SAN FRANCISCO — Nearly two decades after California became the first state to legalize medical marijuana, the state finally is planning to regulate the vast, unruly industry the voter-approved move spawned.

Gov. Jerry Brown on Friday signed a package of bills that create a licensing and oversight framework for the growing and selling of medical marijuana and pot-infused products.

Here are the basics on the Medical Marijuana Regulation and Safety Act, how it might affect the existing landscape for medical marijuana and what happens next.
___

Nearly 20 years after California jump-started a national dialogue on medicinal cannabis, the Legislature and the Governor have succeeded in negotiating a set of new bills to bring law and order to the Wild West economy of legal cannabis in California.

Should the governor sign his name to the package of bills the Legislature approved last month — AB 266, AB 243 and SB 643 — there will be profound changes in the industry; standardized licensing requirements and processes, tight restrictions on water and pesticide use, consumer safety standards, and public safety regulations that tightly control the distribution of cannabis from where it is grown to where it is sold.

The marijuana debate in Ohio is garnering more attention after Ohio’s Attorney General Mike DeWine’s trip to Colorado.

DeWine said he took a three-day trip to Colorado about two weeks ago to speak with people directly affected by the legalization of marijuana in the state.

DeWine said he spoke with Colorado’s attorney general, the chief of Denver police and several doctors.

DeWine said he doesn’t want the current problems in Colorado to make their way to Ohio.

"The perceived risk is down and the availability of marijuana is dramatically up, and the end result is going to be younger children will be trying marijuana and more children will be using marijuana," DeWine said.

We've been reporting about the marijuana policies of presidential candidates, some of whom would like to turn back the clock on legal recreational sales in Colorado and a handful of other states.

But there are plenty of reasons to let Colorado's experiment go forward.

Millions of them, in fact.

State Rep. Mike Regan (R-York/Cumberland) reassured the public recently that the House medical cannabis task force recommendations on legalizing medical marijuana in Pennsylvania steer clear of anything having to do with legalizing recreational use of the drug. 

"Our report makes it clear that legalized medical cannabis would only be allowed in the form of pills, oils and vaporization and not through smoking or 'edible' form," Regan said. "There is nothing involved in this report that would legalize a recreational usage," 

COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH)– Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine has returned to the state after a recent business trip to Colorado.  DeWine says he went to Colorado to learn about the consequences of marijuana legalization and how to implement the law if amendment three passes.

DeWine says law enforcement officers, medical professionals, and educators all told him the same thing.  He says, “The message was really clear. And that message was you guys are crazy if you bring this to Ohio. You guys are just crazy.”

Gov. Jerry Brown recently signed off on historic new rules setting regulations into California’s medical marijuana industry, much to the delight of many industry workers and advocates applauding the decision.

After signing a trio of bills Friday night, Brown approved the Medical Marijuana Regulation and Safety Act (MMRSA), which will aim to bring a standard of quality to the state’s medical cannabis industry, MSNBC reports.

The Silence of the Lambs

You wouldn’t know it by reading the news or by viewing the webpages of major marijuana reform and medical marijuana groups, and if you did, some would offer no endorsement. But tomorrow, we are just three weeks away from residents of Ohio voting whether marijuana shall be legal for all adults to possess, use, cultivate, and process.

Amanda Amsdill, left, listens as lawyer Matt Newburg, left, speaks with her parents, Debra and Jim Amsdill, during a preliminary examination in 2013. The Michigan Court of Appeals has ruled the Amsdills must stand trial on charges ranging from conducting a criminal enterprise to conspiracy to deliver or manufacture marijuana.(Photo: MELISSA WAWZYSKO/TIMES HERALD)

The owners and some employees of Blue Water Compassion Center facilities in St. Clair, Sanilac and Tuscola counties will proceed to trial in January on charges ranging from conducting a criminal enterprise to conspiracy to deliver or manufacture marijuana.

Eastern Shore authorities seized more than 700 adult marijuana plants worth about $1.45 million from an abandoned property in Chesterville, Maryland.

The investigation into the property began in August. Officials said the plants, ranging between 6- and 10-feet tall, were weeks away from being harvested.

The 15-acre property located in the 3100 block of Chesterville Bridge Road was abandoned several years ago, according to a release provided by the Queen Anne’s County Sheriff’s Office. The property included one large home and several “outbuildings” that had been sitting vacant.

Authorities said the property was only visited occasionally by the family members who live in Delaware