Rhode Island: Lawmakers Advance Adult-Use Legalization Bill

“This is an important first step in the process of ending all penalties for cannabis possession and ensuring Rhode Islanders have access to regulated and tested cannabis products, just like New Englanders already have in neighboring states,” says Jax James, NORML’s State Policy Manager.
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NORML PAC Endorsed John Fetterman Wins PA Senate Primary in Landslide

NORML PAC endorsed US Senate candidate John Fetterman won the state’s Democratic primary by a large margin. 
The post NORML PAC Endorsed John Fetterman Wins PA Senate Primary in Landslide appeared first on NORML.

Ohio: No Opportunity for Voters to Decide on Marijuana Legalization Until 2023

Commenting on the settlement, a spokesperson for the Coalition to Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol said, “To be certain: we aren’t going anywhere and are undeterred in our goal to legalize cannabis for all adults in Ohio.”
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Study: Young Adults’ Consumption of Alcohol, Cigarettes, Other Substances Fell Following Marijuana Legalization

Investigators reported, “Contrary to concerns about spillover effects, implementation of legalized non-medical cannabis coincided with decreases in alcohol and cigarette use and pain reliever misuse.”
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Primary Election Guide to Cannabis Candidates: June 2022

Here are Cal NORML’s recommendations for pro-cannabis candidates in key or contentious races for the June 7 Primary Election in California. Send any input about other races for this guide here.
Rob Bonta for Attorney General
Bonta has long been a strong friend and supporter of and reasonable voice for cannabis law reform. In 2015, he was one of the Assemblymembers who drafted a set of bills that licensed and regulated medical cannabis, and he repeatedly worked to lower taxes on cannabis in the legislature.  In 2018, Asm. Bonta authored Cal NORML’s employment rights for medical marijuana users bill, and introduced AB 1793, which passed into law, creating an automatic pathway for Californians to have criminal convictions for cannabis-related offenses removed or reduced from their records. As AG, Bonta has worked with county officials to expedite the expungement process and announced his office would conduct a six-month review of the interagency CAMP (Campaign Against Marijuana Planting) program in October 2021.
In the nonpartisan primary, Bonta is running against Republicans Eric Early, who is for gun rights and against critical race theory, and Nathan Hochman, an Assistant US Attorney who prosecuted “narcotics traffickers and violent gang members.” Candidate Daniel Kapelovitz of the Green Party also ran in the Newsom recall; Anne Marie Schubert, who is running as an Independent, is a former Republican who has been cozy with the police unions and opposed legalization.
 
Tom Lackey for re-election to Assembly District 34 (Apple Valley, California City, Barstow, Big Bear Lake, Twentynine Palms and parts of Hesperia, Highland, Lancaster, Palmdale, Victorville)
Lackey, a Republican and former CHP officer, co-sponsored legislation to license medical cannabis businesses in 2015. While supportive of medical access, in 2016 he opposed Prop. 64 to legalize recreational marijuana. Nonetheless, he has posted a good voting record in recent years. He sponsored bills to foster cannabis research, and worked with reform advocates to turn his DUI bill into a CHP task force, on which Cal NORML sat.
In this newly drawn district, Lackey will face Thurston Smith, who this year introduced a pair of bills to criminally or civilly penalize cannabis gardens as small as seven plants, a move seen as grandstanding in a region where Republican congressmen are making similar bluster. However, his office seems to have heard Cal NORML’s objections and his bill AB 2728 has been softened somewhat, removing the seven-plant mention.

Dave Jones for State Senate District 8 (Richmond/Fairfield/Solano County)
Jones has been a strong supporter of cannabis reform since his days in the Assembly. As State Insurance Commissioner, he was one of the few public officials to endorse Prop 64.

Yesenia Sanchez for Alameda County Sheriff
In this anyone-but-Ahern race, Sanchez has the endorsement of the Brownie Mary Club of Alameda County, who tells us Sanchez understands and supports protecting cannabis businesses, saying they should have equal protection as other businesses, and is concerned about the nonaction of Oakland police during recent robberies. She has a focus on mental health, so that prison is not a continuous cycle as it is now. Sanchez has the endorsement of the East Bay Times, which opposes Ahern’s reelection. Ahern has been particularly obstructionist to cannabis businesses in Alameda county.
 

Rebecca Kaplan for Alameda District 3 Supervisor

Kaplan has been a leading advocate of cannabis reform measures during her tenure as an Oakland City Councilwoman and Vice Mayor, most recently sponsoring a resolution to support Cal NORML’s employment rights for cannabis users bill. Here election would create a cannabis-friendly majority on the Board of Supervisors.

Diana Becton for Contra Costa D.A.
Becton is a progressive who has been proactive on issuing expungements for past marijuana convictions in Contra Costa county. She calls criminal justice reform a leading priority and was endorsed by George Soros’ progressive Real Justice PAC in her last election.
 
Steven Vargas for Orange County District 4 Supervisor
As a Brea city councilman, Vargas opposed a ban on medical marijuana cultivation in 2016, but opposed deliveries, citing a potential for theft.

Lori Saldaña for San Diego City Council, District 2
Saldaña was a strong advocate for marijuana law reform during her time in the state Assembly. She posted a solid pro-reform voting record, and in 2007 she sponsored a bill that would have made it state policy not to cooperate with DEA raids. In 2008, she co-authored Mark Leno’s Industrial Hemp bill and his Employment Rights for Medical Marijuana Users bill, which passed in the Legislature but was vetoed by Gov. Schwarzenegger.
 

Dave Myers for San Diego Sheriff
Myers has been openly critical of the county’s over-policing of the cannabis community. “I will enforce a sensible approach to marijuana that permits safe access over black-market options,” he said when he ran in 2018. “The Sheriff currently has only one full-time detective on opioid enforcement, but ten dedicated to marijuana enforcement. Have we ever seen an overdose death on marijuana?”
The post Primary Election Guide to Cannabis Candidates: June 2022 appeared first on CaNorml.org.

Status Update: 2022 Ballot Initiatives and Referendums

Voters in several states are anticipated to decide on marijuana-related ballot measures in November. Here is an update of where those efforts currently stand. 
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Gov. Newsom Proposes Ending Cannabis Cultivation Tax in California

At Gov. Newsom’s press conference this morning announcing his May budget revision, he was asked about his proposal to end the cannabis cultivation tax while keeping the state excise tax at 15%. He announced a $150 million “backfill” from the General Fund to cover any temporary tax income reductions that may affect youth, environmental, or law enforcement programs that are currently funded with Prop. 64 taxes, while announcing a $21 million dollar grant program for local governments looking to open cannabis businesses.
Newsom thanked the people leading this effort, including Sen. Bradford, who just picked up an award at the Cal NORML / ASA Lobby Day for his work toward equity and fairness for cannabis in California. Bradford’s bill SB 1281 was the only legislative proposal this year to end the cultivation tax without raising excise taxes. Cal NORML testified in favor of Bradford’s bill last week in the Senate Governance and Finance committee.

The Governor also cited local governments’ lack of support by not allowing retail, distribution, and other cannabis businesses, in announcing his proposed grant program for locals. “This will be a multiyear process to get go after the illegal market and put the adult use market on steady ground,” he said.
Read the budget proposal.
In excerpt:
CANNABIS CANNABIS TAX REFORM
California’s current cannabis tax framework is overly complex and burdensome for licensees and consumers. Current tax policies disproportionately burden cannabis farmers, create additional administrative costs and instability throughout the supply chain, and lack sufficient transparency for the state, businesses, and consumers. Taken together, these outcomes undermine the societal benefits of a taxed and regulated market. The May Revision proposes statutory changes to reform cannabis taxes. These policy changes aim to greatly simplify the tax structure, remove unnecessary administrative burdens and costs, temporarily reduce the tax rate to support shifting consumers to the legal market, and stabilize the cannabis market with policies that are more transparent and can better adjust to market changes.
Major changes include:
• Setting the cultivation tax rate at zero beginning July 1, 2022. 
• Shifting the point of collection and remittance for excise tax from distribution to retail on January 1, 2023, maintaining a 15 percent excise tax rate.
• Setting Allocation 3 funding for youth education/intervention/treatment, environmental restoration, and state and local law enforcement programs at a baseline of $670 million annually for three years. Up to $150 million one-time General Fund is available as needed through 2025-26 to backfill Allocation 3 funding, along with the authority to increase the excise tax rate through 2024-25 if tax revenues fall below the baseline for Allocation 3.
• Strengthening tax enforcement policies to increase tax compliance and collection and reduce unfair competition.

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Nearly a Quarter of Senate Members Send Bipartisan Letter Urging Congressional Leadership to Keep SAFE Banking in Pending Legislative Package

A bipartisan group of 24 Senators stood up for public safety and for greater economic opportunities for legal cannabis businesses today by sending a letter to leadership in both chambers of Congress asking them to include cannabis banking reform language in broad legislation currently being debated in conference committee.
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State Policy Weekly Update 5/13/2022

This week’s update highlights legislative advancement in California, Delaware, Louisiana, New Jersey, and more!
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Delaware Legislature Approves Legislation to Remove All Penalties for Adult Marijuana Possession

The Delaware State Senate approved legislation to remove all criminal and civil penalties for adult possession of marijuana. In a 13-7-1 vote, the state’s upper chamber voted to pass HB 371, which legalized the possession of up to one ounce of marijuana for individuals aged 21 or older.
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