BILL NUMBER: SJR 20 INTRODUCED
BILL TEXT
INTRODUCED BY Senator Migden
JANUARY 10, 2008
Relative to medical marijuana.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
SJR 20, as introduced, Migden. Medical marijuana.
This measure would urge the President and Congress of the United
States to take specified actions relating to the use of marijuana for
medical purposes.
Fiscal committee: no.
WHEREAS, In 1996, California voters approved Proposition 215, the
Compassionate Use Act, to exempt patients and caregivers from certain
criminal penalties when they possess or cultivate marijuana for
medical use as recommended by a physician; and
WHEREAS, The California State Legislature subsequently established
the Medical Marijuana Program to further the provisions of
Proposition 215 by facilitating the registration of qualified
patients and their caregivers through a statewide identification
system whereby a patient with an identification card and the patient'
s designated primary caregiver are exempt from arrest for possession,
transportation, delivery, or cultivation of marijuana for medical
use; and
WHEREAS, In enacting the Medical Marijuana Program, the California
State Legislature expressly stated its intent to enhance the access
of patients and caregivers to medical marijuana through collective,
cooperative cultivation projects, and to address additional issues
that were not included in the Compassionate Use Act and that are
needed to be addressed to promote the fair and orderly implementation
of that act; and
WHEREAS, Local governments throughout California have worked with
dispensaries to ensure that medical marijuana may be provided to
seriously and terminally ill patients in a nondisruptive manner; and
WHEREAS, Eleven other states-Alaska, Colorado, Hawaii, Maine,
Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, and
Washington-have enacted laws, similar to California's Compassionate
Use Act, that effectively remove state-level criminal penalties for
growing or possessing medical marijuana; and
WHEREAS, As affirmed by the California Court of Appeal, Third
Appellate District, in the matter of People v. Urziceanu (2005) 132
Cal.App.4th 747, the State of California recognizes that the
Compassionate Use Act contemplates the formation and operation of
medical marijuana cooperatives that would receive reimbursement for
marijuana and the services provided in conjunction with the provision
of that medical marijuana; and
WHEREAS, The State of California has recognized medical marijuana
dispensaries and collectives as retailers that are required to
collect, report, and remit tax on the sales of medical marijuana and
the revenues derived from those sales to the State Board of
Equalization and the Franchise Tax Board; and
WHEREAS, The Drug Enforcement Agency of the United States
Department of Justice has conducted raids and shut down dozens of
medical marijuana dispensaries and collectives in California since
2005, with 28 of these raids occurring since June 2007, in 11
different counties; and
WHEREAS, The medical marijuana dispensaries and collectives in
California shut down by the Drug Enforcement Agency had been licensed
by local governments and were reporting and paying sales taxes to
the State Board of Equalization and reporting and paying income taxes
to the Franchise Tax Board and the federal Internal Revenue Service;
and
WHEREAS, Seizures of the assets of these medical marijuana
dispensaries and collectives effectively have blocked payments of
taxes to the State of California; and
WHEREAS, The recent, escalated activities of the Drug Enforcement
Agency to shut down medical marijuana dispensaries and collectives by
targeting their landlords and seizing their landlords' properties
will have serious consequences, including, but not limited to,
thousands of California patients no longer being able to access
medical marijuana, as recommended by their physicians, because these
businesses will be forced to close or move underground; the state and
municipalities losing millions of dollars in tax revenue; and
thousands of individuals employed in medical marijuana dispensaries
or collectives losing well-paying jobs with benefits; and
WHEREAS, The federal government continues to classify all forms of
cannabis as Schedule I drugs under the federal Controlled Substances
Act and therefore does not recognize medical marijuana; and
WHEREAS, Historic practice and scientific research have
demonstrated medical marijuana alone or in combination with other
drugs is an effective treatment for many medical conditions,
including, but not limited to, nausea reduction for patients with
cancer and acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS); increasing the
appetite of patients with nausea or other conditions causing
dangerous weight loss; reducing intraocular pressure in patients with
glaucoma; and controlling muscle spasms, seizures, and chronic
muscular pain; and
WHEREAS, In the matter of Gonzales v. Raich (2005) 545 U.S. 1, the
United States Supreme Court upheld the authority of the Drug
Enforcement Agency to conduct these raids, but left state medical
marijuana laws intact; now, therefore, be it
Resolved by the Senate and the Assembly of the State of
California, jointly, That the Legislature respectfully memorializes
the President of the United States and the Congress to enact
legislation to require the Drug Enforcement Agency and all other
federal agencies and departments to respect the compassionate use
laws of states, including returning any assets seized from medical
marijuana dispensaries and collectives to the states in which they
are located; and be it further
Resolved, That the Legislature respectfully memorializes all
federal law enforcement agencies to enforce federal drug laws
relating to medical marijuana dispensaries and collectives in a
manner consistent with the laws of the State of California and its
municipalities within the confines of the provisions of the
Compassionate Use Act and the Medical Marijuana Program; and be it
further
Resolved, That the Secretary of the Senate transmit copies of this
resolution to the President and Vice President of the United States,
to the Speaker of the House of Representatives, and to each Senator
and Representative from California in the Congress of the United
States.