Medical marijuana proponents in California are pushing back against a proposed sales tax that could substantially increase prices for patients. The proposal would impose a 15 percent sales tax on all medical cannabis sales, plus any local fees or taxes. In Los Angeles, where patients already pay a 5 percent local tax, the cost of a $200 ounce of mid-quality ...

Medical marijuana is big money in California. Now a group of lawmakers are pushing to put more of that cash in state coffers. Sen. Mike McGuire, a Democrat, sponsored legislation in February that would create a new 15 percent sales tax on medicinal cannabis sales. Introduced Feb. 10, the bill would impose the first statewide tax on the drug. Medical ...

It’s about time. After decades of legal chaos, California’s medical marijuana system is now subject to real, enforceable state regulations. Gov. Jerry Brown signed three bills in early October that impose new rules on the famously lawless MMJ industry. It marks the first time since medical weed was legalized in 1996 that the state has had the power to truly ...

Lawmakers say they have reached a deal with California Gov. Jerry Brown that would bring some order to the state’s chaotic medical marijuana system. New cannabis regulations were set to pass the state Legislature in September, and Brown, a Democrat, was expected to sign the law. It would create a new set of statewide regulations for the medical cannabis industry, ...

For all intents and purposes, medical marijuana is now legal, not only under California law but under federal law as well. This means federal agencies and prosecutors will no longer stand in the way of legal medical weed. The change marks the biggest win yet at the federal level and an indication marijuana prohibition may have reached its closing days. ...

Sick children who need medical marijuana to survive are going without because of a series of police raids up and down the Pacific Coast in California. In mid October a local task force of drug warriors raided a dispensary in the San Diego area and destroyed farms in Modesto and Mendocino County in Northern California. The operations were all providing ...

Medical marijuana has quickly become one of the most popular drugs in the United States. As it turns out, there’s a good reason for this: The vast majority of patients – almost all of them – say the drug works. A new California health survey found 92 percent of MMJ patients believe the medicine works on some of their conditions, ...

Opponents of medical weed in California often point to the recommendation system as proof MMJ is a scam. Doctor recommendations are too easy to get, they say, and physicians hand them out like candy in return for a hefty profit. Problem is, the state agency that oversees the medical profession says there’s no evidence to support that view. Pot recommendations ...