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California bills to provide broad employment protections for workers who use marijuana off the job and clarifying the veterinarians can recommend medical cannabis for animals are now heading to the governor\u2019s desk following final votes in the Assembly.<\/p>\n
The employment measure from Assemblymember Bill Quirk (D) are the veterinary bill from Assemblymember Ash Kalra (D) are among numerous pieces of cannabis legislation that has advanced through the legislature<\/a> in recent weeks.<\/p>\n The worker protection bill is especially one that advocates feel is long overdue in a state where marijuana has long been legal for medical and recreational use.<\/p>\n After moving through the Assembly a first time in May, the bill went through several Senate committees and was amended before heading back to the originating chamber for concurrence. On Tuesday, AB 2811<\/a> received a favorable final sign off in a tally of 41-15.<\/p>\n Earlier versions of the legislation had stalled in the Assembly Labor and Employment Committee in past sessions, but now this latest version has cleared the legislature and will await action from Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) once it is formally transmitted in the coming days.<\/p>\n Quirk\u2019s bill would \u201cmake it unlawful for an employer to discriminate against a person in hiring, termination, or any term or condition of employment, or otherwise penalize a person\u201d solely because of off-duty marijuana use. It would eliminate employment-based THC testing, with exceptions for certain positions, such as federal employees or those working in construction.<\/p>\n The reasoning behind the reform is largely based on the fact that most urine-based drug tests that employers use only test for inactive THC metabolites, which can be present in a person\u2019s system for days or weeks after they\u2019ve consumed cannabis.<\/p>\n Advocates say that existing policy unfairly discriminates against people who use marijuana off-duty, as authorized under state law.<\/p>\n Employers could still maintain drug-free workplaces and penalize workers for workers for coming to work while actively impaired under the proposal.<\/p>\n Other states have carved out cannabis-related employment protections\u2014mostly for medical marijuana patients\u2014but this one extends those workplace safeguards to both medical and adult-use consumers who are acting in compliance with state law.<\/p>\n That said, after New York enacted recreational legalization, the state Department of Labor also instituted new rules stipulating that employers can no longer drug test most workers for marijuana<\/a>.<\/p>\n Last month, Washington, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser (D) also signed a bill that bans most workplaces from firing or otherwise punishing employees for marijuana use<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u2014 Back in California, Kalra\u2019s AB 1885<\/a>, if signed into law, would prohibit regulators from penalizing licensed veterinarians who recommend medical cannabis for animals and revise state law to include definitions for marijuana products intended for animal consumption. The Veterinary Medical Board would also be required to create guidelines for veterinarian cannabis recommendations.<\/p>\n \u201cSoon, we will have safe, regulated cannabis products to bring relief to our pets\u201d Kalra said in a tweet after the Assembly signed off on Senate changes, sending the measure to Newsom.<\/p>\n #AB1885<\/a> heads to the Governor\u2019s desk! This bill allows veterinarians to recommend cannabis for therapeutic use in animals, and requires cannabis products for animals to be properly regulated. Soon, we will have safe, regulated cannabis products to bring relief to our pets! \u2014 Ash Kalra These latest actions in the California legislature come days after lawmakers sent bills to the governor that would set up the framework for interstate marijuana commerce, streamline record sealing for cannabis convictions, safeguard firms that provide insurance to businesses in the legal industry and more.<\/p>\n The legislative session ends on Wednesday, and there are still other cannabis reform bills in play.<\/p>\n Advocates are also closely watching SB 1186<\/a>, a bill from Sen. Scott Wiener\u2019s (D) that would \u201cprohibit a local jurisdiction from adopting or enforcing any regulation that prohibits the retail sale by delivery within the local jurisdiction of medicinal cannabis to medicinal cannabis patients or their primary caregivers by medicinal cannabis businesses.\u201d<\/p>\n Newsom has a long record of supporting marijuana reform and backing the state\u2019s market, so he\u2019s generally expected to sign these measures. But despite his record, he recently\u00a0vetoed a key piece of drug policy reform legislation<\/a>\u00a0from Wiener that would have authorized a safe drug consumption site pilot program in the state\u2014a move that\u2019s prompted widespread criticism from the harm reduction community.<\/p>\n San Francisco officials have since signaled that\u00a0they\u2019re prepared to defy the governor<\/a>\u00a0and launch an overdose prevention program regardless of the veto.<\/p>\n In another disappointment for reform advocates, a separate Wiener bill that would have legalized possession of limited amounts of certain psychedelics was recently\u00a0pulled by the sponsor after its main provisions were gutted<\/a>, leaving just a study component that advocates say is unnecessary given the existing body of scientific literature on the subject.<\/p>\n Here\u2019s an overview of other recent drug policy developments in California:<\/strong><\/p>\n Last month, California officials\u00a0awarded more than $1.7 million in grants<\/a>\u00a0help promote sustainable marijuana cultivation practices and assist growers with obtaining their annual licenses. A total of $6 million will be allotted through the program,\u00a0which was first announced in August 2021<\/a>\u00a0and will remain open for applications through April 2023.<\/p>\n Regulators also recently announced that they are soliciting input on\u00a0proposed rules to standardize cannabis testing methods<\/a>\u00a0in the state\u2014an effort that they hope will stop marijuana businesses from \u201claboratory shopping\u201d to find facilities that are more likely to show higher THC concentrations that they can then boast for their products.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, California officials are distributing\u00a0another round of community reinvestment grants<\/a>\u00a0totaling $35.5 million with tax revenue generated from recreational marijuana sales.<\/p>\n The Governor\u2019s Office of Business and Economic Development (GO-Biz) announced last month that they\u2019ve awarded 78 grants to organizations throughout the state that will support economic and social development in communities disproportionately impacted by the war on drugs.<\/p>\n The amount of funding and number of recipients\u00a0increased from last year\u2019s levels<\/a>, when the state awarded about $29 million in grants to 58 nonprofit organizations through the CalCRG program.<\/p>\n California has\u00a0taken in nearly $4 billion in marijuana tax revenue<\/a>\u00a0since the state\u2019s adult-use market launched in 2018, the Department of Tax and Fee Administration (CDTFA) reported late last month. And for the first quarter of 2022, the state saw about $294 million in cannabis revenue generated from the excise, cultivation and sales tax on marijuana.<\/p>\n The state collected about\u00a0$817 million in adult-use marijuana tax revenue<\/a>\u00a0during the last fiscal year. That represented 55 percent more cannabis earnings for state coffers than was generated in the 2020-2021 period.<\/p>\n California officials also announced in January that the state had awarded $100 million in funding to\u00a0help develop local marijuana markets<\/a>, in part by getting cannabis businesses fully licensed.<\/p>\n Democratic South Carolina Governor Nominee Welcomes Incumbent\u2019s Attacks Over \u2018Popular\u2019 Marijuana Legalization Plans<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n Photo courtesy of Chris Wallis \/\/ Side Pocket Images.<\/em><\/p>\n The post California Bills Protecting Workers From Being Fired For Off-Job Marijuana Use And Allowing Medical Cannabis For Animals Head To Governor<\/a> appeared first on Marijuana Moment<\/a>.<\/p>\n
California bills to provide broad employment protections for workers who use marijuana off the job and clarifying the veterinarians can recommend medical cannabis for animals are now heading to the governor\u2019s desk following final votes in the Assembly. The employment measure from Assemblymember Bill Quirk (D) are the veterinary billContinue Reading<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":458,"featured_media":56913,"comment_status":"false","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[18,81],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/56912"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/458"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=56912"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/56912\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":56914,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/56912\/revisions\/56914"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/56913"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=56912"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=56912"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=56912"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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(@Ash_Kalra) August 30, 2022<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n
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\nRead More: California Bills Protecting Workers From Being Fired For Off-Job Marijuana Use And Allowing Medical Cannabis For Animals Head To Governor<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"