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2015 State Legislative Summary Page 3 of 7 <br />Directs the California Medical Board to prioritize investigation of excessive <br />recommendations of medical cannabis by physicians. <br />Imposes fines ($5,000) against physicians for violating prohibition against having a financial <br />interest in a medical marijuana business. <br />Recommendation for cannabis without a prior examination constitutes unprofessional <br />conduct. <br />Imposes restrictions on advertising for physician recommendations. <br />Upholds local power to levy fees and taxes. <br />AB 266 (Bonta, Cooley, Jones-Sawyer, Lackey, Wood) Medical Marijuana <br />Protects local control as it establishes a statewide regulatory scheme, headed by the <br />Bureau of Medical Marijuana Regulation (BMMR) within the Department of Consumer <br />Affairs (DCA). <br />Provides for dual licensing: state will issue licenses, and local governments will issue <br />permits or licenses to operate marijuana businesses, according to local ordinances. State <br />licenses will be issued beginning in January 2018. <br />Revocation of a local license or permit will unilaterally terminate the ability of the business <br />to operate in that jurisdiction. <br />Expressly protects local licensing practices, zoning ordinances, and local constitutional <br />police power. <br />Caps total cultivation for a single licensee at four acres statewide, subject to local <br />ordinances. <br />Requires local jurisdictions that wish to prevent delivery services from operating within their <br />borders to enact an ordinance affirmatively banning this activity. No specific operative date <br />for the ban is specified. <br />Includes a labor peace agreement under which unions agree not to engage in strikes, work <br />stoppages, etc. and employers agree to provide unions reasonable access to employees <br />for the purpose of organizing them. Specifies that such an agreement does not mandate a <br />particular method of election. <br />AB 243 (Wood) Medical Marijuana <br />Places the Department of Food and Agriculture (DFA) in charge of licensing and regulation <br />of indoor and outdoor cultivation sites. Creates a Medical Cannabis Cultivation Program <br />within the department. <br />Mandates the Department of Pesticide Regulation (DPR) to develop standards for <br />pesticides in marijuana cultivation, and maximum tolerances for pesticides and other <br />foreign object residue. <br />Mandates the Department of Public Health (DPH) to develop standards for production and <br />labelling of all edible medical cannabis products. <br />Assigns joint responsibility to DFA, Department of Fish and Wildlife (DFW), and the State <br />Water Resources Control Board (SWRCB) to prevent illegal water diversion associated with <br />marijuana cultivation from adversely affecting California fish population. <br />Specifies that DPR, in consultation with SWRCB, is to develop regulations for application of <br />pesticides in all cultivation. <br />Specifies various types of cultivation licenses. <br />Directs the multi-agency task force headed by DFW and SWRCB to expand its existing <br />enforcement efforts to a statewide level to reduce adverse impacts of marijuana cultivation, <br />including environmental impacts such as illegal discharge into waterways and poisoning of <br />marine life and habitats. <br />The Governor signed all three bills into law, and now there will be a period of drafting regulations <br />and working with the impacted state agencies, most specifically the Business, Consumer Services <br />and Housing Agency, to finalize guidelines.