AG HARRIS WISE TO SEEK CLARITY ON MEDICAL POT LAWS

California Attorney General Kamala Harris formally asked the state
Legislature earlier this week to clarify state laws on medical
marijuana to bring certainty and consistency to both law enforcement
and patients. It's about time someone took action on the issue. The
Legislature needs to take up the request.

Under the state's medical marijuana law, the attorney general is
authorized to issue guidelines on legality. As attorney general, Gov.
Jerry Brown essentially made dispensaries legal if they were nonprofit
cooperatives or collectives. As a result, storefront dispensaries
boomed -- and the federal government stepped up efforts to go after
them.

At the local level, Kern County has passed three separate ordinances
on medical marijuana, including a ban on storefront dispensaries.
Other municipalities have faced similar dilemmas in regulating the
drug.

Harris reportedly considered revising Brown's guidelines but
determined that any action she could take would lack the force of law
behind it. That's why she's instead asking the Legislature to
determine if storefront dispensaries and delivery services that sell
medical marijuana are legal. It's about time.