By Adam Randall

A state Assembly Bill that could eventually impose a medical marijuana excise tax to collect an estimated $77 million annually moved forward Thursday.

AB 2243 by Assemblyman Jim Wood, D-Healdsburg, cleared the Assembly Revenue and Tax Committee without Republican support. It is expected to be heard next in the Assembly Appropriations Committee in the next two weeks.

If moved forward to Gov. Jerry Brown for final approval, Wood said AB 2243 would implement a $9.25 per ounce tax on cannabis flowers, a $2.75 per ounce tax on cannabis leaves and a $1.25 tax on immature cannabis plants from nurseries.

Read the full article in the Ukiah Daily Journal at:
http://www.ukiahdailyjournal.com/general-news/20160421/proposed-medical-marijuana-excise-tax-moves-forward-in-california-assembly

By Nastia Voynovskaya in the East Bay Express

As I reported in my March 30 cover story, "Will Oakland's Legal Weed Industry Leave People of Color Behind?," one of the significant barriers that could disproportionately prevent people of color from profiting from California's booming medical cannabis industry is a stipulation in the statewide Medical Marijuana Regulation and Safety Act (MMRSA), which Governor Jerry Brown signed into law last October.Read the full article in the East Bay Express:

http://www.eastbayexpress.com/SevenDays/archives/2016/04/26/rebecca-kaplan-urges-state-legislature-to-remove-cannabis-industry-restrictions-for-ex-offenders

A new study shows that 1.4 million Californians have used medical cannabis and an overwhelming majority of those users (92%) believe cannabis helped treat the symptoms of a serious medical condition. The study, which will be published in the journal Drug and Alcohol Review, challenges the commonly held perception that medical cannabis is being overused by healthy people and demonstrates that California’s medical cannabis laws are providing real relief to a lot of people. 

This scientific data is important and timely, given that lawmakers, voters, and the courts will be making important decisions in the next two years that will affect who can get medical cannabis and how for years to come. Those choices need to be informed by facts, not misperceptions. 

Read the abstract and buy copies of “Prevalence of medical marijuana use in California, 2012”, Drug and Alcohol Review (2014), DOI 10.111/dar. 12207 here.