Gov. Newsom must protect statewide cannabis delivery for veterans, the elderly and others
On Thursday in Fresno’s Superior Court, 25 local governments will try to deny millions of Californians their right to buy licensed cannabis through legal delivery.
Nevermind that these millions include veterans, people with disabilities, the immunocompromised and the elderly. Nevermind that COVID-19 threatens us each time we leave our homes, or that cannabis delivery is a designated essential service. Nevermind that the right to buy cannabis is enshrined in state law. The plaintiffs in County of Santa Cruz et al. v. Bureau of Cannabis want to continue the war on drugs under the guise of “local control.”
In 2016, an overwhelming majority of voters passed Proposition 64, making cannabis legal for adults over 21 and establishing a regulatory system for sales. In 2018, sales began through licensed stores and delivery services in some parts of the state. Many cities and counties refused to allow cannabis businesses in their jurisdictions, leaving over 75% of Californians living in places without legal cannabis retailers.
Currently, Californians who live in these areas have two options: buy untested products from illegal local dealers, or have legal cannabis delivered to their door.
Option 1 is already fueling a very strong illicit market in California that Prop 64 was supposed to eliminate, resulting in crime and dangerous outcomes for patients, like vaping-related lung disease caused by illegal products.
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Fortunately there’s Option 2, which exists because California law says, “(a cannabis) delivery employee may deliver to any jurisdiction within the State of California.” This means licensed cannabis retailers can deliver to any address in the state — no matter where it’s located.
Even though statewide delivery has been reaffirmed by two governors, the California Legislature and the Bureau of Cannabis Control many times, these 25 jurisdictions still want to stop customers from accessing safe, legal cannabis.
What’s this really all about? I asked Alice Huffman, president of the California NAACP and a member of California’s Cannabis Advisory Committee.
“It feels like the war on drugs,” she said. “Cities and counties have control over zoning, but stopping adults from having a legal product delivered to their home infringes on civil and human rights. Someone who is homebound should be able to get delivery, especially now with COVID-19. What if a local mayor or sheriff didn’t want alcohol delivered? Or didn’t like Amazon? This lawsuit is (an) overreach.”
It’s not a stretch to say the County of Santa Cruz et al. v. Bureau of Cannabis embodies a lot of what’s wrong with our country right now. For months, we’ve been having a national debate in our streets about enforcement overreach. No community has been more impacted than Black Americans, long the targets of police violence and the war on drugs, and their reality hasn’t changed with cannabis legalization. The ACLU’s 2020 report, “A Tale of Two Countries: Racially Targeted Arrests in the Era of Marijuana Reform” shows that more than 6 million cannabis arrests occurred between 2010 and 2018, with Black people still more likely to be arrested “than white people in every state, including those that have legalized marijuana.” Banning delivery will perpetuate this by propping up the illegal market which, inevitably, will send more Black and brown Californians to jail.
Then there’s the issue of necessity. California is home to nearly 2 million veterans, more than any other state. For the veterans using cannabis to treat PTSD and chronic pain, legal access is a matter of life and death. Speaking as a U.S. Army airborne infantry veteran, I feel the choice couldn’t be more clear, either leaders support the right to buy legal cannabis, or they condone opioid addiction and self harm.
Fortunately, Gov. Gavin Newsom and his administration are on the right side of history. By defending statewide delivery on Thursday in court, the BCC is acting in the best interests of all Californians by protecting the will of voters and the well-being of our most vulnerable residents. This is the kind of leadership California needs, especially at this very tough, divisive time — not more of the same old policies that got us here in the first place.
Sean Kiernan is the current president of the Weed for Warriors Project . From 1989 to 1993, he served in the U.S. Army as airborne infantry in Latin America.
