California to Reevaluate Laws
Published on 1/2/12
California's Attorney General has asked that the state lawmakers take another look at California's medical marijuana program; stating that the state law needs to be reformed to be more conclusive as well as more informative in order to cover all of the appropriate laws for the patients.
California Attorney General Kamala Harris has asked state lawmakers to substantially change The Golden State's marijuana law, noting that various interpretations result in "uncertainty for law enforcement and seriously ill patients." She says state law needs to be "reformed, simplified, and improved" to clarify "how, when, and where individuals may cultivate and obtain physician-recommended marijuana."
In 2008, Jerry Brown -- the current governor who was attorney general at the time -- issued guidelines for marijuana dispensaries and said they could only legally operate if they were not running for profit. Although Brown hoped the federal government would not raid legal marijuana dispensaries and drive them out of business, for-profit shops mushroomed across the state. Author and pro-family activist James Lambert tells OneNewsNow why he is concerned.
"I'm concerned over someone like Jerry Brown getting involved in it," he explains. "His lack of oversight and lack of concern for the problem bothers me a lot."
Harris also sent a letter to four federal prosecutors who recently cracked down on marijuana shops, urging them to turn their attention toward human trafficking and gangs and away from marijuana shop owners.
"Of course there's an ongoing problem because they're trying to proliferate it among the population [regardless] of the original intent," Lambert comments. "I think that's what the public needs to understand. This is another backdoor way of legalizing marijuana in the state."
The attorney general claims the current case presents different challenges that make the issue "far more complicated" than in 2008.
