Pro-pot legislation progresses in California Assembly ... Nevada not afraid of the Feds ... Postal Service won’t deliver tax money ... “Your brain on drugs, 2.0” ... and more.
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LEGISLATION
“Cannabis sanctuary” bill moves forward // The Cannabist
“The proposal — the first of its kind in the nation — would prevent state and local police from helping federal agents crack down on marijuana activity that California has deemed to be legal. Despite objections from law enforcement, it cleared the Assembly Public Safety Committee Tuesday by a 5-2 vote.”
Protection for cannabis workers moves out of California Assembly committee // Revealnews
“The bill would require marijuana business owners to put at least one employee through a 30-hour state training program within one year of receiving a license. It’s an education that many in the industry believe growers and workers desperately need. Even as marijuana growers come out of the shadows and apply for state licensure, many remain unaware of their requirements under the law.”
No commercial grow sites in Sacramento County // Capital Public Radio
“Supporters of the ban cited problems the county and other jurisdictions have had with crime and pollution.”
“No smoking” in rental properties // L. A. Weekly
“Under Proposition 64 and reigning landlord-tenant policy, rental leases can ban smoking on the premises, tobacco or otherwise. Even if the contract doesn’t explicitly address marijuana, there are a number of other pre-fabricated stipulations — including a ‘no illegal drug’ policy, a nuisance clause and a rule banning tenants from violating state or federal law — that can be invoked to put the kibosh on your cannabis, experts say.”
Nevada could be the first state to allow marijuana social clubs // Las Vegas Review-Journal
“Senate Bill 236, which would let local governments permit marijuana social clubs and other forms of public use currently outlawed, took one step closer to becoming law Tuesday. The bill passed with a 12-9 vote on Tuesday, and it now goes to the Assembly. On Monday, Clark County’s marijuana advisory panel finalized recommendations for county commissioners that detail how marijuana lounges in Southern Nevada could work.”
Most other states fear a federal crackdown on such clubs.
BUSINESS
Postal Service refuses deliver of “drug money” for tax payment // Juneau Empire
“Late last week, Juneau’s first legal marijuana retailer was turned away by the U.S. Postal Service when one of its owners attempted to mail his regularly scheduled state tax payment to Anchorage. That city is the only place equipped to take cash deposits ...
“It’s a system the state itself created, and one that worked last month.
“It doesn’t any more.”
Cannabis legalization is windfall for contractors // North Bay Business Journal
“The nearly two dozen cannabis-commerce applications submitted in Santa Rosa in the past year have brought a surge of business for North Bay contractors including architects, engineers, builders, traffic planners, landscapers, HVAC specialists, attorneys and security firms.”
State studies impact of legal pot on energy grid // CBS SF
“Beginning Jan. 1, 2018, the California Department of Food and Agriculture will begin accepting applications for licenses to grow pot, but it’s still unclear what the energy impacts of the industry might be.”
Native tribes worry Trump administration could shut down cannabis ventures // Sacramento Bee
“’We have to be worried ... They could cut our health funding. They could cut our education funding, our policing. Everything we do is based out of D.C. at the end of the day, so you have to err on the side of caution when getting into this industry.”
OPINION
Cannabis affects the teen brain, so parents need to be vigilant about local controls // SF Chronicle
“Local control allows parents more power over what their kids will be tempted by.”
IN OTHER NEWS....
A new look at that old “your brain on drugs” PSA // Drug Policy Alliance
Eggs still get scrambled.