Calif. lawmakers reach deal on medical pot
By Christopher Cadelago and Alexei Koseff, Sacramento Bee
California lawmakers said late Thursday that they have reached a deal on legislation to regulate and license medical marijuana.
The regulatory framework to corral the billion-dollar medical cannabis industry will be contained in three bills that have received the blessings of the two chambers and Gov. Jerry Brown, said Assemblyman Rob Bonta, D-Oakland, one of the authors of the measures.
Bonta said his measure, which along with the others will be released today, would require state and local licenses for medical marijuana businesses. It would create a new Bureau of Medical Marijuana Regulation to oversee the licensing and regulatory effort and involve the California Department of Food and Agriculture and the Department of Public Health.