State allows cannabis delivery sales in Visalia (and Everywhere in California)
Due to a state mandate that goes into effect next year, the city of Visalia must join other local jurisdictions in adapting their ordinances so they allow for delivery-only medical cannabis businesses to operate in the city. In order to comply with California Senate Bill SB 1186, also known as the “Medicinal Cannabis Patients’ Right of Access Act,” all cities and counties will need to update zoning ordinances that currently prohibit the operation of any cannabis business.
Watch a Webinar and See a Presentation from Cal NORML Legal Committee attorneys Lauren Mendelsohn and Omar Figueroa about SB 1186.

CMB’s New Pain Prescribing Guidelines Advise Physicians to Ignore New State Law, Continue Stigma Against Cannabis Users
Although the new pain prescribing guidelines from the California Medical Board are co-signed by Gov. Newsom, there’s no mention the law he signed last year outlawing discrimination against patients solely on the basis of the presence of THC in urine tests. Instead, it stigmatizes cannabis users as prone to overdose and opioid use disorder, and advises doctors treating cannabis users to consult with an addiction medicine specialist. The guidelines greatly downplay the scores (if not hundreds) of studies finding that cannabis use can lower need for opioid medications for pain, and state that cannabis “is a legal substance so a positive [urine test] result should not directly result in dismissal of a patient from care unless the use conflicts with the terms of the pain management agreement.” There is no such exception in the law, sponsored by Cal NORML and ASA last year. Download a flyer about Medical Marijuana Patients Rights in California.

Cal Chamber’s Midyear Employment Law Update Acknowledges Pending New Employment Rights Law
By contrast, Cal Chamber acknowledges the passages of the Cal NORML sponsored bill AB 2188, which will take effect on 1/1/24. “Though not taking effect until January 1, 2024, employers should be aware of and prepare for some changes with respect to cannabis law and drug screening compliance. Employers will be prohibited from discriminating against an employee or job applicant based on the person’s use of cannabis off the job and away from the workplace. Employers may still conduct preemployment drug testing, and an employer can still refuse to hire someone based on a positive test — but only if it’s a valid preemployment drug screening that doesn’t screen for non-psychoactive cannabis metabolites [e.g. urine and hair tests].”