The journey of getting marijuana legalized in California for recreational purposes has taken quite some time. Things turned for the best when last year the residents voted to allow for the sale of recreational marijuana in the state. The sale is expected to begin on Jan, 1. 2018. As much as this is the case, the Proposition 64 has left the details to the local governments in the counties and state regulators to handle the marijuana industry. For the last several months, it has been a race against time with the officials developing the important rules to govern how marijuana would be handled in the state. This includes the growing, transporting, and sale of marijuana to the adults.
Just last month, the state had unveiled a 276-page regulation report. These regulations will guide the setup of the recreational marijuana marketplace. The rules are important as they explain the licensing fees, how much THC would be allowed in the edibles or any other cannabis products, and also require the marijuana businesses to track their produce from a seed to when it is sold as a product.
As much as the state takes care of the majority of the industry rules, the cities and counties will have to decide if they want recreational marijuana in their jurisdictions or not. San Diego passed the permitting rules in September to allow the businesses to set up shops. Sacramento, San Francisco, and San Jose have passed the laws in the last few weeks that allows for recreational marijuana to be sold in their areas. Los Angeles City Council is the latest when it comes to approving regulations. It is expected that the city is going to be one of the largest marijuana market in the country.
The process has not been as easy as some might think. Even if California overwhelming supported the use of recreational marijuana, the process had to take some time. This is because there have been some concerns and interests of the process of growing and selling of pot for recreational purposes. Some might have felt that the legalization would have exposed the youth to more drugs in their early life. There have been some concerns about the number of plants to grow in a home. Some want the number of pot plants per household to be reduced further. Well, that was expected as the state is legalizing a drug that has been condemned for decades.
The aim of setting up the recreational marijuana market is to eliminate the existence of the marijuana black market. This has promoted the cities to issue enough permits to those who want to set up the marijuana businesses. If the businesses are enough, then there will be enough pot available on the streets to kill the black market. As much as that is the case, the cities also do not want to overwhelm the cities with many pot shops. It is also hard for them to decide when to stop issuing the permits. This is something that could take time to know the exact number of shops needed in each city.
On the overall, the state and local officials understand what it means to legalize marijuana. They are handling the situation with care and concern it deserves. They have to get everything right or less messing up the industry. Despite all the hard work of these officials, there is a dark cloud hanging over California as express by Jeff Sessions.
Despite the passage of Proposition 64 that allows the sale of recreational marijuana, pot still remains illegal under federal law. The federal government has categorized pot as a Schedule 1 drug. This means that weed is classified the same as heroin. It also shows that there is no medical value whatsoever when it comes to using marijuana. This federal prohibition has not stopped the eight states and District of Columbia from legalizing marijuana for recreational use.
This conflict between federal law and state laws on marijuana has been around for years. This goes way back during the time when California legalized marijuana for medical use and that was 20 years ago. It seems things could change as the state and the feds have worked together to control the marijuana sector. The Trump administration is giving unclear messages on their marijuana stand. The Attorney General Jeff Sessions who has been opposed to marijuana for a long time is not making things easier. The states that have legalized marijuana have told him to back off.
The thing is Trump administration is giving unclear statement on marijuana issue.