A landmark bill to tax and regulate marijuana, authored by Assemblyman Tom Ammiano (D-San Francisco), was reintroduced in the California legislature today. The proposal would make personal possession and cultivation of marijuana legal for adults over 21 and would institute a regulatory system for marijuana sales modeled after the one that already exists for alcoholic beverages.

Asm. Ammiano’s 2009 marijuana reform bill, A.B. 390, was approved in the Assembly Public Safety Committee last month but did not advance further due to legislative calendar constraints. This year’s bill, A.B. 2254, is expected to receive hearings in the next couple of months.

Stay tuned as this bill progresses. We’ll definitely have our plates full out here in California, as we work on this legislation and build public support for reform in a year when the state’s electorate will be voting on the Tax Cannabis 2010 initiative.

The Center for Medicinal Cannabis Research (CMCR), based at the University of California, San Diego, published a report today summarizing the results of clinical trials studying medical marijuana’s efficacy in treating pain. The studies, funded by CMCR under the mandate of a 1999 legislative action, found that marijuana is particularly helpful in relieving pain associated with nerve damage and in treating the muscle spasticity from multiple sclerosis.

The summary CMCR presented to the California legislature today brings together data from 15 clinical studies – six of which have been published in respected medical journals.

In 2002, then-drug czar and rabid medical marijuana opponent, John Walters said, “The Center for Medicinal Cannabis Research is currently conducting scientific studies to determine the efficacy of marijuana in treating various ailments. Until that research is concluded, however, most of what the public hears from marijuana activists is little more than a compilation of anecdotes.”

Well, the proof is in. Now it’s time for Congress to bring federal medical marijuana policy into line with the science.

The full CMCR publication can be downloaded, here.

Authorities around the nation are expressing concern over the rising popularity of a legal marijuana knockoff called “Spice,” also known as K2. Spice is a mixture of organic and synthetic ingredients and apparently, when smoked, it produces a euphoria similar to marijuana.

Spice is sold legally as a marijuana alternative in stores across the country but some are suggesting that it’s more dangerous that the real thing. We’ve known for a long time that our marijuana laws are leading people to use more dangerous drugs like alcohol. Now, Spice might be added to the list of dangerous concoctions marijuana prohibition is encouraging people to use in order to stay out of jail.

I suppose there could be stranger ways to achieve a legal high.

California has had legal medical marijuana for over 13 years, and more than 80% of Americans support patients’ rights to use it. But none of that mattered to Christian Hughes’ employer, who fired him for testing positive for marijuana that he uses under his doctor’s recommendation to treat injuries related to an auto accident.

Hughes, 33, was the on-site manager for a senior apartment complex in Anderson, California until his recent termination by MCA Housing Partners.

The resident senior citizens are up in arms over the unfair firing of their beloved manager. Norene Faidley, 68, told the Redding Record Searchlight that “Christian is our brother, our son, our grandson, and we love him.”

“He cares about us and our concerns,” she added. “No problem is too large or small, whether repairing an earring or eyeglasses to handling the unexpected illness or death of a resident.”

Some residents have even organized a petition and have gathered about 60 signatures from the 80-unit apartment complex in order to try to have Hughes reinstated.

Unfortunately, California law does not explicitly protect patients from sanctions in the workplace even when they are using marijuana in accordance with state law. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger vetoed legislation that would have changed that in 2008.

You can read Christian Hughes’ whole story and view a video about the reaction, here.

Big news!

California’s Tax Cannabis 2010 campaign announced today that they have submitted nearly 700,000 signatures to qualify their initiative for the November 2010 ballot. The initiative seeks to make personal possession (up to 1 oz.) and cultivation (up to 25 square feet) legal for adults 21 and up. The proposal also gives cities and counties the option to legalize, tax, and regulate marijuana sales.

Supporters only needed to collect 433,971 valid signatures to qualify for the ballot. Submitting such large raw numbers makes the chances very good that this bold measure will be placed before California voters in November.