The Adult Use of Marijuana Act of 2016
This section includes the structural aspects of AUMA, such as its Title and Summary • Legislative Analyst’s Report • Findings and Declarations • Intent and Purposes • Amendment and Repeal • Construction and Interpretation • Severability • Conflicts with Other Initiatives
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January 6, 2016. Initiative 15-0103 (Amdt. #1)
Attorney General’s Title and Summary
The Attorney General of California has prepared the following title and summary of the chief purpose and points of the proposed measure:
MARIJUANA LEGALIZATION. INITIATIVE STATUTE. Legalizes marijuana and hemp under state law. Designates state agencies to license and regulate marijuana industry. Imposes state excise tax on retail sales of marijuana equal to 15% of sales price, and state cultivation taxes on marijuana of $9.25 per ounce of flowers and $2.75 per ounce of leaves. Exempts medical marijuana from some taxation. Establishes packaging, labeling, advertising, and marketing standards and restrictions for marijuana products. Allows local regulation and taxation of marijuana. Prohibits marketing and advertising marijuana to minors. Authorizes resentencing and destruction of records for prior marijuana convictions.
Summary of estimate by Legislative Analyst and Director of Finance of fiscal impact on state and local government: Net reduced costs ranging from tens of millions of dollars to potentially exceeding $100 million annually to state and local governments related to enforcing certain marijuana-related offenses, handling the related criminal cases in the court system, and incarcerating and supervising certain marijuana offenders. Net additional state and local tax revenues potentially ranging from the high hundreds of millions of dollars to over $1 billion annually related to the production and sale of marijuana. Most of these funds would be required to be spent for specific purposes such as substance use disorder education, prevention, and treatment. (15-0103.)
Key to text: Regular font is existing law, strike through text is deleted from current law, italic is new language, italic strikethrough is deleted as amended.
SECTION 1. TITLE.
This measure shall be known as the Control, Regulate and Tax Adult Use of Marijuana Act (“the Adult Use of Marijuana Act”).
SECTION 2. FINDINGS AND DECLARATIONS.
A. Currently in California, nonmedical marijuana use is unregulated, untaxed, and occurs without any consumer or environmental protections. The Control, Regulate and Tax Adult Use of Marijuana Act will legalize marijuana for those over 21 years old, protect children, and establish laws to regulate marijuana cultivation, distribution, sale and use, and will protect Californians and the environment from potential dangers. It establishes the Bureau of Marijuana Control within the Department of Consumer Affairs to regulate and license the marijuana industry.
B. Marijuana is currently legal in our state for medical use and illegal for non-medical use. Abuse of the medical marijuana system in California has long been widespread, but recent bipartisan legislation signed by Governor Jerry Brown is establishing a comprehensive regulatory scheme for medical marijuana. The Control, Regulate and Tax Adult Use of Marijuana Act (hereafter called the Adult Use of Marijuana Act) will consolidate and streamline regulation and taxation for both non-medical and medical marijuana.
C. Currently, marijuana growth and sale is not being taxed by the State of California, which means our state is missing out on hundreds of millions of dollars in potential tax revenue every year. The Adult Use of Marijuana Act will tax both the growth and sale of marijuana to generate hundreds of millions of dollars annually. The revenues will cover the cost of administering the new law and will provide funds to: invest in public health programs that educate youth to prevent and treat serious substance abuse; train local law enforcement to enforce the new law with a focus on DUI enforcement; invest in communities to reduce the illicit market and create job opportunities; and provide for environmental cleanup and restoration of public lands damaged by illegal marijuana cultivation.
D. Currently, children under the age of 18 can just as easily purchase marijuana on the black market as adults can. By legalizing marijuana, the Adult Use of Marijuana Act will incapacitate the black market, and move marijuana purchases into a legal structure with strict safeguards against children accessing it. The Adult Use of Marijuana Act prohibits the sale of nonmedical marijuana to those under 21 years old, and provides new resources to educate youth against drug abuse and train local law enforcement to enforce the new law. It bars marijuana businesses from being located within 600 feet of schools and other areas where children congregate.It establishes mandatory and strict packaging and labeling requirements for marijuana and marijuana products. And it mandates that marijuana and marijuana products cannot be advertised or marketed towards children.
E. There are currently no laws governing adult use marijuana businesses to ensure that they operate in accordance with existing California laws. Adult use of marijuana may only be accessed from the unregulated illicit market. The Adult Use of Marijuana Act sets up a comprehensive system governing marijuana businesses at the state level and safeguards local control, allowing local governments to regulate marijuana-related activities, to subject marijuana businesses to zoning and permitting requirements, and to ban marijuana businesses by a vote of the people within a locality.
F. Currently, illegal marijuana growers steal or divert millions of gallons of water without any accountability. The Adult Use of Marijuana Act will create strict environmental regulations to ensure that the marijuana is grown efficiently and legally, to regulate the use of pesticides, to prevent wasting water, and to minimize water usage. The Adult Use of Marijuana Act will crack down on the illegal use of water and punish bad actors, while providing funds to restore lands that have been damaged by illegal marijuana grows. If a business does not demonstrate they are in full compliance with the applicable water usage and environmental laws, they will have their license revoked.
G. Currently, the courts are clogged with cases of non-violent drug offenses. By legalizing marijuana, the Adult Use of Marijuana Act will alleviate pressure on the courts, but continue to allow prosecutors to charge the most serious marijuana-related offenses as felonies, while reducing the penalties for minor marijuana-related offenses as set forth in the Act.
H. By bringing marijuana into a regulated and legitimate market, the Adult Use of Marijuana Act creates a transparent and accountable system. This will help police crackdown on the underground black market that currently benefits violent drug cartels and transnational gangs, which are making billions from marijuana trafficking and jeopardizing public safety.
I. The Adult Use of Marijuana Act creates a comprehensive regulatory structure in which every marijuana business is overseen by a specialized agency with relevant expertise. The Bureau of Marijuana Control, housed in the Department of Consumer Affairs, will oversee the whole system and ensure a smooth transition to the legal market, with licenses issued beginning in 2018. The Department of Consumer Affairs will also license and oversee marijuana retailers, distributors, and micro-businesses. The Department of Food and Agriculture will license and oversee marijuana cultivation, ensuring it is environmentally safe. The Department of Public Health will license and oversee manufacturing and testing, ensuring consumers receive a safe product. The State Board of Equalization will collect the special marijuana taxes, and the Controller will allocate the revenue to administer the new law and provide the funds to critical investments.
J. The Adult Use of Marijuana Act ensures the nonmedical marijuana industry in California will be built around small and medium sized businesses by prohibiting large-scale cultivation licenses for the first five years. The Adult Use of Marijuana Act also protects consumers and small businesses by imposing strict anti-monopoly restrictions for businesses that participate in the nonmedical marijuana industry.
SECTION 3. PURPOSE AND INTENT.
The purpose of the Adult Use of Marijuana Act is to establish a comprehensive system to legalize, control and regulate the cultivation, processing, manufacture, distribution, testing, and sale of nonmedical marijuana, including marijuana products, for use by adults 21 years and older, and to tax the commercial growth and retail sale of marijuana.It is the intent of the People in enacting this Act to accomplish the following:
(a) Take non-medical marijuana production and sales out of the hands of the illegal market and bring them under a regulatory structure that prevents access by minors and protects public safety, public health, and the environment.
(b) Strictly control the cultivation, processing, manufacture, distribution, testing and sale of nonmedical marijuana through a system of state licensing, regulation, and enforcement.
(c) Allow local governments to enforce state laws and regulations for nonmedical marijuana businesses and enact additional local requirements for non-medical marijuana businesses, but not require that they do so for a non-medical marijuana business to be issued a state license and be legal under state law.
(d) Allow local governments to ban non-medical marijuana businesses as set forth in this Act.
(e) Require track and trace management procedures to track nonmedical marijuana from cultivation to sale.
(f) Require non-medical marijuana to be comprehensively tested by independent testing services for the presence of contaminants, including mold and pesticides, before it can be sold by licensed businesses.
(g) Require nonmedical marijuana sold by licensed businesses to be packaged in child-resistant containers and be labeled so that consumers are fully infonned about potency and the effects of ingesting non-medical marijuana.
(h) Require licensed non-medical marijuana businesses to follow strict environmental and product safety standards as a condition of maintaining their license.
(i) Prohibit the sale of non-medical marijuana by businesses that also sell alcohol or tobacco.
(j) Prohibit the marketing and advertising of non-medical marijuana to persons younger than 21 years old or near schools or other places where children are present.
(k) Strengthen the state’s existing medical marijuana system by requiring patients to obtain by January 1, 2018, a new recommendation from their physician that meets the strict standards signed into law by the Governor in 2015, and by providing new privacy protections for patients who obtain medical marijuana identification cards as set forth in this Act.
(l) Permit adults 21 years and older to use, possess, purchase and grow nonmedical marijuana within defined limits for use by adults 21 years and older as set forth in this Act.
(m) Allow local governments to reasonably regulate the cultivation of nonmedical marijuana for personal use by adults 21 years and older through zoning and other local laws, and only to ban outdoor cultivation as set forth in this Act.
(n) Deny access to marijuana by persons younger than 21 years old who are not medical marijuana patients.
(o) Prohibit the consumption of marijuana in a public place unlicensed for such use, including near K-12 schools and other areas where children are present.
(p) Maintain existing laws making it unlawful to operate a car or other vehicle used for transportation while impaired by marijuana.
(q) Prohibit the cultivation of marijuana on public lands or while trespassing on private lands.
(r) Allow public and private employers to enact and enforce workplace policies pertaining to marijuana.
(s) Tax the growth and sale of marijuana in a way that drives out the illicit market for marijuana and discourages use by minors, and abuse by adults.
(t) Generate hundreds of millions of dollars in new state revenue annually for restoring and repairing the environment, youth treatment and prevention, community investment, and law enforcement.
(u) Prevent illegal production or distribution of marijuana.
(v) Prevent the illegal diversion of marijuana from California to other states or countries or to the illegal market.
(w) Preserve scarce law enforcement resources to prevent and prosecute violent crime.
(x) Reduce barriers to entry into the legal, regulated market.
(y) Require minors who commit marijuana-related offenses to complete drug prevention education or counseling and community service.
(z) Authorize courts to resentence persons who are currently serving a sentence for offenses for which the penalty is reduced by the Act, so long as the person does not pose a risk to public safety, and to redesignate or dismiss such offenses from the criminal records of persons who have completed their sentences as set forth in this Act.
(aa) Allow industrial hemp to be grown as an agricultural product, and for agricultural or academic research, and regulated separately from the strains of cannabis with higher delta-9 tetrahydrocannabinol concentrations.
SECTION 10. AMENDMENT.
This Act shall be broadly construed to accomplish its purposes and intent as stated in Section 3. The Legislature may by majority vote amend the provisions of this Act contained in Sections 5 and 6 to implement the substantive provisions of those sections, provided that such amendments are consistent with and further the purposes and intent of this Act as stated in Section 3. Amendments to this Act that enact protections for employees and other workers of licensees under Section 6 of this Act that are in addition to the protections provided for in this Act or that otherwise expand the legal rights of such employees or workers of licensees under Section 6 of this Act shall be deemed to be consistent with and further the purposes and intent of this Act. The Legislature may by majority vote amend, add, or repeal any provisions to further reduce the penalties for any of the offenses addressed by this Act. Except as otherwise provided, the provisions of the Act may be amended by a two-thirds vote of the Legislature to further the purposes and intent of the Act.
SECTION 11. CONSTRUCTION AND INTERPRETATION.
The provisions of this Act shall be liberally construed to effectuate the purposes and intent of the Control, Regulate and Tax the Adult Use of Marijuana Act; provided, however, no provision or provisions of this Act shall be interpreted or construed in a manner to create a positive conflict with federal law, including the federal Controlled Substances Act, such that the provision or provisions of this Act and federal law cannot consistently stand together.
SECTION 12. SEVERABILITY.
If any provision in this Act, or part thereof, or the application of any provision or part to any person or circumstance is held for any reason to be invalid or unconstitutional, the remaining provisions and parts shall not be affected, but shall remain in full force and effect, and to this end the provisions of this Act are severable.
SECTION 13. CONFLICTING INITIATIVES.
In the event that this measure and another measure or measures concerning the control, regulation, and taxation of marijuana, medical marijuana, or industrial hemp appear on the same statewide election ballot, the provisions of the other measure or measures shall be deemed to be in conflict with this measure. In the event that this measure receives a greater number of affirmative votes, the provisions of this measure shall prevail in their entirety, and the provisions of the other measure shall be null and void.