The Marijuana Control, Regulation and Education Act was reintroduced into the California Assembly on Thursday after its first iteration expired last month, the Eureka Times-Standard reports.
The bill, also known as AB 2254, covers many aspects of regulation, but some of its main goals are to legalize and regulate marijuana for adults 21 and older in a manner similar to alcohol and to “deprive the criminal market of revenue,” according to the bill’s language. It is also hoped that the bill will decrease the violence associated with the criminal market. Fees added to the sale of marijuana would pay for drug education, awareness and rehabilitation.
Assemblyman Tom Ammiano reintroduced the bill last week after his previous bill, AB 390, was passed by the Assembly Public Safety Committee but was not discussed by the Legislature before the consideration deadline.
UPDATE: California Police Chiefs Association declares AB 2254 ‘dead’
”It is time to acknowledge that the existing model of prohibition has failed, and that California is long overdue for a public policy for the control and regulation of marijuana that reflects the reality of what is happening in our state,” Ammiano said in a statement regarding AB 390.
Medical marijuana would be excluded from these regulations, according to the bill. The bill would prohibit smoking marijuana in the same places tobacco is prohibited, writes Times-Standard reporter Allison White.
Some local residents were excited about the bill’s possibilities. Humboldt State University senior Colby Grand said that people are going to use
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the drug regardless of whether it’s legal, so decriminalizing it makes sense. The county and state would save money, not only by taxing the drug, but by not making “needless arrests” because of it, he said.
”I think it’d be pretty amazing if we were to legitimize that industry,” Grand said.
In the bill’s current language, it would remove all existing civil and criminal penalties for persons at least 21 years of age who were arrested for marijuana-related crimes, except for those laws “proscribing dangerous activities while under the influence of marijuana” or activities that expose minors to the drug.
Brian Wilkins, who recently moved to Humboldt County from Fallon, Nev., said passing a bill such as this would be “the smart thing to do,” as the government would likely make a profit from taxing it.
The proposed fee would be $50 per ounce of marijuana sold in the state, unless a different fee is determined, according to the bill. The funds would go to the Drug Abuse Prevention Supplemental Funding Account created by the bill to fund drug education, awareness and rehabilitation programs. It is unclear if another tax will be added to the drug if the bill is passed.
Terrianne Simkhovitch of Arcata said she was “100 percent behind” the bill if it successfully legalized marijuana.
”There could be a hemp industry here and it could revitalize Del Norte and Humboldt counties,” she said.
Some residents were interested in legalization but not taxation, but some were indifferent. Eureka resident George Walter said people will want whatever they want, and taxation might be inevitable if it is legalized.
”The gears got to keep turning, and money makes it happen,” he said.
2 Responses to “The bill formerly known as AB 390 reintroduced as AB 2254”
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I don’t know if they’re cowards, per se, but it’s fair to say they lack motivation to deal with this important issue. Look how long it took for SB 420 to be enacted after the passage of Prop. 215. The irony is inescapable, considering how often stoners get dinged for their perceived lack of motivation.
As for AB 2254, it’s been referred to the same committee that didn’t quite get around to it last session. That’s a better approach than Ammiano took with AB 390, and the ballot initiative gives the topic more urgency now that it has been certified for the November ballot. Let us hope the motivationally challenged Legislature can give legalization the serious consideration it’s due.
I’m really upset that the California Legislature let bill AB390 die. They knew it was coming. They knew it had a specific deadline. But instead of “man-ing up” and debating its pros and cons, they decided to take the coward’s way out and not touch it.
Now that a new bill has been introduced, now they have to basically start all over again…getting approval, getting petition signatures, going through the legislature again, etc.
I am extremely disappointed in our legislature for letting something as important and hotly debated as this issue just…die. That’s how a COWARD deals with issues- they let it go away quietly, rather than facing it head-on and dealing with it. Is our legislature full of COWARDS?