local news
CALIFORNIA
Local Cannabis Workers Will Qualify For Early Vaccinations AT THE START of the COVID-19 pandemic, Gov. Gavin Newsom declared the Cannabis industry as an “essential” service – allowing businesses to remain open during the subsequent lockdowns. Now, one year later, that classification is bearing another benefit: vaccination prioritization.
12
Creating One Cannabis Bureau to Rule Them All
leafmagazines.com
AS PART of his budget for the 2021-2022 fiscal year, Gov. Gavin Newsom is proposing to combine California’s three existing Cannabis licensing bureaus into one overarching new authority. If adopted, the measure would establish a new Department of Cannabis Control (DCC) under the aegis of the Business, Consumer Services, and Housing Agency as of July 1 of this year. This new DCC would encompass the California Bureau of Cannabis Control (BCC), as well as the Cannabis-related divisions of both the Department of Food THE BUDGET and Agriculture and the ALLOCATES $153.8 Department of Public Health. MILLION – WHICH WOULD BE USED TO To facilitate the formation FUND THE LOGISTICS of this new entity, the budget INVOLVED IN, AMONG allocates $153.8 million OTHER THINGS, – which would be used to TRANSFERRING fund the logistics involved AROUND 600 EXISTING in, among other things, POSITIONS AND CREATING A COUPLE transferring around 600 OF DOZEN NEW ONES. existing positions and creating a couple of dozen new ones. This reorganization would reportedly not affect the states’ upcoming, highly anticipated Cannabis appellation and organic certification programs.
apr. 2021
According to a recent California Department of Public Health bulletin regarding the state’s vaccination rollout, employees at medical marijuana dispensaries are categorized under Phase 1A (along with health care workers) and are eligible to receive the vaccine immediately. Non-dispensary Cannabis industry workers (those involved EMPLOYEES AT in cultivation, production, distribution, etc.) are classified as MEDICAL MARIJUANA DISPENSARIES ARE Phase 1B, Tier 1 – meaning they are next in line to qualify for the CATEGORIZED UNDER vaccines (along with seniors 65 and older, and workers in the PHASE 1A (ALONG agriculture, food service, emergency and education industries) WITH HEALTH CARE starting on March 15. It’s unclear as to which of these categories WORKERS) AND non-medical dispensary workers will fall under. ARE ELIGIBLE TO Some, however, are pushing back on the new guidelines. RECEIVE THE VACCINE Complaining that dispensary workers should not be vaccinated IMMEDIATELY. ahead of law enforcement, firefighters, teachers and grocery store workers, the San Diego County board of supervisors is choosing to ignore the CDPH’s priority classification and instead place all Cannabis workers in category 1B. Nevertheless, it’s gratifying to see the state respecting the necessity of our Cannabis workers and the risks they take to keep us safely medicated.
Workplace Weed Discrimination
Bill Quirk
CALIFORNIA ASSEMBLYMAN Bill Quirk (D-Hayward) has introduced a new bill intended to end workplace discrimination against Cannabis users. Sponsored by California NORML director Dale Gieringer, Assembly Bill 1256 would prohibit employers from firing or refusing to hire individuals based on evidence of Cannabis use, as commonly done via a urine or hair test.
These drug tests have long been decried as discriminatory against legal Cannabis users since they cannot differentiate whether an employee is actually impaired on the job, or whether they’ve merely consumed Cannabis lawfully outside of work hours. The bill also includes a provision that allows individuals to initiate legal action against a company if such discrimination were to occur. There are a few exceptions included in the bill, however – most notably for employers in the construction industry and those who are federally required to drug test.
STORIES by BOBBY BLACK @BOBBYBLACK420 for CALIFORNIA LEAF
