BANKING
California Senate Advances Bill Establishing Statewide Cannabis Banking Services
INSURANCE
Title: California’s cannabis companies can now obtain property and liability insurance
Author: Biz Journals .com
Date: 6 June 2018
Extract:
California Insurance Commissioner Dave Jones approved a program on Monday to provide California’s marijuana dispensaries, warehouses, processors, manufacturers, distributors and other cannabis-related operations with property and liability coverage.
LAWSUIT
Title: Cannabis Church Is Suing City Of San Diego For $1.2 Million
Author: Green Rush Daily
Date: 5 June 2018
URL: https://greenrushdaily.com/cannabis-church-is-suing-city-of-san-diego-for-1-2-million/
Extract:
A curious phenomenon has arisen across California: the proliferation of churches offering any worshiper cannabis as a sacrament. The problem is that cities in California are starting to take issue with these churches’ idea of a higher power.
Increasingly, local authorities are cracking down on cannabis churches. They say such churches are nothing more than dispensaries in disguise, operating outside of the rules that official dispensaries have to follow. But one congregation, the Vault Church of Open Faith, is pushing back. It’s suing the city of San Diego for $1.2 million in damages they claim are the result of harassment and intimidation by local officials.
Cannabis Churches Square Off Against City Governments Across California
California’s cannabis laws stipulate a few crucial things about cannabis business operations. While legal across the state, local governments can restrict or outright ban cannabis operations within city limits.
Jurupa Valley, California, where the Vault Church incorporated in January, is at an important crossroads, making the tension between the city and the church particularly piqued.
Currently, the city bans all cannabis businesses. But this month, Jurupa Valley voters will decide whether to allow commercial cannabis operations in the city.
The Vault Church of Open Faith belongs to a ministerial organization called The Association of Sacramental Ministries. On behalf of Vault and 15 other cannabis churches, Sacramental Ministries filed the damages claim against the city, reports Mercury News.
The claim comes as Jurupa Valley is trying to settle its own 2017 lawsuit against the church, which it says is simply an illegal dispensary.
“The bottom line is they are selling marijuana illegally,” said City Manager Gary Thompson. “We have proof of that.”
POLITICS
Title: Republican California Cannabis Champion’s Job at Risk in Primary Today
Author: The Street.com
Date: 5 June 2018
Extract:
Control of Congress isn’t the only thing on the line in Tuesday’s primaries.
As eight states hold elections Tuesday for candidates for state, local and congressional offices ahead of November’s midterm election, the cannabis industry has turned its attention to Rep. Dana Rohrabacher, a Republican from California’s 48th congressional district, which includes Orange County cities and towns such as Irvine and Laguna Beach.
“He is one of those odd individuals who’s a Republican and whose support for the cannabis industry is steadfast,” Harris Bricken cannabis attorney Habib Bentaleb said. “California is a leader in the space and we want to stay a leader. We want someone who is going to support the industry.”
In 2014, the Orange County Republican cosponsored the Rohrabacher-Farr Amendment to prevent the Justice Department from interfering with state’s medical marijuana laws. A 15-term congressman, Rohrabacher faces 15 challengers in the state’s so-called “jungle primary”, in which only the top two finishers will advance to the November election regardless of party affiliation.
Rohrabacher also has earned the moniker “Putin’s Favorite Congressman,” referring to Vladimir Putin, the Russian President. Rohrabacher allegedly used information he obtained from Russian officials to exclude a Russian lawyer from an anti-corruption law in 2016. “There’s two people I think Putin pays: Rohrabacher and Trump,” another California Republican, House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, said in 2016.
It is impossible to predict who will come out on top according to Akin Group Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP political adviser and former California State Assembly majority leader Dario Frommer said, as turnout is expected to be low for all groups except Latinos who may affect outcomes in unpredictable ways.
According to Bentaleb, the outcome of the 48th district primary could affect California’s the cannabis industry even more the one for governor.
Proposed Amendment to California’s Medical Marijuana Law On Hold – For Now
By Jennifer Mora on June 5, 2018
POSTED IN CALIFORNIA LAW
California’s AB 2069, a bill to require employers to accommodate medical cannabis users, recently failed to advance past committee.
We previously reported that the California legislature was considering AB 2069, the “Medical Cannabis Worker Protections Act,” a bill to amend the Fair Employment and Housing Act to require most employers to engage in the interactive process with and consider reasonable accommodations for cannabis users.
Yet, on May 25, 2018, the bill failed to advance past the Appropriations Committee. Instead, the bill was “held under submission,” which, according to the legislature’s website, means “there is an indication that the author and the committee members want to work on or discuss the bill further, but there is no motion for the bill to progress out of committee.” Whether the bill will be set for another hearing remains to be seen.
Latest Updates
- Jurupa Valley is proposing an initiative that would allow (but regulate) medicinal and adult-use cannabis.
- San Rafael has completed a final adoption of an ordinance that will allow for the issuing of a cannabis distribution license.
- Goleta is considering moving forward with a cannabis business license ordinance and asking for public input. Find out how to provide feedback at the link below.
- PLUS: a list of cities that have rolling deadlines for cannabis cultivation permits.
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