Marijuana Control, Regulation, and Education Act
Encyclopedia
The Marijuana Control, Regulation, and Education Act, also known as California Assembly Bill 390 (A.B. 390) and later Assembly Bill 2254 (A.B. 2254), is the first bill ever introduced to regulate the sale and use of marijuana in the U.S. state
U.S. state
A U.S. state is any one of the 50 federated states of the United States of America that share sovereignty with the federal government. Because of this shared sovereignty, an American is a citizen both of the federal entity and of his or her state of domicile. Four states use the official title of...

 of California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...

. If passed and signed into law, marijuana would be sold and taxed openly to adults age 21 and older in California. Tom Ammiano
Tom Ammiano
Tom Ammiano is an American politician and LGBT rights activist from San Francisco, California. Ammiano is a Democrat who has served as a member of the California State Assembly since 2008, representing the 13th district...

, a Democrat
Democratic Party (United States)
The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...

 representing California's 13th State Assembly district
California's 13th State Assembly district
California's 13th State Assembly District is one of 80 districts in the California State Assembly. It is currently represented by Democrat Tom Ammiano of San Francisco, of which 54.51% is in the district.-2008:-2006:-2004:-2002:...

, introduced this piece of legislation on February 23, 2009, arguing that the bill will "tax and regulate marijuana in a manner similar to alcohol." As introduced, this proposal is estimated to raise over $1 billion in annual revenue by taxing the retail production and sale of marijuana for adults 21 years of age and older. To obtain a commercial grow license one would pay an initial $5,000 fee, then a $2,500 fee each year after that. A tariff of $50 per ounce would also be placed on all sold and grown marijuana. The bill has gained much media attention, state wide and nationally.

The bill was not approved by the Health Committee before a January 15 deadline, effectively killing the bill until it was reintroduced in 2010 as A.B. 2254 and the process continued.

Recent polls say 56% of Californians favor taxing and regulating marijuana. In November 2010, the failed Proposition 19 was posed to Californian voters, and would have effectively made possession and cultivation of marijuana legal for citizens over the age of 21. The bill was reintroduced as Marijuana Control and Regulation Act of 2010 in slightly different form as Assembly Bill x6 9

Introduction of the bill

Democrat Tom Ammiano
Tom Ammiano
Tom Ammiano is an American politician and LGBT rights activist from San Francisco, California. Ammiano is a Democrat who has served as a member of the California State Assembly since 2008, representing the 13th district...

 from the California State Assembly's 13th district, introduced the Marijuana Control, Regulation and Education Act during the California budget crisis. The bill is designed to raise revenue for the state, but it also provides funding for the education of discouraging substance abuse, as mentioned in the name. As Mr. Ammiano introduced the bill, he is quoted saying:

A UC Santa Cruz study shows that people living in Cannabis-tolerant cities like Amsterdam and San Francisco are no more or less likely to use the drug. Opponents however, still see a "Pandora's box
Pandora's box
Pandora's box is an artifact in Greek mythology, taken from the myth of Pandora's creation around line 60 of Hesiod's Works and Days. The "box" was actually a large jar given to Pandora , which contained all the evils of the world. When Pandora opened the jar, all its contents except for one item...

" being open in terms of legalizing another mind-altering substance. Regardless, prominent economists, specifically Jeffrey Miron
Jeffrey Miron
Jeffrey Alan Miron is an American economist. He served as the chairman of the Department of Economics at Boston University from 1992 to 1998, and currently teaches at Harvard University, serving as a Senior Lecturer and Director of Undergraduate Studies in Harvard's Economics Department.Miron is an...

, support the regulation of Cannabis due to the heavy violence across the U.S. and Mexico border. Economists argue that regulation would put infamous drug cartels, especially Los Zetas
Los Zetas
Los Zetas is the second most powerful drug cartel in Mexico and considered by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration as the most violent drug cartel and paramilitary enforcement group in Mexico...

, out of business, improve safety standards and allow for more open research about the drug.

Cannabis
Cannabis
Cannabis is a genus of flowering plants that includes three putative species, Cannabis sativa, Cannabis indica, and Cannabis ruderalis. These three taxa are indigenous to Central Asia, and South Asia. Cannabis has long been used for fibre , for seed and seed oils, for medicinal purposes, and as a...

 is also believed to be California's number one cash crop
Cash crop
In agriculture, a cash crop is a crop which is grown for profit.The term is used to differentiate from subsistence crops, which are those fed to the producer's own livestock or grown as food for the producer's family...

. In California, marijuana is a $14-billion black market, putting it above vegetables ($5.7 billion) and grapes ($2.6 billion). AB 390 is projected to allow an additional economic benefit of $12 –18 billion.

Proponents

  • Orange County Superior Court Judge James Gray estimates that legalizing marijuana and thus ceasing to arrest, prosecute, and imprison nonviolent offenders could "save the state $1 billion a year."

  • Marijuana law reform groups such as Drug Policy Alliance
    Drug Policy Alliance
    The Drug Policy Alliance is a New York City-based non-profit organization, led by executive director Ethan Nadelmann, with the principal goal of ending the American "War on Drugs"...

    , NORML, Marijuana Policy Project
    Marijuana Policy Project
    The Marijuana Policy Project, or MPP, is the largest organization working solely on marijuana policy reform in the United States in terms of its budget, number of members, and staff...

     and Campaign Against Marijuana Prohibition CAMP 420 also support the bill.

Opponents

  • John Lovell, lobbyist for the California Correctional Peace Officers Association
    California Correctional Peace Officers Association
    The California Correctional Peace Officers Association , founded in 1957 as the California Correctional Officers Association , is the corrections officers' labor union in California. The CCPOA is widely considered one of the most powerful political forces in California politics...

    , opposes the bill and is quoted saying "the last thing we need is another mind-altering substance to be legalized."

2009

A.B. 390
  • February 23 — Read for the first time. To print.
  • February 24 — From printer. May be heard in committee on March 26.
  • March 9 — Referred to California State Assembly's Public Safety and Health Committees. Delayed until March 31.
  • March 31 — Delayed: The bill is expected to be heard early 2010.

2010

  • January 12 — Bill passes California State Assembly's Public Safety Committee on a 4-3 vote.
  • January 15 — Deadline for the Bill to be heard and passed by the Health Committee or have to be reintroduced


A.B. 2254
  • February 18 — Read first time. To print.
  • February 19 — From printer. May be heard in committee March 21.
  • March 11 — Referred to Coms. on PUB. S. and HEALTH.
  • November 30 — From Committee without further action


Information about the bill, including current status and history, can be found on California's Legislative Website

See also

  • Cannabis in California
  • Drug policy of California
    Drug policy of California
    Drug policy of California refers to the policy on various classes and kinds of drugs in the U.S. state of California. Cannabis possession has been decriminalized, but its cultivation and sale remain criminal offenses, along with the possession, sale, and manufacture of harder drugs such as...

  • Legality of cannabis
  • Decriminalization of non-medical cannabis in the United States
  • Places that have decriminalized non-medical cannabis in the United States
  • Gonzales v. Raich
    Gonzales v. Raich
    Gonzales v. Raich , 545 U.S. 1 , was a decision by the United States Supreme Court ruling that under the Commerce Clause of the United States Constitution, the United States Congress may criminalize the production and use of home-grown cannabis even where states approve its use for medicinal...

  • California Proposition 215 (1996)
    California Proposition 215 (1996)
    Proposition 215, or the Compassionate Use Act of 1996, is a California law concerning the use of medical cannabis. It was enacted, on November 5, 1996, by means of the initiative process, and passed with 5,382,915 votes in favor and 4,301,960 against.The proposition was a state-wide voter...

  • California Proposition 36 (2000)
    California Proposition 36 (2000)
    California Proposition 36, the Substance Abuse and Crime Prevention Act of 2000, was an initiative statute that permanently changed state law to allow qualifying defendants convicted of non-violent drug possession offenses to receive a probationary sentence in lieu of incarceration...

  • California Proposition 5 (2008)
    California Proposition 5 (2008)
    California Proposition 5, or the Nonviolent Offender Rehabilitation Act was an initiated state statute that appeared as a ballot measure on the November 2008 ballot in California...

  • California Proposition 19 (2010)
    California Proposition 19 (2010)
    California Proposition 19 was a ballot initiative on the November 2, 2010 statewide ballot...

  • Controlled Substances Act
    Controlled Substances Act
    The Controlled Substances Act was enacted into law by the Congress of the United States as Title II of the Comprehensive Drug Abuse Prevention and Control Act of 1970. The CSA is the federal U.S. drug policy under which the manufacture, importation, possession, use and distribution of certain...

  • National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws

External links

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