By Christopher Cadelago
Proposal would give new duties to liquor bureau
SACRAMENTO — A
bill to hand oversight of medical marijuana to the state Department of Alcoholic
Beverage Control is moving to the floor of the Assembly.
The measure would create within the ABC a
division charged with regulating the production, transportation and sale of
medical marijuana in California.
“I think we’re turning a corner on
marijuana regulation,” said Assemblyman Tom Ammiano, D-San Francisco, the author
of the measure.
California voters approved marijuana for
medical use via Proposition 215 of 1996, but the drug remains illegal under
federal law.
The state estimates it could cost upward of
$15 million to establish the regulatory process.
Opponents of Assembly Bill 473 believe the
state has no business creating new regulations for the drug. They include
district attorneys, narcotics officers and police chiefs associations.
A San Diego-based group also says it’s
closely tracking the bill because its members believe the ABC is overburdened as
it is, and may also have a conflict of interest.
San Diegans for Safe Neighborhoods, whose
members are clustered around Pacific Beach, say alcohol regulators have a
conflict because their $57 million annual budget is generated mostly by license
fees.
A U-T Watchdog report last month said the
ABC approved more than 10,000 permanent licenses and denied seven in the last
fiscal year.
In 2010-11, the agency provided 12,600
licenses and denied four. The year before, it granted 9,444 and denied
seven.
ABC officials said they adhere to the law
when reviewing permit applications, which are subject to a 17-step appeals
process if an applicant is denied.
An analysis of the bill says the average
fee to cover the $15 million cost would be $7,500 apiece if there were 2,000
annual applications.
