dispensaries to pay taxes and fees in cash.
However, Brown vetoed bills that would have allowed 135 cannabis dispensaries to operate in Los Angeles without city licenses as well as provided tax amnesty to medical cannabis dispensaries that owe back taxes.
The governor’s decisions follow his approval last year of a new system of regulating and licensing the growth, distribution and sale of medical marijuana beginning in 2018.
Brown’s action Thursday also comes as California voters are set in November to consider an initiative that would legalize the recreational use of marijuana.
Assemblyman Ken Cooley (D-Rancho Cordova) authored the measure calling for a University of California study of marijuana’s physical effects.
“This bill addresses the issue of the lingering effects of medical marijuana on motorists, which is a very important piece for public safety,” Cooley said. “A lot of medical marijuana issues affect the person using it, but when they are on the roads everyone is affected.”
Police agencies have struggled with enforcing laws against driving while impaired by marijuana because more research exists on the effects of alcohol than marijuana.
“Law enforcement needs the best-informed understanding of those effects in order to deal with suspected cases of drugged driving from marijuana,” Cooley said.
The measure also sets standards for processing marijuana that, if met, will allow medical cannabis manufacturers to operate without the threat of state law enforcement action.
Brown also approved a bill that will allow medical pot businesses to pay the state with cash without facing steep penalties.
The bill was proposed because marijuana possession and sale is still illegal under federal law, so banks will not accept business from medical marijuana dispensaries. That makes it impossible to write checks or do electronic transfers to pay taxes and fees to the state.
The governor also signed a measure aimed at protecting small medical marijuana farms by creating a special state license for “cottage” operations of less than 5,000 square feet.
However, the governor vetoed a measure that would have exempted 135 marijuana stores in Los Angeles from a requirement to get a city license. The stores were grandfathered in when voters approved a ballot measure in 2013.
He noted that the measure conflicts with state law requiring dispensaries to get licenses from both the state and the city.
“This bill is inconsistent with dual licensing requirement established last year by the Medical Cannabis Regulation and Safety Act,” Brown wrote in his veto message.
He also nixed a bill that would have provided tax amnesty to hundreds of dispensaries throughout California that are believed to be delinquent on about $106 million in back taxes.
“While increasing tax compliance among medical marijuana businesses is important, it is premature to create a tax amnesty before the regulations that link enforcement to licenses are promulgated,” Brown wrote.