TAKE THE 2023 CAL NORML SURVEY. WE WANT TO HEAR FROM OUR SUPPORTERS ABOUT THEIR PRIORITIES FOR 2023.
PLEASE SUPPORT CAL NORML IN 2023!
Now is the time to build on the gains we made in 2022! Please support Cal NORML with a membership donation. Click Here to Donate or see our Cal NORML store and purchase merchandise.
It was a banner year for cannabis reform measures in 2022, in no small part due to the efforts of California NORML and our supporters.
LEGISLATIVE GAINS
Cal NORML lead a successful legislative effort to protect the employment rights of California’s cannabis consumers, along with a second bill to protect medical marijuana patients against discrimination by their doctors. The bills were part of a group of reform bills that Cal NORML advocated for and activated our members to support, through several committees and floor votes in both houses of the legislature, all the way through their signing by the Governor. These laws will help protect parental rights, expunge past marijuana convictions, expand local access for medical patients, allow terminally ill patients to use cannabis in hospital settings, permit veterinarians to recommend cannabis for pets, among other reforms. Read more.
In May we held our first post-COVID Lobby Day in Sacramento, bringing dozens of citizen lobbyists from around the state to meet with lawmakers and their staffs and advance our reform bills. Through our email network and social media alerts, we generated over 5200 letters to lawmakers on eleven different bills, most of which were signed into law.
Allied with industry groups and others, our efforts towards tax relief for California cannabis businesses bore fruit when legislation to eliminate the cannabis cultivation tax passed into law. We testified for tax reform and worked with the Governor’s office and legislators to advance this measure.
OTHER ACTIVITIES
Cal NORML issued two election guides in 2022, one for the June primary and a second for the November general election, publishing candidates’ positions and records on cannabis reform, and letting our members know about propositions on local ballots, as well as deadlines to register to vote.
In July, Cal NORML participated in the historic first-ever cannabis exhibit and competition at the California State Fair in Sacramento. We did outreach to attendees from a Cal NORML table and hosted panels on Sustainability and Equity, as well as the Past, Present and Future of Cannabis Reform in California.
In August, we hosted an online webinar for attorneys and the public, “Leading Issues in Cannabis Law and Policy” featuring our new board members Lauren Mendelsohn and Hirsh Jain as part of our commitment towards keeping Californians informed of current cannabis laws and regulations.
In September, Cal NORML director Dale Gieringer picked up a “High Achievement” award from Oaksterdam University, which announced it would be establishing four home-grow yearly scholarships in his name.
We wrapped up the year in November by sponsoring a party celebrating the 50th anniversary of the ballot measure that kicked off marijuana reform in California and beyond, and lead to the founding of Cal NORML. The California Marijuana Initiative of 1972 was funded by the sales of hemp rolling papers and sponsored by Amorphia, the grass roots organization that morphed into Cal NORML in 1974.
As always, Cal NORML works to inform the public about developments in cannabis. We publish an informative website, www.CaNORML.org and put out a weekly email blast summarizing the week’s state, local and federal news stories along with Action Alerts and notices of Coming Events. We regularly publish updates on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and Instagram.
PRESS COVERAGE
Cal NORML’s Deputy Director Ellen Komp was interviewed on KNX radio in LA and CBS’s Channel 8 in San Diego about the announcement from President Biden that he would be pardoning anyone convicted under federal law for pot possession, and calling for HHS and DOJ to review the scheduling status of cannabis.
Dale was quoted in Marijuana Moment about DOT’s move to switch from urine testing to more scientific oral swabs for truck drivers. He was interviewed on KRON-TV about the pain patients’ rights bill, and in LA Weekly when we worked to fight off a bill that would have re-felonized the cultivation of more than 6 marijuana plants.
CAL NORML’S PLANS FOR 2023
Watchdog implementation of AB 1954 (pain patients’ rights) and other bills
Inform public and employers about AB 2188 (employment rights), taking effect in 2024
Push for federal rescheduling and legalization
Support cannabis industry efforts towards public education on high-potency cannabis products
Advance greater access and less taxation for medical patients
Support local activists in opening more cannabis retail outlets and consumption lounges, while fighting off smoking/vaping bans in apartments
Support parental rights for cannabis users, and end drug testing of newborns and their mothers
Watchdog AG Bonta’s new EPIC program against illegal cannabis grows
PLEASE SUPPORT CAL NORML IN 2023!
Now is the time to build on the gains we made in 2022! Please support Cal NORML with a membership donation. Click Here to Donate or see our Cal NORML store and purchase merchandise.
The post Cal NORML’s 2022 Accomplishments and Plans for 2023 appeared first on CaNorml.org.
“While the significance of Congress passing the first stand-alone cannabis policy reform bill should not be overlooked, in truth, we don’t need more research to know definitively that prohibition is a misguided and disastrous policy.”
The post Congress Advances Legislation to the President Amending Clinical Cannabis Research Rules appeared first on NORML.
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Hear the stories from the activists from the 1972 California Marijuana InitiativeTickets to view the Zoom recording of the 11/12 program are available! Visit this link and click on the Zoom option. You will then be sent a link to view the 2-hour, informative and fun program featuring Keith Stroup, John Sinclair, Gordon Brownell, Michael & Michelle Aldrich and more.
The post 50th Anniversary Presentations appeared first on CaNorml.org.
“An overwhelming majority of Americans have consistently opposed our failed prohibition of marijuana for years now, and it defies common sense that our elected officials at the federal level have yet to take any meaningful action.”
The post Gallup: Nationwide Support for Marijuana Legalization Still at Historic High appeared first on NORML.
“Kentuckians suffering from chronic and terminal conditions are going to be able to get the treatment they need without living in fear of a misdemeanor,” Gov. Beshear said in a prepared statement. . “With 37 states already legalizing medical cannabis and 90% of Kentucky adults supporting it, I am doing what I can to provide access and relief to those who meet certain conditions and need it to better enjoy their life, without pain.”
The post Kentucky: Governor Issues Executive Order Providing Pardon Protections to Qualifying Medical Cannabis Patients appeared first on NORML.
The House Oversight and Reform Subcommittee on Civil Rights and Civil Liberties held a hearing entitled “Developments in State Cannabis Laws and Bipartisan Cannabis Reforms at the Federal Level.”
The post <strong>NORML Deputy Director Testifies on Marijuana Legalization Before House Subcommittee</strong> appeared first on NORML.
Thirty-five local ballot measures in 30 California cities or counties address cannabis licensing and/or taxation on the November 8, 2022 ballot (or the 10/19 ballot – Redondo Beach). Of those, 20 cities or counties passed a total of 25 cannabis measures, and 10 cities or counties failed to pass 10 measures, including Sacramento County where a majority of voters (53%) approved a taxation measure that required a supermajority vote.
Results
City or County
County
Title
PASSED
South Lake Tahoe
El Dorado
Measure G
PASSED
McFarland
Kern
Measure O
PASSED
Avenal
Kings
Measure C
PASSED
LA County
Los Angeles
Measure C
PASSED
Claremont
Los Angeles
Measure CT
PASSED
Cudahy
Los Angeles
Measure BA
PASSED
Lynwood
Los Angeles
Measure TR
PASSED
Santa Monica
Los Angeles
Measure HMP
PASSED
Monterey
Monterey
Measure J
PASSED
Pacific Grove
Monterey
Measures O &P
PASSED
Huntington Beach
Orange
Measure O
PASSED
Laguna Woods
Orange
Measure T
PASSED
Montclair
San Bernardino
Measure R
PASSED
Encinitas
San Diego
Measure L
PASSED
San Diego County
San Diego
Measure A
PASSED
Healdsburg
Sonoma
Measure M
PASSED
Exeter
Tulare
Measure B
PASSED
Tulare (city)
Tulare
Measure Y
PASSED
Woodland
Yolo
Measure K
PASSED/FAILED
El Segundo
Los Angeles
Measures Y & W
PASSED/FAILED
Hermosa Beach
Los Angeles
Measures M & T
PASSED/FAILED
South El Monte
Los Angeles
Measures CM & X
FAILED
Lassen County
Lassen
Measure S
FAILED
Susanville
Lassen
Measure R
FAILED
Baldwin Park
Los Angeles
Measure CB
FAILED
Manhattan Beach
Los Angeles
Measures MB & V
FAILED
Redondo (10/19)
Los Angeles
Measure E
FAILED
Sausalito
Marin
Measure K
FAILED
Sacramento County
Sacramento
Measure B
FAILED
Red Bluff
Tehama
Measure E
Los Angeles County saw the greatest number of cannabis ballot measures, leading with Measure C to tax and allow businesses in unincorporated parts of the county carrying with nearly 60% of the vote. The tax rates in that measure are relatively modest compared with other cities and counties, starting at 4% for retail businesses (on top of 15% state excise taxes and sales and use taxes).
Several cities in LA county had competing measures either proposed by business interests some said aimed for monopolies, versus measures put on the ballot by city councils. Both cannabis measures failed to advance reform in Manhattan Beach; in South El Monte Measure CM to allow one adult-use/medical with option of up to three total after the measure’s first year passed, while Measure X to allow five dispensaries plus other businesses failed. In Hermosa Beach, Measure M to end the city’s existing ban on cannabis businesses earned only 27% of the vote, while Measure T to tax such businesses carried with 66%. Similar results were seen in El Segundo, where the tax measure passed by 72%. Taxation/licensing measures carried in Claremont, Cudahy, Lynwood, Santa Monica while Baldwin Park voters nixed cannabis businesses in their city.
Elsewhere, Orange County voters in Huntington Beach and Laguna Woods passed cannabis measures, as did voters in the city of Monterey and Pacific Grove, where both an advisory licensing measure and a tax measure passed. Cannabis measures carried in South Lake Tahoe, McFarland, Avenal, Healdsburg, Exeter, Tulare, Woodland, Encinitas, and San Diego county. They failed in Lassen County, Susanville, and Red Bluff. Sausalito’s failed measure was seen as a vote against a monopoly.
Read more about the measures and all Nov. 8 election results.
The post CA Voters Pass 25 Local Cannabis Measures, Reject 10 appeared first on CaNorml.org.
“Are we in a stronger place today than we were yesterday? Of course.”
The post Legalization Momentum Continues Following Several Election Night Victories appeared first on NORML.
“This means that the great majority of the 20,000 people who have been arrested year after year in Missouri will no longer be subject to criminal prosecution for victimless marijuana law violations.”
The post Missouri Becomes 21st State to Legalize Marijuana for Adult Use appeared first on NORML.
“Texans have shown that they want major cannabis law reforms in Texas via polling, legislative engagement, and now at the local ballot box! ”
The post Texas Cities Move to Depenalize Marijuana Possession appeared first on NORML.