It's 4/20 2017 But Cannabis Is Still Vilified like in the 1930's
Reefer Madness
In the 1930's the movie Reefer Madness was made to show the effects of Marijuana usage on teenagers. The movie depicted students descending into criminality and eventually mental insanity due to the usage of Marijuana, which today we know is a greatly exaggerated depiction of what occurs to users of Cannabis.
Yet this image of Cannabis persists among many politicians who believe that Cannabis use is extremely detrimental to the individual as well as society. These same politicians fill their local coffers with sales and use tax from alcohol, tobacco and even firearms without blinking. Thankfully states like Colorado have legalized both medical and recreational Cannabis use for adults.
Hopefully this trend of legalization for Cannabis continues. I having personally experienced the death of an uncle who died of cancer but was alleviated by Cannabis, and know other personal friends who have also used cannabis for themselves or family members that have experienced medicinal benefits from Cannabis use. This furthers my belief that Cannabis, when used wisely can have many beneficial uses both medicinally and recreationally.
Dazed and Confused in California
California was at the forefront of Cannabis legalization with its Proposition 215, also known as the California Compassionate Use Act, enacted by voters on November 6, 1996. This was ground breaking for the proponents of medicinal Cannabis, and in 2010 the State decriminalized possession of small amounts of Cannabis to an infraction. Then in 2016 the voters approved recreational adult use of Cannabis to take effect in 2018, but under this new law, local cities and counties of California have all created different rules and ordinances regulating the Cannabis industry, with many banning or attempting to severely limit Cannabis sales and use, regardless of whether it is medicinal, recreational, or legal under California Law.
Recently the voters of the City of Los Angeles approved Measure M, which will create oversight for the Cannabis industry within city lines but more importantly for the Cannabis Dispensaries, and possibly retailers, wholesalers and grow operations, it will lawfully allow the City of Los Angeles, for the first time, to issue city permits to conduct business within the city. This will then allow the Cannabis Dispensaries, and possibly other related Cannabis businesses to now receive State Licensure. The problem now lies in that the City Council will have to figure out if they allow only the first few Dispensaries that opened in LA, the next 300 or to allow Free Market to determine which stores and business make it in the City. So in the mean time the City has become a free for all, with many more new shops opening up, and the City yet to make its next legalization move.
The County of Los Angeles, the County Supervisors have outright banned all Cannabis related businesses, including Medicinal Dispensaries with a moratorium enacted in 2016 ending June 2017. The Supervisors have considered allocating a budget of around $25 Million Dollars to support law enforcement in the closing of ALL Cannabis Dispensaries located in Unincorporated areas of Los Angeles County. Cannabis proponent groups, like Angeles Emeralds, are working with local politicians to educate them on all aspects of Cannabis and the Cannabis Industry. The County Supervisors of Los Angeles had a meeting on April 18, 2017, with the Closure of Cannabis dispensaries on the agenda, but they deferred the vote until later this year but most likely before June, when last year's enacted moratorium banning Cannabis businesses ends. The County Supervisors want to close all Cannabis businesses in their jurisdiction as well as ban them until June 2019. They want to strengthen their current laws against Cannabis businesses by making the property owners or land lords to these businesses legally liable for renting to a Cannabis business. This is to prevent the County closure of a dispensary, only for it to be re-opened on the same property under "New Ownership," which tends to happen.
Other parts of the State also continue to struggle with Legal Cannabis while others have embraced the Cannabis industry with open arms but with each hand holding large empty bags ready for the large Tax Dollars headed to local city and county coffers from this new "Green Gold Rush." Hopefully more parts of the State and Country figure out that alcohol and tobacco are far more damaging to the individual, society and government than Cannabis ever could be, and that Cannabis actually benefits the individual, society and government as the Governor of Colorado has come to reluctantly realize and accept.
Happy 4:20 - and hopefully you are enjoying Cannabis recreationally, and if using it for medicinal purposes, then may it work wonders to alleviate if not cure your malady.
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