California Med & Rec rules combined ... Nevada rec laws stall ... Marijuana use increases at Oregon colleges, so do vehicle accidents in legal states ... and more.
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LEGISLATION & REGULATION
Recreational and medicinal marijuana are now one in California // abovethelaw.com
“Last week, in a huge step forward for marijuana law reform, the California Legislature passed Senate Bill 94, which effectively repeals the Medical Cannabis Regulation and Safety Act (MCRSA) and incorporates certain provisions of the MCRSA in the licensing provisions of the Control, Regulate, and Tax Adult Use of Marijuana Act (AUMA aka California’s recreational marijuana law).”
New regs will allow dispensaries to pay taxes in their county, not in Sacramento // SF Weekly
“’The Cannabis Safe Payment Act will save these business owners from having to drive all over our state with suitcases full of cash, which is a huge public safety problem, state senator [Scott] Wiener said in a statement. ‘Cannabis is a significant part of our economy, and it’s only going to grow as we fully implement adult use.’”
[Note: See related story in Business.]
Don’t count on legal pot in Nevada next week // Las Vegas Sun
“A Nevada judge granted a preliminary injunction [Tuesday] to liquor distributors for the state’s new recreational marijuana program to put a scheduled July 1 early start date for the new industry in jeopardy.”
BUSINESS
Cannabis cocktails at Castro café // Bay Area Reporter
Recreational cannabis can’t be sold until next year, but Flore in San Francisco’s Castro neighborhood has found a way around that.
Neighbors object to “green rush invasion” // SFGate
Some in San Francisco’s Visitacion Valley neighborhood say two proposed marijuana dispensaries will dominate their small commercial strip on Leland Avenue, and that’s not good.
Bank to MPP: Your money’s no good here // Leafly.com
Banks fear working with dispensaries or growers due to federal laws, but the Marijuana Policy Project (MPP) does neither. Their bank of over 20 years says it’s now too risky for MPP to have an account because the group “received funding from marijuana businesses that handle the plant directly.”
HEALTH
Testing, Testing! // SF Weekly
California has done a good job setting up marijuana testing and regulation – up to a point.
Cal/OSHA: No special rules needed for medical pot industry // lexology
“The decision not to develop new rules for the medical marijuana industry follows extensive research by the Cal/OSHA staff into other states’ experiences with occupational safety and health issues in their own cannabis industries.”
Mexico moves toward legalizing medical marijuana // Washington Post
“Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto signed a decree this week legalizing medical marijuana.”
Now the Ministry of Health has to draft and implement regulations.
Beware “stoner barf’ // SacBee
“Emergency medicine physicians at UC Davis Medical Center said they’ve seen young, often college-age patients come in once or twice a day vomiting multiple times an hour and screaming uncontrollably.
“'They keep moaning, shouting and yelling after they vomit. It’s very dramatic. It sounds like someone is dying,’ said Dr. John Richards, an emergency medicine physician and professor at UC Davis.”
IT’S A CONTROLLED SUBSTANCE, SO KEEP IT UNDER CONTROL...
What happens when someone tries to sneak hundreds of pounds of pot onto an Air Force base // NewsOK
“A narcotics agent on military duty [last week] with the Air Force inspected the tractor-trailer, which revealed duffel bags and 35 boxes of marijuana and oil, he said.”
IN OTHER NEWS....
Study: Marijuana use up at Oregon colleges since legalization // KLCC Radio
The study also found “that across the country, minors are using more marijuana than those 21 and over,” but that situation “is more pronounced in Oregon."
Study: Insurance industry finds increase in vehicle accidents after legalization // Insurance Inst. for Highway Safety
“Legalizing recreational marijuana use in Colorado, Oregon and Washington has resulted in collision claim frequencies that are about 3 percent higher overall than would have been expected without legalization, a new Highway Loss Data Institute (HLDI) analysis shows. This is HLDI's first report on how marijuana legalization since 2014 has affected crashes reported to insurers.”
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