PLEASE SUPPORT CAL NORML IN 2023
Now is the time to build on the progress we made in 2022! Please support Cal NORML with a membership donation. Click Here to Donate or see our Cal NORML store and purchase merchandise.
It was a banner year for cannabis reform measures in 2022, in no small part due to the efforts of California NORML and our supporters.
LEGISLATIVE GAINS
Cal NORML lead a successful legislative effort to protect the employment rights of California’s cannabis consumers, along with a second bill to protect medical marijuana patients against discrimination by their doctors. The bills were part of a group of reform bills that Cal NORML advocated for and activated our members to support, through several committees and floor votes in both houses of the legislature, all the way through their signing by the Governor. These laws will help protect parental rights, expunge past marijuana convictions, expand local access for medical patients, allow terminally ill patients to use cannabis in hospital settings, permit veterinarians to recommend cannabis for pets, among other reforms. Read more.
In May we held our first post-COVID Lobby Day in Sacramento, bringing dozens of citizen lobbyists from around the state to meet with lawmakers and their staffs and advance our reform bills. Through our email network and social media alerts, we generated over 5200 letters to lawmakers on eleven different state bills, most of which were signed into law.
Allied with industry groups and others, our efforts towards tax relief for California cannabis businesses bore fruit when legislation to eliminate the cannabis cultivation tax passed into law. We testified for tax reform and worked with the Governor’s office and legislators to advance this measure.
OTHER ACTIVITIES
Cal NORML issued two election guides in 2022, one for the June primary and a second for the November general election, publishing candidates’ positions and records on cannabis reform, and letting our members know about propositions on local ballots, as well as deadlines to register to vote.
In July, Cal NORML participated in the historic first-ever cannabis exhibit and competition at the California State Fair in Sacramento. We did outreach to attendees from a Cal NORML table and hosted panels on Sustainability and Equity, as well as the Past, Present and Future of Cannabis Reform in California.
In August, we hosted an online webinar for attorneys and the public, “Leading Issues in Cannabis Law and Policy” featuring our new board members Lauren Mendelsohn and Hirsh Jain as part of our commitment towards keeping Californians informed of current cannabis laws and regulations.
In September, Cal NORML director Dale Gieringer picked up a “High Achievement” award from Oaksterdam University, which announced it would be establishing four home-grow yearly scholarships in his name.
We wrapped up the year in November by sponsoring a party celebrating the 50th anniversary of the ballot measure that kicked off marijuana reform in California and beyond, and lead to the founding of Cal NORML. The California Marijuana Initiative of 1972 was funded by the sales of hemp rolling papers and sponsored by Amorphia, the grass roots organization that morphed into Cal NORML in 1974.
As always, Cal NORML works to inform the public about developments in cannabis. We publish an informative website, www.CaNORML.org and put out a weekly email blast summarizing the week’s state, local and federal news stories along with Action Alerts and notices of Coming Events. We regularly publish updates on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and Instagram.
PRESS COVERAGE
Cal NORML’s Deputy Director Ellen Komp was interviewed about our employment rights bill for a story on ABC 10 in Sacramento that ran the night before the bill was signed; afterwards she appeared on KTVU FOX 2 and Telemundo, both in the Bay Area. She was heard on KNX radio in LA and CBS’s Channel 8 in San Diego about the announcement from President Biden that he would be pardoning anyone convicted under federal law for pot possession, and calling for HHS and DOJ to review the scheduling status of cannabis.
Dale was quoted in Marijuana Moment about DOT’s move to switch from urine testing to more scientific oral swabs for truck drivers. He was interviewed on KRON-TV about the pain patients’ rights bill, and in LA Weekly when we worked to fight off a bill that would have re-felonized the cultivation of more than 6 marijuana plants. He spoke on KQED Radio about the 50th Anniversary event, and both Dale & Ellen appeared on The Cannabis Connection on KSCO radio in Santa Cruz to talk about the 50-year history of cannabis activism in California.
CAL NORML’S PLANS FOR 2023
- Watchdog implementation of AB 1954 (pain patients’ rights) and other bills
- Inform public and employers about AB 2188 (employment rights), taking effect in 2024
- Push for federal rescheduling and legalization
- Support cannabis industry efforts towards public education on high-potency cannabis products
- Advance greater access and less taxation for medical patients
- Support local activists in opening more cannabis retail outlets and consumption lounges, while fighting off smoking/vaping bans in apartments
- Support parental rights for cannabis users, and end drug testing of newborns and their mothers
- Watchdog AG Bonta’s new EPIC program against illegal cannabis grows
PLEASE SUPPORT CAL NORML IN 2023!
Now is the time to build on the gains we made in 2022! Please support Cal NORML with a membership donation. Click Here to Donate or see our Cal NORML store and purchase merchandise.
