Marijuana
Credit: California Cannabis Portal
May 25, 2022 - SACRAMENTO - Senator Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco)’s Senate Bill 1186, which restores voter-created access to medicinal cannabis across the state by requiring cities to provide patients access to purchase medicinal cannabis by delivery, passed the Senate with a unanimous bipartisan vote. It now heads to the Assembly for policy hearings.
Cannabis is an important and life-saving medicine for many people, including those who have cancer, HIV/AIDS, chronic pain, arthritis, neurodegenerative disorders, and numerous other illnesses. Everyone deserves access to the medicine, including medicinal cannabis. SB 1186 restores this access for all Californians.
“Right now, 62% of California cities ban people from purchasing legal medicinal cannabis,” said Senator Wiener, “This fuels the illicit cannabis market and makes it difficult – if not impossible – for people to access the medicine they need. We need to ensure everyone can access medicinal cannabis if they need it; SB 1186 will restore this access across the state.”
The California Cannabis Industry Association is sponsoring SB 1186, and California NORML is supporting the legislation.
Under current California law — which arguably allows cities to ban any and all cannabis sales — 62% of cities have banned all cannabis sales, including medical cannabis sales. As a result, residents of those cities, including people living with HIV, cancer, arthritis, insomnia, and other conditions, frequently have no option other than to buy on the illicit market. California’s thriving and growing illicit cannabis market both undermines the legal, regulated market and risks people obtaining contaminated cannabis.
To address this significant medical access problem, SB 1186 requires cities to allow medical cannabis access. Cities must – as a minimum – authorize medical cannabis delivery.
To be clear, SB 1186 does not in any way change cities’ ability to limit or ban sales of adult use of cannabis. Prop 64, passed by the voters in 2016, grants cities that local control. But Prop 64 did not speak to medical cannabis — which the voters legalized in 1996 via Prop 215 — and the Legislature’s decision to grant cities that local control was not required by any voter measure. Indeed, the Legislature’s grant of power to cities to ban medical cannabis undermined the voters’ intent in passing Prop 215. Prop 215’s core goal was to create legal access to cannabis as medicine.
California was the first state in the country to allow medical use of cannabis with the 1996 approval of Proposition 215. This voter initiative, driven largely by caretakers and activists seeking palliative therapies for AIDS and cancer patients, led to a cascade of state medical cannabis legalization efforts nationwide, as well as recognition that cannabis is essential medicine.
SB 1186 prioritizes patient health by allowing patients to access licensed stores or licensed deliveries in their area and by prohibiting jurisdictions from enacting unreasonable restrictions on these businesses that have the effect of prohibiting retail sale by delivery. Under SB 1186, local jurisdictions retain all of their local control over adult-use (non-medicinal) cannabis businesses. This bill simply prevents jurisdictions from prohibiting medicinal cannabis delivery and therefore preventing patients from accessing the medicine they need.
By doing so, SB 1186 respects the voters’ intent and ensures that Californians throughout the state have timely and convenient access to safe, effective, and affordable medicinal cannabis and cannabis products.
Source: Senator Scott Wiener
