A bill to better protect medical marijuana collectives and cooperatives passed the California Senate yesterday, Senate President pro Tem Darrell Steinberg’s office reports.
According to the bill’s analysis, SB 439 clarifies that a cooperative, collective or other business entity that operates within the Attorney General’s “Guidelines for the Security and Non-Diversion of Marijuana Grown for Medical Use” will not be subject to prosecution for marijuana possession or commerce, as specified.
The bill stems from the fact that law enforcement in medical marijuana-unfriendly counties have been arresting medical pot growers, and raiding collectives and dispensaries, arguing that all collective sales are illegal. SB 439 makes it abundantly clear that collective sales as well as storefronts are legal.
