Freedom to Toke Coalition Fights Pot Smoking Ban in San Jose

In a victory for cannabis consumers, the San Jose City Council Neighborhood Services and Education Committee voted 5-0 on 12/9/2021 to exempt cannabis from a proposed Smoke-Free Housing Ordinance. The ordinance would have banned smoking and vaping of all kinds in multi-unit dwellings.
California NORML joined forces with the Silicon Valley Cannabis Alliance, MPP, ASA and other advocates in urging the council to exempt cannabis from the ban, thus limiting it to tobacco only. Advocates have previously succeeded in defeating cannabis smoking bans in West Hollywood and San Francisco.
In testimony to the council, Cal NORML argued that cannabis smoking is fundamentally different from tobacco smoking:
• Unlike tobacco, which can be legally smoked outside on the streets, cannabis consumption is illegal in all public places in California. Therefore, the proposed ban on residential use would be a de facto ban on cannabis for most San Jose residents.
• Unlike tobacco, cannabis has recognized medical value under California law.
• Unlike tobacco, no study has ever found second-hand cannabis smoke to be dangerous to human health. This is even more true of vaping.
• The proposed policy would inequitably impact lower-income and minority residents who can’t afford their own homes.
The San Jose ordinance still has to go before the full City Council, where six votes are needed for passage. However, it goes with the support of five members who have already approved the cannabis exemption.
Please support Cal NORML in 2022 when we will continue to fight for cannabis consumers’ rights across California. Read more about our 2022 plans. 
The post Freedom to Toke Coalition Fights Pot Smoking Ban in San Jose appeared first on CaNorml.org.

Freedom to Toke Coalition Fights Pot Smoking Ban in San Jose

In a victory for cannabis consumers, the San Jose City Council Neighborhood Services and Education Committee voted 5-0 to exempt cannabis from a proposed Smoke-Free Housing Ordinance. The ordinance would have banned smoking and vaping of all kinds in multi-unit dwellings.
California NORML joined forces with the Silicon Valley Cannabis Alliance, MPP, ASA and other advocates in urging the council to exempt cannabis from the ban, thus limiting it to tobacco only. Advocates have previously succeeded in defeating cannabis smoking bans in West Hollywood and San Francisco.
In testimony to the council, Cal NORML argued that cannabis smoking is fundamentally different from tobacco smoking:
• Unlike tobacco, which can be legally smoked outside on the streets, cannabis consumption is illegal in all public places in California. Therefore, the proposed ban on residential use would be a de facto ban on cannabis for most San Jose residents.
• Unlike tobacco, cannabis has recognized medical value under California law.
• Unlike tobacco, no study has ever found second-hand cannabis smoke to be dangerous to human health. This is even more true of vaping.
Cal NORML also pointed out that the proposed policy would inequitably impact lower-income and minority residents who can’t afford their own homes.
The San Jose ordinance still has to go before the full City Council, where six votes are needed for passage. However, it goes with the support of five members who have already approved the cannabis exemption.
Please Support Cal NORML in 2022 when we will continue to fight for cannabis consumers’ rights across California. Read about our 2022 plans. 
The post Freedom to Toke Coalition Fights Pot Smoking Ban in San Jose appeared first on CaNorml.org.

CAL NORML 2021 ACCOMPLISHMENTS AND PLANS FOR 2022

Please donate to Cal NORML to support our advocacy work, or join as a regular or business member:

Cal NORML regular membership
Business Membership with Free Listing

$20.00 – $100.00 / year
$50/month – $500/year

Cal NORML PRIORITIES FOR 2022

Pass employment rights legislation to forbid pre-employment drug testing for marijuana using urine and hair tests.
Reduce taxation; in particular, eliminate the cannabis cultivation tax.
Protect right to smoke and vape cannabis at home and expand venues for public consumption.
Expand number of legal cannabis businesses by ending local licensing bans
Protect medical access, prevent discrimination against Prop 215 patients, and lower taxes on medical products.
Continue to back federal legalization bills.
Publish 2022 election guide to candidates for office in California.

 
EMPLOYMENT RIGHTS FOR ALL CANNABIS CONSUMERS
Cal NORML’s major effort in 2021, which will continue in 2022, is our campaign for employment rights for cannabis users in California.
Asm. Bill Quirk (D-Hayward) stepped up this year to introduce a Cal NORML-sponsored employment rights bill, AB 1256, as a two-year effort. Our intent is to end employment discrimination based on testing for non-psychoactive cannabis metabolites in urine, hair, or bodily fluids for both recreational and medical cannabis users, while allowing employers to maintain a safe workplace by disallowing and testing for cannabis use or impairment on the job.
We are seeing much movement in this fight at the national level, starting with unprecedented support for sprinter Sha’Carri Richardson, who was banned from the US Olympic team for legally using marijuana in Oregon. Also this year, Amazon announced it would cease testing for marijuana in its employees, and New York state issued guidelines to employers instructing them not to test for marijuana, the latest state to pass employment protections for recreational users.
With Cal NORML’s support, the city councils of Oakland and San Francisco passed resolutions in support of AB 1256, and a similar resolution has been introduced in the LA City Council. Oakland has now gone further, introducing an ordinance that seeks to protect most city workers from drug testing that merely detects cannabis use off the job, not use or impairment in the workplace. Meanwhile, the California State Personnel Board issued a ruling in June reinstating a DOT employee who had been fired for failing a urine test, because such a test does not establish that an employee is under the influence of marijuana, exactly the argument we have been making.
Cal NORML has been meeting with human rights groups, union representatives, and business stakeholders at the state and local levels to answer concerns and shore up support for our employment rights bill in 2022, which will be introduced by Asm. Quirk under a different number.
Cal NORML is also seeking legislation to end the cultivation tax, and to protect pain patients’ access to medical cannabis
OTHER 2021 LEGISLATION 
2021 began with over 30 cannabis-related bills, most of them business oriented, introduced again this year in Sacramento. Cal NORML tracked these bills and responded from a consumer rights perspective, alerting our members when key bills were up for a vote.
Cal NORML generated over 750 letters to Gov. Newsom asking him to sign SB-311 “Ryan’s Law,” a bill to require hospitals to allow terminal patients to use cannabis. The bill was signed into law; now the fight will be to watchdog health care facilities to make sure they are implementing the new law (already there has been some resistance).
Much energy was expended in 2021 on extending the expiration date for cannabis provisional licenses, which had been set to expire in July 2021. After much debate among cannabis advocates and environmentalists, the Governor’s budget trailer bill allowed provisional licenses to be extended up to January 1, 2026. The Governor also budgeted $100 million to aid local governments in processing EIRs for cannabis license applicants.
Asm. Aguiar-Curry reintroduced her bill (AB-45) allowing for hemp-derived CBD products to be included in foods, beverages, and cosmetics. Cal NORML objected to its ban on hemp cigarettes, and an amendment was made that removed the hemp cigarette ban only once they are taxed. AB-45 was signed into law.
Because billboards provide useful information to consumers in search of legal cannabis outlets, Cal NORML supported a bill by Asm. Bill Quirk, AB 1302, to allow billboard ads for cannabusinesses on certain state highways. AB 1302 passed in the legislature, but was vetoed by Gov. Newsom, who says he will work with the bill’s author to “refine and advance its regulation of cannabis while also remaining faithful to the will of the voters.”
OTHER ACTIVITIES
In September, we published an election guide to the Guberatorial recall campaign, providing information on candidates’ stances and records on cannabis.
In April, we alerted our business and consumer members about a new policy from USPS banning the shipment of vape products, and we held  a Zoom meeting to address the complicated issue of expungement of past marijuana crimes in California, another process that is requiring watchdogging.
In March, a report from a three-year CHP committee on drugged driving on which Cal NORML director Dale Gieringer and deputy director Ellen Komp sat was released. The report contains numerous recommendations on improving DUI detection and prevention, data collection, public education, etc., but does not recommend adopting per se drug DUI thresholds like those used for alcohol, something Cal NORML (and science) insisted upon.
In February, we held a Zoom meeting and published a Local Action Toolkit titled, “Where the Reefer Meets the Road” to help counter some of the local resistance to cannabis business licensing we are seeing at the local levels. We continue to support local NORML chapters in Los Angeles, Orange County, San Diego, the Inland Empire, the Central Valley, and Contra Costa county as well as other local activists as they fight these battles and others.
One local issue has been cities and counties proposing bans on smoking in private apartments that include cannabis smoking and vaping.  We successfully opposed proposals to ban cannabis smoking in West Hollywood and San Francisco and are currently working with activists in San Jose to derail such an effort there, again fighting propaganda from anti-tobacco interests.
We hope to work towards opening more cannabis consumption lounges and spaces (especially as COVID restrictions end) in 2022. Several cities have opened for such spaces, which are allowable under state law for licensed retailers, but most places have not.
FEDERAL ACTIVITIES
As always we continue to work with our national NORML office to bring the California congressional delegation onboard with federal legislation. This year saw unprecedented support for legalization at the federal level, with the latest bill being introduced by a Republican congresswoman from South Carolina with the support of Republican Tom McClintock of California. The MORE Act, re-introduced this year by Congresswoman Barbara Lee (D-Oakland) and others, continues to be a priority for NORML, as does a new bill by Rep. Nancy Macy (R-South Carolina), the States Reform Act.
EVENTS
Despite COVID restrictions, Cal NORML was able to hold two successful events in 2021. The first was an online Legal Seminar held June 1 & 2 at which acting BCC director Tamara Colson appeared, and she and other attorneys discussed compliance & enforcement, local government issues, appellations petitions, equity, hemp/CBD, federal legalization, parental rights, criminal law, descheduling and employment rights.

On November 5, we held an in-person event in San Francisco to commemorate and celebrate the 25th anniversary of Prop. 215, which legalized medical marijuana in California and lit the fire for further legalization laws around the world. The event was well attended and much appreciated by all. The Los Angeles Times, LA Weekly and others covered the event, where attendees viewed a recorded greeting from AG Rob Bonta and were also greeted by Sen. Scott Wiener.
We were sorry that Luke Scarmazzo, who continues to serve a 20-year sentence in federal prison for running a California cannabis dispensary, could not attend the party. We hope to work to free him in 2022.
PRESS COVERAGE
Cal NORML is  often quoted calling for fewer regulations and taxes on cannabis in California, and for broader human rights for cannabis consumers.
The announcement of our employment rights bill got national press, and we got some media attention when we called for a “Drug Peace Day” on the 50th anniversary of Nixon’s War on Drugs on June 17.
Cal NORML director Dale Gieringer was quoted in an OC Register story about the CHP driving report (see above). He co-authored an oped titled, Free States from Obsolete Federal Marijuana Laws, which ran in the LA Daily News, commenting on the MORE Act in the House, and a draft Senate bill by Sen. Schumer, and arguing that the federal role in cannabis regulation should rightly be restricted to products in interstate or foreign commerce.
Deputy Director Ellen Komp was quoted on the front page of the San Francisco Chronicle in a story about Oakland’s move to protect its employees against urine and hair testing. She recently appeared on a 420Radio Network segment.
BUSINESS MEMBERSHIP UPDATE
We greatly expanded our website SEO capabilities and business membership perks in 2021, publishing business member blog posts on handling DCC inspections, SEO tips for cannabis companies, and firearm possession law.  Look for Business Membership Manager Kharla Vezzetti at the Cal NORML booth #411 at the NCIA Show in San Francisco in December to sign up for end-of-the-year specials advertising specials.  (More from Kharla?)
An online survey conducted by Cal NORML is finding that 60% of respondents report they have stopped using cannabis due to drug testing by their employers or doctors. Based on this, we are launching a Capital Campaign to raise funds from the cannabis industry for our employment rights campaign. Business members can join on a sliding scale, based on their income. READ MORE.

PLEASE SUPPORT CAL NORML IN 2022!
Cal NORML keeps our members informed of cannabis news at the federal, state, and local levels through our newsletter, website, and weekly email alerts, as well as public outreach tables at events. Through NORML’s networks we generate thousands of constituent letters in favor of progressive bills, and against ones that take away our rights.
Now is not the time to stop the fight! 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 2021 ACCOMPLISHMENTS AND PLANS FOR 2022 appeared first on CaNorml.org.

If a Policy Took Over Half of Your Customers Away, What Would You Do About It?

November 22, 2021 – Results of an online survey of cannabis users that California NORML is conducting indicate:
– 30% of respondents (with another 15% unsure) indicated they had been denied employment for testing positive for marijuana
– 8% have been terminated because of a positive marijuana test
– 65% are looking for a job and afraid of discrimination due to their marijuana use
– 37% have increased their use of opioids or other drugs, or alcohol, because of drug testing
– 60% have stopped using marijuana because of drug testing by their employer or doctor
It is stunning that such a large number of Californians living in a state with legal marijuana have experienced job discrimination, and are turning to more harmful drugs or alcohol because of drug testing by their employers or doctors.
One finding that ought to be of interest to the cannabis industry: 60% of survey respondents stopped using marijuana because of drug testing. “If any other policy took away more than half of an industry’s customers, they would want to do something about it,” said Cal NORML Deputy Director Ellen Komp.
In the wake of these findings, Cal NORML is announcing a Capital Campaign aimed at the cannabis industry to fund the organization’s efforts to change California law to ban employment discrimination based on off-the-job marijuana use. Industry members can join the campaign on a sliding scale, based on their income.
CAL NORML’S EMPLOYMENT RIGHTS CAMPAIGN
Cal NORML has been fighting for Californians’ employment rights for several years, and we are starting to see the results of our efforts.
Asm. Bill Quirk (D-Hayward) introduced a Cal NORML-sponsored employment rights bill, AB 1256, in 2021. The intent is to end employment discrimination based on testing for non-psychoactive cannabis metabolites in urine, hair, or bodily fluids for both recreational and medical cannabis users, while allowing employers to maintain a safe workplace by forbidding and testing for cannabis use or impairment on the job.
With Cal NORML’s support, the city councils of Oakland and San Francisco passed resolutions in support of AB 1256, and a similar resolution has been introduced in the LA City Council. Oakland has now gone further, introducing an ordinance that seeks to protect most city workers from drug testing that merely detects cannabis use off the job, not use or impairment in the workplace. Meanwhile, the California State Personnel Board issued a ruling in June reinstating a DOT employee who had been fired for failing a urine test, because such a test does not establish that an employee is under the influence of marijuana, exactly the argument we have been making.
We are seeing growing momentum in this fight at the national level, starting with unprecedented support for sprinter Sha’Carri Richardson, who was banned from the US Olympic team for legally using marijuana in Oregon. Also this year, Amazon announced it would cease testing for marijuana in its employees, and New York state issued guidelines to employers instructing them not to test for marijuana, the latest state to pass employment protections for recreational users.
Cal NORML has been meeting with human rights groups, union representatives, and business stakeholders at the state and local levels to answer concerns and shore up support for our employment rights bill in 2022, which will be introduced by Asm. Quirk under a different number.
WE NEED YOUR SUPPORT!
Cal NORML is funded entirely with member donations; we receive no financial support from our national office. We need funding for our own staffing and to pay for lobbyists we have engaged to help us push this over the finish line in 2022.
Please contact Cal NORML Deputy Director Ellen Komp to learn more about the campaign, suggested industry donations, and benefits for joining.
If we all pull together, we can make this happen!
Cal NORML is the advocate for cannabis consumers (your customers) in California.
Along with employment rights, Cal NORML works on:

Bringing the CA Congressional delegation onboard with legalization at the federal level; working towards a fair and equitable system for all
Supporting efforts of local NORML chapters and other activists towards cannabis business licensing and human rights (e.g. providing places where cannabis can be consumed)
Lobbying on bills in Sacramento from a consumer’s perspective. Our members want to see fewer taxes and lessened regulations on cannabis in California.

More on our 2021 Accomplishments and 2022 Plans at (LINK).
Cal NORML will celebrate its 50th Anniversary in 2022; see our Mission Statement.
More on Cal NORML’s Employment Rights Campaign
The post If a Policy Took Over Half of Your Customers Away, What Would You Do About It? appeared first on CaNorml.org.

Cal NORML Opposes Cannabis Cultivation Tax Hike

November 22, 2021 – The California Dept. of Taxation and Fee Administration has ruled that the cultivation tax on legal cannabis be raised from $9.65 to $10.08 per dry-weight ounce of flower, from $2.87 to $3 for leaf, and from $1.35 to $1.41 for fresh material starting on January 1, 2022.
California Should Be Reducing, Not Increasing Cannabis Taxes
Cal NORML denounced the tax hike as wrong-headed and untimely. “The legal industry is already so burdened by excessive taxes and regulation that it cannot compete with unlicensed marketers,” says California NORML Director Dale Gieringer. “California needs to be reducing, not increasing cannabis taxes to make the legal market more competitive.”

The cultivation tax is especially burdensome on licensed farmers, who are struggling from a price collapse due to overproduction. Wholesale prices for outdoors flower have plummeted 60% in the past year to as little as $200 – $500 per pound according to MJBizDaily.com. At this rate, the new cultivation tax amounts to a whopping 30% – 80% of the cost of production. Even after the tax has been paid, producers have no assurance that the crop will ultimately be sold. Meanwhile, the costs are passed along to consumers and magnified at every subsequent stage of production.
The CDTFA is authorized by law to adjust the cultivation tax yearly in line with inflation; in the case of cannabis, however, prices have collapsed, not inflated.
“The cultivation tax was designed to bolster prices against a possible collapse in the legalized market,” says Gieringer, who once supported it. “The fear was that if cannabis became as cheap as comparable herbal products like tea, the price could drop to a few dollars per pound, or just pennies per joint. In actuality, however, California’s costly taxes and regulations have raised the price for legal cannabis substantially above what it was prior to legalization.”
A 2020 poll of Cal NORML members found consumers want lower taxes on cannabis, with 76% of respondents naming it as their top legislative priority. Prop. 64’s taxes and local restrictions sent many Californians back to unlicensed and untested suppliers when it took effect in 2017, leaving many medical patients and others without a safe and affordable source for cannabis, and fueling the illicit market.
“California has no need for further cannabis tax money. The Legislative Analyst’s Office has estimated that the state will have a budget surplus of $31 billion next year. The cultivation tax is particularly onerous and cumbersome to administer. We urge that it be eliminated,” said Gieringer.
The post Cal NORML Opposes Cannabis Cultivation Tax Hike appeared first on CaNorml.org.

Oakland Public Safety Committee Votes to Prohibit City Employees’ Cannabis Metabolites Testing

Oakland, CA — Today, November 9, 2021, the Oakland Public Safety Committee voted unanimously to forward the proposed ordinance introduced by Vice Mayor Rebecca Kaplan and co-authored by Council President Fortunato Bas, Councilmember Kalb, and Pro Tem Thao, creating a Prohibition Against City Employees Cannabis Metabolites Testing.
Currently, the city tests employees for cannabis metabolites. This substance can show in a test for weeks after use, and is not an accurate indication of impairment. New York City and Philadelphia have ordinances that protect all employees, with the exception of federal employees from cannabis testing. Washington, DC and Atlanta have mayoral orders that protect city employees from employer discrimination for off-the-job use of marijuana.
The ordinance will now go to the Rules committee and If it passes, it would make Oakland the first city in California to protect its employees against job discrimination for off-the-job cannabis use.
After introducing the ordinance’s language and lamenting the city’s inability to fill many open positions, Vice Mayor Kaplin noted, “The fact that we are still in this day and age excluding people for off-duty cannabis use in the city that invented cannabis legalization makes no sense, and it means streets not being paved and garbage not being picked up and permits not being issued. This is not in alignment with our vision for justice and not in alignment with our needs as a public-service institution.”
She continued, “I want to add that it is also my goal that we will work with our federal lobbyist on those positions that we are being ordered to do it that we should seek to change federal law, and explain to our federal decision makers that what people are being tested for is not impairment at work; what people are being tested for is unrelated off-the-job conduct, and it is both unfair and not useful in terms of getting the jobs done.”
Councilmember Fife, chairing the meeting, said she wholeheartedly supported the item, especially in the face of the crisis of vacant positions in Oakland. She and councilmembers Gallo and Reid, along with Vice Mayor Kaplan, voted in favor of the measure.
Oakland also lead the way in passing a resolution in favor of SB 1256, Asm. Quirk’s pending bill to end employment discrimination based on inactive metabolite testing for cannabis for most employees, public and private, at the state level. Oakland was quickly followed by San Francisco also passing a similar resolution in July 2021, and by LA City Councilmember Raman introducing a resolution in support of AB 1256 in October. “California has long had a progressive stance on the consumption of cannabis — but it has fallen short in protecting its workers who use cannabis off the job,” said Councilmember Raman. “Each day we neglect removing these outdated drug testing requirements is another day we are erecting roadblocks to ensuring a truly robust and equitable workforce.”
On June 15, 2021 the California State Personnel Board (SPB) ruled that the California Department of Transportation must reinstate an employee who failed a urine test for marijuana use, because such a test does not establish that an employee is under the influence of marijuana when reporting for duty. This ruling should protect most state workers against employment discrimination due to drug testing, but not city or private company employees. Read more.
Amazon announced it would cease employment drug testing for cannabis in June, and New York is the latest state to protect its recreational cannabis users from job discrimination; 21 states plus Washington, DC (but not California) protect medical marijuana users against similar discrimination.
Read more about Cal NORML’s Employment Rights campaign.
The post Oakland Public Safety Committee Votes to Prohibit City Employees’ Cannabis Metabolites Testing appeared first on CaNorml.org.

The Inspections are Coming

By: Attorney Lauren Vázquez
High Rise Law, Founder & Principal
For all the bad that came with the COVID pandemic, the cannabis industry has endured relatively well. There was a collective sigh of relief when California declared cannabis businesses to be essential early in lock down, something unimaginable just a few years ago. With the exception of the targeted robberies and looting last summer and the advent of social distancing precautions, it was mostly business as usual for the cannabis industry.
One welcomed change for cannabis business owners was the pause on state and local compliance inspections. With the shelter-in-place, government closures, and social distancing mandates, inspections have been noticeably absent. The CA Department of Public Health went so far as to institute self-inspections for manufacturers and some places like the City of Los Angeles set up virtual inspections.
However, now that the state is cautiously opening up we are already seeing an uptick in inspections and the news is not good. Earlier this year a colleague shared a story of a BCC raid that was reminiscent of the terrorizing police raids under Prop 215 and SB 420. Agents came in, property was seized, and the business shuttered. Interestingly, during a client’s recent CDFA farm inspection in Mendocino County the inspectors were from Los Angeles and Sacramento as part of a larger touring group of inspectors being cross-trained on cannabis farms. That week there were no less than a dozen sets of inspectors conducting at least two inspections per day throughout Northern California. It should be noted that at that time they were using outdated versions of the CDFA inspection forms. Through a California Public Records Request High Rise Law obtained the most recent version and it is 30 pages longer making the original look like child’s play. You can view a copy of it here along with the updated cultivation penalty matrix here.
The Department of Cannabis Control consolidation isn’t going to slow things down either. Initially scheduled for July 2020, the consolidation went into effect July 2021 giving the Bureau of Cannabis Control and other state agencies an extra year to get a handle on the transition. At this year’s Cal NORML Legal Seminar Acting BCC Chief Tamara Colson reported that all of the current staff at the agencies would remain on board at the new DCC in pretty much the same positions even staying in their current offices. They have set up one DCC coordinated enforcement unit that has been given top priority. Depending on the type of action, the unit will engage other government agencies including law enforcement. While management has been working on consolidation, all the state inspectors have had to do for the last year is practice and train for the coming reckoning.
If that weren’t enough, don’t forget about local inspections. They are often more detailed and cover more areas of regulation than the state agencies including things like disabled parking, signage, and security measures. Some local governments have contracted out their inspections to private companies which adds even more variables to the whole process.
So what’s the big deal? Are inspections really that serious? Yes, they are the primary method of licensing enforcement. The risks are huge and prior notice is not required. It is a violation in and of itself to not be prepared for an inspection. Some of the penalties are mind blowing. The failure to provide or maintain proper records on the premises alone can result in a $30,000 fine per violation. Due to the complicated nature of cannabis compliance, most inspections result in a Notice of Noncompliance. Generally the licensee is given a time frame to correct the violations and avoid the fines. Some major violations and subsequent offenses however are not treated lightly. Fines are not the only thing to worry about though. The state and local agencies are also authorized to issue administrative holds, confiscate products, and even force licensees to destroy inventory. Worst case scenario they can suspend and revoke the cannabis license which would spell the end for any business who can’t afford to fight it.
If you’ve already experienced an inspection, beware. The inspectors are not your friend. Repeat violations will get you in trouble. If they think a business is unsafe, they will take action. If you haven’t had an inspection yet, get ready – you are next. Fortunately, there are a few easy things you can do to prepare. Once you receive an inspection notice:

Prepare your staff to greet and escort the inspector
Have the visitor log ready
Make sure all the required licenses, permits, and signs are posted and current
Clean up. Clear all floors and walkways
Wrap up any pending METRC inputs
Prepare your sales records
Make sure the person meeting with the inspector has access to all required business records

While these steps won’t address all potential violations, some are red flags to inspectors that will cause them to look a little closer at everything else. By addressing these you will start the inspection with a good impression and motivate the inspector to work with, not against you. The inspections are coming, but instead of brushing things under the rug take this as an opportunity to test and improve your business and be the best you can be.
——-
Compliance is complicated but High Rise Law is here to help. Our one-of-a kind Cannabis Inspection Protection℠ Services will ensure your business performs at its best when it matters most. Click here to learn more and sign up before it’s too late.
The post The Inspections are Coming appeared first on CaNorml.org.

SEO Optimization of an Online Cannabis Store: Step-by-Step Instructions

Contributor: MjSeo Agency
Let’s remember: the main page is the “face” of the site, and it should be in order since it is the beginning of the user’s acquaintance with the company. Most often, visitors come here from search engines. Here is the largest percentage of external links, and it distributes the link mass in favor of other pages of the resource.
In SEO optimization of the main page (and other pages), technical factors, semantics, linking, and much more are crucial. But its special role within the cannabis online store makes its adjustments to the optimization process.
What will we talk about:

Semantics: optimization and updating;
Content;
Meta tags: Title, H1, Description;
Link weight;
What is bad for homepage optimization?

Semantics: optimization and updating
We recommend starting with collecting the semantic core, namely, the competent distribution of keywords.
In the process of selecting queries, we focus not only on frequency but also analyze the general situation in the search results.
Here we recommend that you pay attention to what queries your competitors are promoting. This will help you build the right strategy or correct an existing one.
You can collect and check keywords using Serpstat or other programs that show how many main pages are promoted for a specified request.
We act according to the following scheme:

We determine the most common queries describing the activities of the site and collect all possible synonyms;
We collect the frequency of requests to determine if they can bring us traffic, or it is a “dummy”;
Check if the different spellings belong to the same group.

Thus, on the homepage, all keywords must be compatible with each other.
For example, we use a tool for uploading the TOP-10. Usually, with its help, we determine whether it is possible to promote requests on one page and then quickly analyze which pages are in the search results (main, categories, or products).
We recommend checking the semantic core every 2-3 months. Is it still valid, or do you need to add/remove/replace keywords?
You can’t do it once and expect that it will work — it’s not the case. The SERP changes quite often, as do the interests of users. If you want to be in the TOP for relevant queries, systematically update the semantic core.
Content
Do you even need text on the homepage? What should the content be like?
Before deciding whether to add text or not, we recommend that you analyze the sites of leading competitors in queries from search results in your topic.
What to pay attention to:

how much text they have on the main page;
what keywords do they use for optimization: high-frequency/low-frequency, direct/indirect;
are there key phrases in the headlines?
is there any internal linking in the text; if so, where do the links lead to?

After analyzing the competitors, you can start preparing the text, namely, setting the technical specification for the copywriter.
Here, we are guided by the following:

The H1 heading should reflect the company’s activities and contain an entry for the high-frequency keyword. Whenever possible, they should be catchy;
After reading the text, the user should learn something new and useful for oneself. We do not recommend making a pitch for yourself on the main page;
Key queries must be relevant;
The text must have a structure. A solid canvas of text is just bad manners. An article broken down into paragraphs and blocks, bulleted or numbered lists, tables, etc., looks much better. Probably, the search robot will not notice the difference (although we do not state this), but a visitor will definitely appreciate such a text design. And it is a living person who will buy your product, not a robot.

Instead of specifying a direct keyword, we break it down into individual words that must be mentioned in the text.
What else to look for when optimizing homepage content:
1.   Hidden text
At some point, this black SEO trick was best-known among SEO professionals. With the help of a white font, the text with the keywords was hidden under the scroll or off the screen. The user did not see it, but the search robots read the text and highly assessed it. Now you can be banned for this.
By the way, if you bought the site and you are not sure that there is no hidden text, press Ctrl + A. All text, including hidden one, will be highlighted.
2.   Page loading speed
In terms of SEO, this parameter is also of great importance — you select the right keywords, optimize the site, etc., the user visits the page, and… leaves without waiting for the site to load. It’s a shame, isn’t it? To prevent this from happening, measure the website loading speed. This can be done, for example, using Google PageSpeed ​​Insights.
In 2018, Google published a study that states that when the download speed increases from 1 to 3 seconds, the probability of rejection increases by 32%. If the loading time increases to 5 seconds, then the possibility of leaving the page will increase by 90%.
If the loading speed of your site leaves much to be desired, we recommend working out the content: compress the photo, upload the video to external resources (Vimeo, for example), and place the link on the main page, etc.
Readme: keep an eye on the quality of your photos and videos. If, for example, images are highly compressed, the quality will be lost, and this may affect traffic.
Speaking of the photo, don’t forget to fill in the alt attributes and short description, including relevant key entries. Also, check that image indexing is not blocked by robots.txt. This will help your resource to take part, among other things, in image search and, in general, to attract additional traffic (crucial for unique content).
Meta tags
These guys help to get additional information about specific pages of the site not only to search engines but also to ordinary users. Well-designed Title, H1, and Description directly affect the CTR (the ratio of the display of a site snippet in organic SERP to clicks on it).
Let’s take a look at each of the meta tags.
Title
It is essential to write down the name of the online store, its specialization, and, in some cases, the region (if it is crucial to pay attention to this).
The capacious description that you write here will be displayed in the search results. Remember this when filling out!
The optimal length is 60-70 characters with spaces.
What we recommend:

Place a high-frequency unique request here that is relevant to the page. Do not duplicate the keyword from the Title in tags of other pages.
Write keywords as readable as possible. Similar structure as {cannabis, buy, 24/7, city} is an undesirable format. It is better to write keywords in this way — {Buy cannabis in [city] — prices in the online store [Store name]}.

H1
This tag tells crawlers about the topic of the page and what it says to the visitors. That is why H1 must display the content of the main page as much as possible so that the page is relevant to the search results for the desired queries.
Basic recommendations for filling H1:

there should be a high-frequency relevant query here;
the structure of the text should be logical and readable;
put only one keyword and avoid commercial entries;
use clean tags without classes, etc. — that is, header tags in the source code.

Description
The importance of this tag cannot be overemphasized. And here’s why: a correctly filled description is displayed by search engines in a snippet and, as a result, users pay more attention to your site.
But this only works if the description is filled in correctly. Otherwise, Google will display the content from the page that is relevant in its opinion.
Recommendations for composing a description:

The description should not be identical to Title;
no overspam;
optimal size — up to 160 characters with spaces;
you need to take into account the tails from requests from the core. If you do not have the opportunity to specify some words from the core (inexpensive, sizes, prices, etc.) in the Title, it is better to enter them in the Description.

Again, we recommend analyzing competitors, carefully looking at what designs they use. This can be done manually or using an SEO analyzer, for example, SEMrush, AHrefs, etc.
Link weight
The main page, by tradition, collects the largest percentage of internal links and distributes its weight to the rest of the site. At the same time, it has the greatest link weight on the site since every page of the site links to her. That is why it is crucial to choose correctly which links will lead from the main page.
Recommendations:
●     Make sure that links to important pages and sections are accessible to search engines
To do this, you can go into the code and check that the links of the main navigation elements are direct links. Also, they must be relative, not absolute — i.e., we write the link without the domain name. For example: <a href=”/catalog/CBD/”> Oils&Capsules </a>;
●     Get rid of dangling nodes
These are pages in the main structure to which the link leads, but there is no outgoing link from it. A button for a feedback form, PDF files, etc., can become such a node. In fact, they pull over the incoming link weight and do not bring any benefit.
Getting rid of the dangling node is easy — close the links with a script. This will help to transfer more statistical weight to the priority pages.
●     Check the weight of the main page
Again, it is the main page that accumulates the largest number of incoming links, which are further distributed to other pages of the site. If the main one does not have the greatest weight, then a mistake was made somewhere. You can check the main page weight using PageWeight or Netpeak Spider.
By the way, about the number of links. In some materials devoted to SEO optimization of the main page, you can find recommendations for limiting the number of internal links — no more than 100.
In the meantime, there is no specific limit on the number of links in the Google Webmaster Guidelines, just “limit the number of links on a page to a reasonable number (maximum a few thousand).”
In any case, before proceeding with optimization, we recommend analyzing the TOP-10 and seeing how many links the leaders of the niche have.
The same Google constantly says that sites should be for people, with the most useful, high-quality content.
What can harm your homepage SEO optimization?
Of course, we cannot but tell you about the most common mistakes that can destroy all your efforts. In general, they relate to the entire site, but for the main page (in comparison with other pages), they are the most critical.
1.   Too much content
In the recommendations, Google writes that “The site should be for people.” So, people don’t read canvases of text. Also, they do not like the awkward interface and crooked keywords, which are clearly out of the question.
By breaking the delicate balance of content and neglecting usability, you run the risk of increasing bounce rates. And this, in turn, entails a decrease in traffic and “negative growth” of the site’s position in search engines.
2.   Third-party advertising
Here the principle is the same as in the previous paragraph. A large amount of advertising can scare off even the most loyal fan of your online store. If you are not ready to completely abandon third-party advertising, control its amount.
3.   Musical accompaniment
It is definitely a bad idea for an online store. Imagine you are sitting, calmly scrolling through sites and looking for a suitable product, and suddenly, music bursts into your cozy world. It feels pretty strange, don’t you agree? Music will probably be appropriate on image sites, where brand presentation is most important. But when it comes to an online store, we recommend abandoning this idea.
4.   Lack of page testing
This includes not only the loading and operation of the page on different devices but also the display of content.
For example, you have placed a photo of a product in the slider on the main page. Above — the name of the special offer. When checked on a standard monitor, everything was okay. But a user who looks at the site on their 4K monitor sees half of the product in the slider, and the text has merged with the photo.
And such errors can be on the entire page: somewhere the text has moved, there is a wrong button, the layout has gone, etc. This, in turn, entails an increase in refusals, and then … Well, you know.
In conclusion
Wow! In this article, we tried to collect the basic information that is important to consider in the SEO optimization of the home page.
At the same time, we remind you: each resource is unique.
Analyze competitors — leaders from search results for relevant queries for your site, take into account the features of your site, apply basic knowledge to the site, and may the growth of traffic and conversions be with you.
The post SEO Optimization of an Online Cannabis Store: Step-by-Step Instructions appeared first on CANORML.

Free States from Obsolete Federal Marijuana Laws

By Dale Gieringer and Geoffrey Lawrence
Federal laws against marijuana are outdated and counterproductive.  Polls show that nearly seven in ten Americans favor legalizing adult use of marijuana, and 90% favor medical use.   Eighteen states have now legalized adult use of marijuana, and 36 have laws allowing medical use.
Nonetheless, federal law remains stuck in the past, strictly prohibiting  marijuana as an illicit “Schedule 1”  substance like heroin, treating it more stringently than cocaine or methamphetamines.  As a result, it remains federally illegal for Americans to possess, grow, distribute, or transport marijuana, even for medical use and even where state law allows it.  The conflict between state and federal laws has rightly led Supreme Court Justice Thomas to question the legitimacy of continued federal prohibition.
How then to reform marijuana laws?   There is no one simple answer. A multitude of federal agencies and regulations are involved, and scores of different bills have been proposed to Congress. Recently, two comprehensive federal legalization bills have been introduced – the MORE Act in the House, and a new draft Senate bill by Sen. Schumer. Both get to the heart of the problem by removing marijuana from the list of controlled substances.
Descheduling is the keystone to marijuana reform because it lets marijuana be treated like other legal substances such as alcohol, tobacco and caffeine. While it removes federal penalties for marijuana use, it still allows states to regulate, prohibit, or legalize it as they please, like alcohol.
A weaker alternative, known as rescheduling, would regulate marijuana as a prescription-controlled substance like opiates.  While this scheme is said to be favored by the Biden administration, it fails to accommodate existing state laws for both medical and adult-use marijuana.
Descheduling has the advantage of assuring that state-legal marijuana is equally legal under federal law. It also clears outdated federal restrictions on banking, medical access, research, immigration, housing, employment and gun rights.
Federal oversight of interstate commerce, including internet sales and promotion, foreign imports, and exports into states that prohibit marijuana would facilitate an orderly market.
But federal authorities needn’t comprehensively regulate and tax the entire marijuana industry, as presently envisioned in the Schumer bill.  The latter would impose new federal rules on product testing, labeling, packaging, record keeping, cultivation, manufacture, inventory tracking, and FDA regulation of cannabis products.  States already do all this and such regulation falls within their constitutionally reserved powers.
The federal role in cannabis regulation should rightly be restricted to products in interstate or foreign commerce.  This might best be done through an agency like the Alcohol and Tobacco Trade Bureau, which has experience dealing with a diversity of state laws for similar adult-use products.  In contrast, FDA regulation is notoriously costly and time-consuming, and the agency has a poor record of responding to consumer demand.  The FDA is especially out-of-touch with medical marijuana, having repeatedly ruled that it lacks scientific proof of safety and efficacy, despite hundreds of studies to the contrary, and has stone-walled the legal hemp industry.
Some state tax regimes already make the black market more attractive to consumers and producers, and layering high federal taxes on top will exacerbate that trend. In California, where the total tax burden approaches 40%, more than half of  the market is supplied by unlicensed dealers.  A good case can be made that the total tax burden on cannabis should not exceed 15%,  the amount currently placed on alcoholic spirits.  Any federal excise tax should finance only the cost of facilitating inventory transfers between state regulatory frameworks, which should continue to govern product standards.
Finally, it’s essential that federal reform address the damage done by marijuana prohibition.  Both House and Senate bills have restorative justice provisions to expunge or resentence persons for offenses that have been decriminalized.  They also include equity provisions to ensure that prior offenders are not excluded from the legal market, and to promote competition and reduce barriers to entry for small entrepreneurs.
In the end, while there are many paths to cannabis reform, the wisest course is to free states from obsolescent federal laws, not further burden them with new federal taxes and regulations.
Dale Gieringer, Ph.D. is director of the California chapter of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML). Geoffrey Lawrence is director of drug policy at Reason Foundation and a founding member of the libertarian Cannabis Freedom Alliance.
An abbreviated version of this article ran in the LA Daily News.
The post Free States from Obsolete Federal Marijuana Laws appeared first on CANORML.

VOTE NO ON THE NEWSOM RECALL

Newsom at the National Cannabis Industry Associations’s 2016 Cannabis Business Summit in Oakland, CA
It’s unlikely that any possible replacement candidate will be as favorably attentive to cannabis policy as Governor Newsom.  For that reason, California NORML recommends voting NO on the gubernatorial recall and encourages cannabis supporters to make sure you are registered to vote, and do vote against the recall in the election.
The sponsors of this year’s recall election are no friends of marijuana or criminal justice reform. Whatever else might be said about Gavin Newsom, no governor has been so supportive of legal marijuana.
When other politicians were ducking the issue, then-Lieutenant Governor Newsom became the highest-ranking state official to endorse legal adult use and established a task force to help guide the way. Since becoming governor, Newsom has appointed capable, helpful officials who have been accessible to cannabis advocates. The Newsom administration has advanced measures to expand on-site consumption and licensed cannabis events; promote equity applicants; afford business tax deductions; allow billboard advertising; and improve and streamline the state’s burdensome regulatory system.
To be sure, Newsom hasn’t been perfect. He has been criticized for not pushing hard enough to reduce burdensome taxes and regulations, and for being a stickler for anti-smoking rules that wrongly treat cannabis like tobacco. But his hands have also been tied by the legislature, federal laws, and California’s overly restrictive Prop. 64 initiative.
Above all, Newsom deserves credit for declaring cannabis to be an essential service during the COVID crisis, a move mocked by critics and recall proponents. He also approved emergency rules to allow drive-through and curbside pick-ups of cannabis, to extend the expiration date for medical IDs and recommendations, and to allow for donations of cannabis to needy patients by cannabis businesses.
 
QUESTION 2
In addition to voting on the recall, voters may choose a candidate to replace Newsom if he loses. If the recall succeeds, any of the 46 opposing candidates that gets a plurality, even as small as 20% by some predictions, could take the Governorship, although whoever wins will have to face re-election next year. For voters concerned about marijuana and drug policy, here is a rundown of replacement candidates’ views.
 
DEMOCRATS
While no Democratic office holders are running in the recall, one Democratic candidate, Jacqueline McGowan, boasts experience as a cannabis advocate. An avowed medical cannabis patient, McGowan has actively lobbied local governments for common-sense regulations and permitting since 2014. McGowan is highly critical of Prop. 64 for over-regulating and taxing the industry and generally supports more access for all adults, especially patients. She is the only candidate whose major campaign issue is cannabis
Moderate Democrat Kevin Paffrath, a real estate investor and financial advisor with a large YouTube following, has emerged as a possible contender in the polls. Paffrath is one of the few candidates to mention cannabis on his website, criticizing the state’s inept efforts to stem the illegal market: “80% of cannabis sold in California is illegal… [Illegal farms] pollute our ground water & steal water from fire hydrants. California’s solution? REMOVE 100 fire hydrants in an area relying on them for fire prevention. The Governor has not led the effort to ‘decriminalized’ marijuana, he’s encouraged illegal farming and poor leadership in getting legal business licenses.”
 
REPUBLICANS
San Diego ex-Mayor Kevin Faulconer stayed at arm’s length while the city council moved early on to approve licensed cannabis businesses. Local advocates describe his position as one of “benign neglect,” neither obstructing nor embracing cannabis. However, they also complain that he was unresponsive to their inquiries and made snide comments about pot.
Talk-show host Larry Elder is a conservative Republican with libertarian leanings. In a 2012 show, Elder called it a “mind blower” that marijuana was still illegal in a country with gay marriage and legal abortion. He criticized the federal government for wrongly classifying marijuana as an addictive drug with no medical use; blasted the LA City Council for voting to ban pot dispensaries; and took Santa Monica to task for making it illegal for consenting adults to smoke cigarettes in their own apartment. Elder denounced the war on drugs for aggravating criminality, calling drug use a health, not criminal justice problem. Like Trump, whom he supports, Elder refused to fully disclose his tax returns, but was allowed on the ballot anyhow.
Hip-hop musician Nickolas Wildstar describes himself as a “Black Sheep Libertarian.” He is also a medical cannabis patient who used to enjoy good medicine under Prop.. 215. He complains he can no longer do so in the for-profit, regulated regime established by Prop 64. He claims Prop. 64 is illegal and proposes introducing to remedy the situation. He would cease all future licensing of commercial “for profit” cannabis licenses.
Businessman John Cox, who has been parading around California with a faux grizzly bear, is out of touch with a state where grizzlies are extinct. In his losing campaign against Newsom in 2018, Cox put his foot in his mouth by suggesting that marijuana users be hospitalized to cure them of substance abuse. He then backtracked by saying he’s “certainly for medical marijuana” and “not necessarily demanding” hospitalization for cannabis users. A devout Catholic, Cox is known for conservative views on social issues.
Olympic athlete Caitlyn Jenner has had little to say in her vague campaign. When still known as Bruce, Jenner was outraged on camera in 2014 when his then-wife Kris shared an edible with her mother on Keeping Up With the Kardashians. “I won’t have it in this house,” s/he said.
Board of Equalization Member Ted Gaines, who is campaigning against burdensome taxes and regulations, posted a long, miserable voting record against marijuana and drug reform in his dozen years in the state legislature (2007-2019). Now he is running against Prop 47, which de-incarcerated nonviolent drug offenders.
Asm. Kevin Kiley from Granite Bay has posted a poor, conservative voting record in the legislature, opposing expansion of cannabis events, veterinary use and medical access for schoolchildren.
Former Rep. Doug Ose, a law-and-order advocate, was a strident drug warrior in Congress (1999-2005), where he voted to support the federal attack on California’s medical marijuana law. He now concedes that the voters have spoken on marijuana, but complains about the state’s “lack of clarity” on regulations and continual failure to curb illegal operations.
 
LIBERTARIANS
Riverside County Supervisor Jeff Hewitt is the official Libertarian party candidate. He styles himself as an “Old School Californian”. As a Supervisor, he voted to roll back zoning restrictions for cannabis operations, advocating free-market competition.
 
GREENS
Dan Kapelovitz, a former journalist for Hustler magazine is a practicing defense attorney. He founded the Radical Law Center, focusing on defense of DUI, drug crimes, sex crimes, animal law, constitutional rights and more. His responses to Cal NORML’s candidate questionnaire reveal him to be solidly in favor of full marijuana legalization and human rights for cannabis users. He is also for lessening of burdensome regulations on cannabis, and strongly for changing federal law.
L.A. hair stylist Heather Collins, “absolutely” supports legal cannabis and would fight to have it legalized federally. She supports lower taxes and regulations in line with other comparable businesses, local control of licensed sales, and shutting down illegal shops.
The post VOTE NO ON THE NEWSOM RECALL appeared first on CANORML.