Amended Psychedelics and Cannabis Employment Bills Move to California Assembly Floor
I n a whirling dance of legislative moves, California's Senate-endorsed bills on psychedelics legalization and cannabis employment rights have vaulted through their third Assembly committee. The latest stop on this legislative rollercoaster: the Assembly floor. Yet, each bill wears new amendments like a hippie sports tie-dye.
Take Senator Scott Wiener's (D) trippy bill, for example. The Assembly Appropriations Committee waved its legislative wand and—poof!—several changes came into being. These adjustments muddied the waters a bit, reshaping the bill's stance on substance transfer, delaying decriminalization for personal use, and tweaking personal possession limits, among other shifts. Despite these tweaks, Wiener expressed elation at the bill's progression.
While acknowledging a rocky road ahead, he revealed that he and other advocates remain hopeful. If it navigates the Assembly's labyrinth, the bill will circle back to the Senate for final nods on the revisions before heading to the Governor's desk. Last session, Wiener led a broader bill that passed the Senate but fizzled in the Assembly. The new, pared-down SB 58 focuses solely on plant- and fungi-derived psychedelics like psilocybin and DMT while sidestepping synthetics like LSD and MDMA.
The bill also paves the way for "community-based healing" with these natural substances. In a parallel universe, a cannabis employment bill is also leaping hurdles. It aims to bar employers from asking job applicants about their prior marijuana use. While technical adjustments were made, the bill will return to the Senate for final touches before also hitting the Assembly floor. California's rapid legislative maneuvering could echo in other states' halls of power, further loosening the U.S.'s stringent drug policies. The assembly's decision now looms large, with implications not just for Californians but potentially for the fabric of American drug law reform.
References: California Legislative Information - SB-58 Controlled substances: decriminalization of certain hallucinogenic substances https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billTextClient.xhtml?bill_id=202120220SB58 California Legislative Information - Employment Rights for Cannabis Use https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billTextClient.xhtml?bill_id=202120220SBXX Marijuana Moment https://www.marijuanamoment.net/
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