Pubdate: Mon, 30 Dec 2019
Source: Press-Enterprise (Riverside, CA)
Copyright: 2019 The Press-Enterprise Company
Contact: http://www.pe.com/localnews/opinion/letters_form.html
Website: http://www.pe.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/830
Author: Nick Agro

MARIJUANA: 6 THINGS TO WATCH FOR IN CALIFORNIA IN 2020

As California enters its third year of legal recreational cannabis
sales, many expect upcoming new laws, high-profile court cases and
major criminal justice reforms to shake up the industry.

Marijuana advocates are wary after a challenging second year, but most
also are hopeful that changes in 2020 will put them in a better
position a year from now.

"We always knew it would be an uphill battle," said Robert Flannery of
Dr. Robb Farms, a cannabis cultivation company based in Desert Hot
Springs. "But there are very few people who are not generally
optimistic about the cannabis industry."

Here are six things for Californians to watch for when it comes to
cannabis in 2020:

1) Deliveries go to court: In April of 2019, one county and 24 cities
sued the California Bureau of Cannabis Control over a rule that
permits marijuana deliveries throughout the state, even in communities
that don't allow cannabis businesses. That case, pitting advocates for
access to legal cannabis against local governments fighting for
control over the industry, is finally due to go to trial in Fresno
County Superior Court starting -- no joke -- April 20.

Another lawsuit on the docket in 2020 tackles the same issue at a
local level. Atty. Gen. Xavier Becerra in November joined a suit filed
by East of Eden Cannabis Co. after Santa Cruz County banned marijuana
deliveries by companies it hasn't licensed. The next hearing in that
case is scheduled for Thursday, Jan. 2.

2) Legislative changes: Three new marijuana laws take effect
Wednesday, Jan. 1. Senate Bill 34 will let licensed businesses donate
products for medical marijuana patients in need. Assembly Bill 37 will
let cannabis operators deduct expenses, a standard business practice
that's been blocked due to federal law. And Assembly Bill 1810 makes
it illegal for passengers in limos, taxis and other commercial
vehicles to consume cannabis (though they can still drink alcohol),
effectively ending any hopes of cannabis party buses. Also on
Wednesday, mandated industry tax hikes will hit an already struggling
industry.

Businesses say more legislative changes are needed if they stand a
chance of competing against the thriving illicit market, with
wholesale cannabis prices expected to fall in the coming year. There
are calls for a potential overhaul to the tax structure. And, with
shops allowed in just 20% of California cities, there's talk of trying
to force cities with residents that supported Prop. 64 to allow
marijuana businesses in their borders. Also, in the wake of a
vaping-related health crisis that in 2019 killed at least 54 people
and left another 2,506 with serious lung injuries, new state or
federal laws governing the vaping sector are expected.

3) Clearing the record: Prop. 64 retroactively reduced penalties for
just about every crime involving cannabis, downgrading marijuana sales
without a license, for example, from a felony to a misdemeanor. But
data shows only a fraction of the people eligible to petition the
courts to have those crimes reduced or cleared from their records
since the law passed in November 2016 have done so -- presumably due
to the time, cost and expertise involved.

The legislature in September 2018 approved Assembly Bill 1793, which
requires the state to proactively track down and process all marijuana
cases eligible for expungement. The bill gave local prosecutors until
July 1, 2020 to process eligible cases, and it's expected that several
hundred thousand people could have marijuana cases downgraded or
dropped from their records. That could make them newly eligible for
jobs, housing and other benefits often denied to convicted felons.

4) Weedmaps cleanup: The Irvine-based online marijuana shop directory
Weedmaps has continued to promote illicit retailers even after
California's Bureau of Cannabis Control sent Weedmaps a
cease-and-desist letter in February 2018. And it's still going even
though Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a bill, effective July 1, that lets
regulators fine unlicensed parties up to $30,000 each day that they're
in violation of state cannabis laws.

Weedmaps said in September that it would stop advertising illicit
businesses by the end of the year. As of Friday, Dec. 27, ads for
cannabis shops in cities that have banned retail were still easy to
find on the website. If the illicit ads don't come down in the next
week, licensed businesses expect to see major fines handed down by the
state, with calls for tougher enforcement across the industry in the
year to come. And if the ads do come down, the industry will have a
real-time test in 2020 of just how important Weedmaps was in
bolstering the illicit market.

5) More states eye legalization: Licensed cannabis shops will open for
the first time in Illinois starting Wednesday, Jan. 1, making it the
11th state to legalize recreational marijuana and the first to do so
through the legislature. But in the coming year as many as six more
states are expected to consider legalizing cannabis through the
legislature, led by Vermont (which legalized cannabis possession in
2018), New Mexico and New York. And another 12 states could vote in
November on legal cannabis, including Arizona, New Jersey, Ohio and
Florida.

That could give California's legal industry more clout as it pushes
for federal reforms in 2020.

6) Federal changes afoot: September saw the first ever federal vote on
a stand-alone cannabis bill, when the House of Representatives voted
to let federally-insured banks work with cannabis businesses in states
that have legalized marijuana. While that SAFE Banking Act still faces
the Republican-controlled Senate, observers are predicting some
version of the bill will pass in 2020.

A bill that would end federal marijuana prohibition entirely -- which
would open up interstate cannabis commerce and public markets -- also
passed a congressional panel for the first time in November, when the
House Judiciary Committee approved the MORE Act. That bill still has
to pass the full House and the Senate, with success in 2020 looking
less likely than the banking bill. But federal cannabis legalization
could come through another route.

Most Democratic presidential candidates are promising to legalize
cannabis nationwide if elected in November, a platform spearheaded by
New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker and Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders. However,
the current front-runner -- former Vice President Joe Biden -- isn't
among them, though he's recently come out in support of
decriminalizing marijuana.
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