California
January 1st finally saw the start of sales of recreational pot to customers as California issued its first licenses for its legal pot market.
The first temporary license was awarded to Pure CA, which does business as Moxie brand products, a company known for its cannabis extracts.
In 2016 California legalized marijuana for adults 21 and older, allowing them to grow, use and possess limited quantities for recreational use. California was also the first state, in 1996, to legalize medical marijuana.
In general, California will treat cannabis like alcohol, allowing people 21 and older to legally possess up to an ounce and grow six marijuana plants.
Now the newly legalized recreational market and sales will be merged with the state’s 2 decade old medical marijuana market, which is also coming under much stronger regulation.
The regulations spell out requirements for growers, manufacturers and sellers of marijuana, who would need a state license to operate and be required to follow rules about the products they sell as well as their operating hours, record keeping and security measures. For consumers, legislation and regulation will determine quality control issues and testing will keep consumers safer.
Cannabis products will not be able to contain caffeine, nicotine, dairy, or alcohol. And there are also dosing limits imposed by the state, with no more than 10 milligrams in a serving, and no more than 100 milligrams in a single package.
In California, public smoking is banned within 800 feet of bars, parks, beaches and schools. Hotels also ban smoking, even on balconies, making it difficult for tourists to light up.
But the state could take a cue from Colorado, which has a booming pot tourism industry, and has found ways to circumvent the open-space smoking restrictions. These include commissioning luxury buses and private buildings, such as cannabis hotels where tourists can smoke.
The Other Side of California’s Proposition 64
California’s Proposition 64 ballot measure was not only about marijuana legalization, it was one of the most progressive sentencing and criminal justice reforms in the entire country.
Proposition 64 reduces criminal penalties for various marijuana related offenses and it authorizes a new process for state residents to get previous marijuana related convictions retroactively reduced, reclassified as lesser offenses or dismissed altogether. This process could end up helping hundreds of thousands of people.
“In many ways, Proposition 64 has already been a success because we’ve ended the unnecessary and arbitrary criminalization of Californians around this issue, and helped tens of thousands of people who were unjustly unable to seek career and education opportunities due to prior non-violent marijuana offenses,” Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom said.
Relief is not automatic under the new law. To have marijuana convictions reclassified or cleared you must submit an application to a court. Over 5,000 people have so far applied to have marijuana sentences reviewed for possible relief according to data compiled by the Judicial Council of California. But that is only a small fraction of the number of people who have been arrested for marijuana offenses in the state.
Rodney Holcombe, a legal fellow at DPA, said that there may be close to 1 million people in the state who have convictions that could now be eligible for relief.