#californiacannabis – “The California Assembly’s Committee on Insurance explained the intent behind AB 2568 in a report issued earlier this year:
“The hesitancy of insurance providers to provide insurance for commercial cannabis is attributed to risk, since cannabis is classified as a Schedule I substance under the Federal Controlled Substances Act. Therefore, much of the insurance available in California is from surplus lines. This does not align with the federal government’s longstanding determination that it is in the public’s interest for states to regulate their own insurance marketplaces. Further, the argument has been refuted in federal case law brought about in Green Earth Wellness Center v. Attain Specialty Insurance Company (2016), which established that federal classification of cannabis is not relevant in an insurance provider’s determination to write an insurance policy.
It is important that commercial cannabis businesses have multiple options for insurance as they pursue licensure. AB 2568 clarifies that writing insurance for commercial cannabis does not constitute a crime, since cannabis is part of a legal, regulated market in California. This clarity will provide assurances to admitted insurers that they will not be in violation of any regulations and encourage them to provide an insurance product.””
#cannabislaw – “A California federal judge has thrown out claims against the California Highway Patrol and the cities of Napa, St. Helena and Calistoga by a pair of cannabis growers alleging that police wrongly confiscated or destroyed more than 2,500 plants, saying the growers failed to meet notice requirements.
In an order filed Monday, U.S. District Judge Jacqueline Scott Corley granted dismissal bids by the cities and the CHP in a suit filed pro se by James Hopkins and Kochagorn Sinsukthaworn, who run Infinity Cannabis Growth….
Judge Corley dismissed the state law claims, saying that under the California Government Claims Act, a plaintiff can sue a public entity for money or damages only after presenting a claim to that entity and that entity has either acted on or rejected the claim.
According to Judge Corley’s order, there’s nothing in the complaint indicating that the plaintiffs filed such a claim with CHP, the state of California or the three cities named in the complaint. However, she gave leave to amend, saying the claims could survive if Hopkins and Sinsukthaworn plead that they did submit such a claim.
Judge Corley dismissed the federal claims against CHP with prejudice, saying the CHP is not considered a “person” that can be sued under federal law for the deprivation of constitutional rights.”
https://www.law360.com/articles/1534182/3-calif-cities-and-chp-avoid-suit-over-destroyed-pot-plants
#californiacannabis – “California Gov. Gavin Newsom has signed into law A.B. 1894, which would prohibit the marketing of cannabis vaping devices as disposable or imply they may be thrown in the trash.
“We can no longer ignore the harmful impacts that electronics and batteries in cannabis vapes [have] on our environment and [the] waste industry,” says Assemblywoman Luz Rivas, a sponsor of the bill. “A.B. 1894 takes an important step forward in prohibiting the advertisement and marketing of cannabis vaporizers devices that are ‘disposable’ or may be thrown in the trash or recycled.””
#californiacannabis – ““All we’ve heard for two years is: ‘You need concrete evidence.’ So we went out and got some,” Blair Pence, president of the Santa Barbara Coalition for Responsible Cannabis, told the News-Press Tuesday. “Honestly, the scope of these results came as a surprise to me. I can’t believe this has gone on in our valley, and I am hopeful that the authorities will put a stop to it immediately…..
According to the investigation, more than 500 acre-feet of water per year are being diverted from the Santa Ynez River Alluvial Basin to cannabis grows. The investigation by Lynker and the law office says this usage violates California law, which prohibits use of surface water for cannabis cultivation between March 31 and Nov. 1.
Of the 31 cannabis cultivation operations along the Santa Ynez River between Lake Cachuma and Lompoc, 22 appear to pump and irrigate illegally using water that is protected under California law, according to the investigation.”
https://newspress.com/investigators-say-more-than-70-of-cannabis-growers-use-illegal-water/
Law Office of Dale Schafer 