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SB 1262 Senate Bill-Bill Analysis Page 10 of 18 SB 1262 Page 13 these laws has been marked by conflicting authorities, regulatory uncertainty, intermittent federal enforcement action, and a series of lawsuits. "Nearly all recent attempts to regulate medical marijuana do not have appropriate health and safety standards and neglect the importance of local control. "SB 1262 will require licensing, set quality assurance and testing standards, and establish for the sale of medical marijuana while protecting public safety and local control." 2)Medical Marijuana Law at Present California voters passed Proposition 215, the CUA, in 1996. The CUA prohibits prosecution for growing or using marijuana of Californians who have the oral or written recommendation of their doctors and these patients' caregivers. The Legislature sought to clarify this initiative in 2003 with SB 420 (Vasconcellos), Chapter 875, Statutes of 2003, the MMPA. The MMPA offered a voluntary identification card which patients and caregivers could obtain that would additionally protect them from arrest. The MMPA also set limits on the amounts of marijuana to be legally grown and possessed. The California Supreme Court ruled in People v. Kelly (2010) 47 Ca1.4th 1008, that the MMPA section limiting quantities of marijuana is unconstitutional because it amends a voter initiative. Now, California patients who obtain a physician's oral or written recommendation are protected from state prosecution for possessing or cultivating an amount of marijuana reasonably related to their current medical needs, as are these patients' caregivers. Patients and caregivers who obtain a state MMPA identification card from their county health department are protected from arrest and prosecution for possessing, transporting, delivering, or cultivating marijuana. But, patients and caregivers who engage in these activities remain liable for federal arrest and prosecution, and those who operate dispensaries face frequent federal enforcement actions. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Gonzales v. Reich (2005) 545 U.S. 1, that the federal government can enforce marijuana prohibition despite state medical-marijuana laws. Thus, the CUA and the MMPA have no effect on federal enforceability of the federal Controlled Substances Act. SB 1262 Page 14 The California Supreme Court recently held that the medical marijuana statutes do not preempt a local ban on facilities that distribute medical marijuana. Municipalities can prohibit such conduct as a public nuisance. (City of Riverside v. Inland Empire Patient's Health & Wellness Center (2013) 56 Ca1.4th 729, 737.) The Court noted, "the CUA and the MMP are careful and limited forays into the subject of medical marijuana, aimed at striking a delicate balance in an area that remains controversial, and involves sensitivity in federal-state relations. We must take these laws as we find them, and their purposes and provisions are modest. They remove state-level criminal and civil sanctions from specified medical marijuana activities, but they do not establish a comprehensive state system of legalized medical marijuana; or http://www.leg info.ca.gov/pub/13-14/bi I I/sen/sb_125 I-1 300/sb_I262_c fa_20140626_l l 1950_asm_comm.html 7/3/2014