Forum addresses public safety concerns with marijuana legalization

California Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom said Tuesday that the public needs to ask lots of questions before anyone drafts language for a marijuana legalization ballot measure, but he is almost certain it will be on the ballot in 2016.

The discussion was part of an on-campus forum that addressed public safety and enforcement concerns with legalizing marijuana. About 30 activists and community members attended.

Newsom, chair of the Blue Ribbon Commission on Marijuana Policy committee, said he thinks legalizing marijuana requires a lengthy public discussion. The committee is comprised of policymakers, academics and public health experts who aim to explain the issues surrounding marijuana legalization.

California voters legalized medical marijuana in 1996, but voted against its recreational use in 2010. Alaska and Oregon were the last states to legalize recreational marijuana in November 2014.

David Ball, chair of the Public Safety Working Group of the blue-ribbon commission and an assistant professor of law at Santa Clara University, said forum members hoped to brainstorm ways to maximize the social benefits and minimize the harm of regulating adult-use marijuana.

Ventura Police Chief Ken Corney, who sat on the panel, said he thinks there should be more specific measurements for toxic levels of marijuana use, similar to blood-alcohol content limits, to determine if one is driving under the influence of marijuana. He said he thinks it’s important to conduct research that proves using marijuana impairs individuals and to develop a saliva test to detect recent marijuana use.

“It’s not about putting people in jail,” Corney said. “Everything we do should be based on protection and geared to move society forward.”

Kristin Nevedal, director of the Patient Focused Certification Program for Americans for Safe Access, said that as a medicinal marijuana patient, she wouldn’t be allowed to drive under the proposed stipulations. The program monitors the medical distribution of cannabis.

Tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC, is the main psychoactive ingredient in marijuana, is detectable in urine for weeks, and is still present in the body after the impairment effects of marijuana subside, Nevedal said. She added that she thinks patients should be exempt from traditional THC testing because they would have elevated levels in their system.

Paul Gallegos, a member of the blue-ribbon commission’s Public Safety Working Group, said he has environmental concerns about the plant’s unregulated growth, which affects water use in California.

Marijuana is a water and nutrient-intensive plant that consumes up to six gallons of water per day during the 150-day growth cycle, Gallegos said. California produces nearly 70 percent of the nation’s marijuana crop.

Two more forums about marijuana will be held May 19 in Northern California and June 3 in Fresno. Members of the commission will continue to discuss public safety concerns and the taxation of marijuana.