Bill to restore access to medical cannabis in California passes another Senate committee

Through Nina Zdinjak

After the Senate Committee on Business and Occupations passed 8-3 in April, Senator Scott Wiener’s Bill 1186, aimed at ensuring access to medical cannabis throughout California, was also approved by the Senate Administration and Finance Committee .

The bill passed the Senate by a unanimous bipartisan vote and is now heading to the assembly for political hearing, the Sierra Sun Times reported.

“Currently, 62% of California cities ban the purchase of legal medicinal cannabis,” said Senator Wiener. “This is fueling the illicit cannabis market and making it difficult – if not impossible – for people to access the medicines they need. We must ensure that everyone has access to medicinal cannabis when they need it; SB 1186 will restore that access statewide.”

Photo by SageElyse/Getty Images

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On Thursday, California officials launched a new resource that offers people an interactive map showing exactly where marijuana stores are allowed and where they are not allowed to open, Marijuana Moment reported.

The map confirms that more than half of the state’s cities and counties do not allow any cannabis licensees to operate in their area.

Californians have a new tool to see where to buy safe and legal cannabis products from licensed retailers and which cities and counties allow cannabis businesses to be licensed. Learn more: https://t.co/WDi9R4TRlf#CAcannabis #map pic.twitter.com/StQMqcl5gG

— CA Department of Cannabis Control (@CAcannabistept) May 26, 2022

What does current California law say?

California allows cities to ban all marijuana sales, including MMJ, preventing people suffering from HIV, cancer, insomnia, arthritis and other diseases and disorders from legally purchasing medical marijuana.

RELATED: Senator urges restoring access to medical cannabis in California, bill passes Senate committee

As a result, the illicit cannabis market is booming, which also exposes its residents to the risk of purchasing and consuming untested and potentially unsafe cannabis products.

Summary of the new invoice

Under SB 1186, cities would have to provide some form of access to medicinal cannabis. The choice of how to provide this access would be left to each city. Options include enabling medical marijuana delivery, storefront, or both. But most importantly, if the law passes, California cities will no longer be able to ban access to medicinal cannabis.

However, the bill does not change cities’ right to restrict or ban the sale of adult-use cannabis. The main idea behind the measure is to prioritize patient health by giving them access to licensed stores or licensed deliveries.

After all, California was the first US state to legalize medical cannabis and approved Proposition 215 in 1996, and now medical marijuana is legal in more than 30 states.

This article originally appeared on Benzinga and has been republished with permission.