BILL ANALYSIS Ó
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 2300|
|Office of Senate Floor Analyses | |
|(916) 651-1520 Fax: (916) | |
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THIRD READING
Bill No: AB 2300
Author: Wood (D)
Amended: 8/19/16 in Senate
Vote: 21
SENATE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE: 7-0, 6/28/16
AYES: Jackson, Moorlach, Anderson, Hertzberg, Leno, Monning,
Wieckowski
ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 77-0, 5/5/16 - See last page for vote
SUBJECT: Medical marijuana
SOURCE: California Apartment Association
DIGEST: This bill specifies that participation in California's
Medical Marijuana Program does not authorize qualified patients
to smoke medical marijuana in any location prohibited by a
landlord, except as specified.
Senate Floor Amendments of 8/19/16 clarify conditions when a
landlord may prohibit the smoking or vaporization of medical
marijuana in residential tenancies.
ANALYSIS:
Existing law:
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1) Declares in the Fair Employment and Housing Act it to be
against public policy to discriminate on the basis of race,
color, religion, sex, gender, gender identity, gender
expression, sexual orientation, marital status, national
origin, ancestry, familial status, source of income,
disability, or genetic information in housing accommodations.
(Gov. Code Sec. 12920.)
2) Declares that the opportunity to seek, obtain, and hold
housing without discrimination because of race, color,
religion, sex, gender, gender identity, gender expression,
sexual orientation, marital status, national origin,
ancestry, familial status, source of income, disability,
genetic information, or any other specified basis is a civil
right. (Gov. Code Sec. 12921.)
3) Declares it unlawful for the owner of any housing
accommodation to discriminate against or harass any person
because of the race, color, religion, sex, gender, gender
identity, gender expression, sexual orientation, marital
status, national origin, ancestry, familial status, source of
income, disability, or genetic information of that person.
(Gov. Code Sec. 12955.)
4) Regulates the terms and conditions of residential tenancies,
and generally requires landlords to keep the rental units in
a condition fit for occupancy. (Civ. Code Sec. 1940 et seq.)
5) Creates an implied covenant of quiet enjoyment in every
lease, requiring that the tenant shall not be disturbed in
his or her possession by the landlord. (Civ. Code Sec. 1927;
Pierce v. Nash (1954) 126 Cal.App.2d 606, 612.)
6) Authorizes the landlord of a residential dwelling unit, or
his or her agent, to prohibit the smoking of a cigarette or
other tobacco product on the property or in any building or
portion of the building, including any dwelling unit, other
interior or exterior area, or the premises on which it is
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located, as specified. (Civ. Code Sec. 1947.5.)
7) Provides, in Proposition 215 of 1996, the Compassionate Use
Act, that individuals have the right to obtain and use
marijuana for medical purposes where medical use has been
deemed appropriate and recommended by a physician because the
person's health would benefit from the use of marijuana in
treatment of cancer, anorexia, AIDS, chronic pain,
spasticity, glaucoma, arthritis, migraine, or any other
illness for which marijuana provides relief. (Health & Saf.
Code Sec. 11362.5(b)(1).)
8) Removes the criminal penalties for cultivation and
possession of marijuana by qualified patients, who are
persons with a physician's written or oral recommendation or
approval to use marijuana for medical use, or by their
primary caregivers, and protects physicians from punishment
for recommending marijuana to a patient for medical purposes.
(Health & Saf. Code Sec. 11362.5(b), (c) and (d).)
9) Provides, in the Medical Marijuana Program Act, that
participation in the Medical Marijuana Program shall not
require any accommodation of any medical use of marijuana on
the property or premises of any place of employment or during
the hours of employment or on the property or premises of any
jail, correctional facility, or other type of penal
institution in which prisoners reside or persons under arrest
are detained. (Health & Saf. Code Sec. 11362.785(a).)
10) Specifies that participation in the Medical Marijuana
Program shall not authorize a qualified patient to engage in
the smoking of medical marijuana under any of the following
circumstances:
" in any place where smoking is prohibited by law;
" in or within 1,000 feet of the grounds of a school, recreation
center, or youth center, unless the medical use occurs
within a residence;
" on a school bus;
" while in a motor vehicle that is being operated; or
" while operating a boat. (Health & Saf. Code Sec. 11362.79.)
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This bill:
1.Provides that participation in the Medical Marijuana Program
shall not authorize a qualified patient to engage in the
smoking of medical marijuana in any location prohibited by a
landlord, as specified.
2.States that a landlord may restrict the smoking or
vaporization of medical marijuana within or adjacent to a
dwelling unit or other building on the property, provided that
the landlord does not impose conditions or prohibitions that
effectively deny a patient the ability to vaporize medical
marijuana, as recommended by a physician for medical purposes,
if the patient is under the care of a parent, guardian, or
primary caregiver, as specified.
Background
In 1996, California voters passed Proposition 215, the
Compassionate Use Act, "to ensure that seriously ill
Californians have the right to obtain and use marijuana for
medical purposes." The Compassionate Use Act authorized
individuals with chronic medical conditions and their caregivers
to cultivate, possess, and use marijuana upon the recommendation
of their physician. Several years after the passage of
Proposition 215, the Legislature passed SB 420 (Vasconcellos,
Chapter 875, Statutes of 2003), the Medical Marijuana Program
Act, which established a program for the issuance of
identification cards to patients qualified to use medical
marijuana, and made numerous legal clarifications and statutory
changes necessary to implement and enforce a statewide system of
providing medical marijuana to chronically ill patients.
SB 420 settled several issues concerning the exercise of a
qualified patient's right to use medical marijuana. Among other
things, the Medical Marijuana Program Act clarified that
participation in the program would not require any accommodation
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for the use of medical marijuana on the property or premises of
any place of employment, or during the hours of employment, or
on the property or premises of any jail, correctional facility,
or other type of penal institution in which prisoners reside or
persons under arrest are detained. (See Health & Saf. Code Sec.
11362.785.) The Act also clarified that participation in the
program did not authorize (nor prohibit) a qualified patient to
engage in the smoking of medical marijuana: in any place where
smoking is prohibited by law; in or within 1,000 feet of the
grounds of a school, recreation center, or youth center, unless
the medical use occurs within a residence; on a school bus;
while in a motor vehicle that is being operated; or while
operating a boat. (See Health & Saf. Code Sec. 11362.79.)
This bill expand the list of places neither authorized nor
prohibited for a qualified patient to engage in the smoking of
medical marijuana under the Medical Marijuana Program Act to
include any location where smoking is prohibited by a landlord,
except where such prohibitions effectively deny a patient the
ability to vaporize medical marijuana, as specified.
Comments
The author writes:
In 1996, Proposition 215 (Compassionate Use Act) was passed by
California voters to allow seriously ill patients to use
marijuana for medical purposes. The Compassionate Use Act
also requires a recommendation from a physician before a
patient can begin using or obtaining the cannabis. Once a
patient has a physician recommendation, the right to use and
obtain medical marijuana is protected. A few years later, the
Legislature passed and the Governor signed SB 420
(Vasconcellos, 2003) to ensure there was a proper structure in
place to implement and enforce the Compassionate Use Act. SB
420 established a voluntary ID program for qualified patients
that use medical marijuana while also making other statutory
changes to protect the public. The bill prohibited medical
marijuana patients from smoking cannabis near schools, while
operating a car or boat, and any other place where smoking is
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prohibited by law.
In 2011, SB 332 (Padilla) codified in law that a landlord may
prohibit smoking tobacco within their rental dwellings. The
new law aligned with the already existing ban of smoking in
the workplace, while also recognizing that secondhand smoke
may cause death or serious illness. Secondhand smoke is
especially problematic in multi-unit apartments and condos
because the smoke can [easily travel] through windows, doors,
and shared ventilation systems. Neighbors living in
multi-family housing can be exposed to toxic, and unwanted,
secondhand tobacco smoke. A University of California San
Francisco (UCSF) study researched the effects of breathing
secondhand marijuana smoke. The UCSF study, released in 2014,
highlights that secondhand marijuana smoke can be as dangerous
as secondhand tobacco smoke.
Current law already outlaws qualified patients from smoking
medical marijuana at any place where smoking is prohibited,
but further clarity in statute is needed to protect tenants,
especially families living in multi-family housing, from
unsolicited secondhand marijuana smoke. AB 2300 allows a
landlord to prohibit the smoking of marijuana within their
rental properties. The bill does not prohibit other forms of
marijuana consumption, so qualified patients can still consume
medical cannabis through other means, such as, edibles, oils,
or other non-smoking alternatives.
Related/Prior Legislation
SB 332 (Padilla, Ch. 264, Stats. 2011) codified the ability of a
residential landlord to prohibit smoking on the property or in
any building or portion of the building, including any
residential dwelling unit.
AB 2279 (Leno, 2008) would have provided that an employee who is
a qualified patient cannot be fired from a job because of his or
her status as a qualified patient or for testing positive for
marijuana, and would have provided that an employee who is a
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qualified patient cannot be discriminated against or penalized
by an employer for marijuana status or positive testing during
the hiring process. This bill was vetoed by Governor
Schwarzenegger who asserted that the bill would interfere with
employment decisions relating to marijuana use.
SB 420 (Vasconcellos, Ch. 875, Stats. 2003) See Background.
FISCAL EFFECT: Appropriation: No Fiscal
Com.:NoLocal: No
SUPPORT: (Verified08/22/16)
Apartment Association, California Southern Cities
Association of California Healthcare Districts
California Apartment Association (source)
California Association of Realtors
County Health Executives Association of California
East Bay Rental Housing Association
Apartment Association of Orange County
North Valley Property Owners Association
OPPOSITION: (Verified08/22/16)
Greenbridge Corporate Counsel
Legal Services for Prisoners with Children
ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 77-0, 5/5/16
AYES: Achadjian, Alejo, Travis Allen, Arambula, Atkins, Baker,
Bigelow, Bloom, Bonilla, Bonta, Brough, Brown, Burke,
Calderon, Campos, Chang, Chau, Chávez, Chiu, Chu, Cooley,
Cooper, Dababneh, Dahle, Daly, Dodd, Frazier, Gallagher,
Cristina Garcia, Eduardo Garcia, Gatto, Gipson, Gomez,
Gonzalez, Gordon, Gray, Grove, Hadley, Harper, Roger
Hernández, Holden, Irwin, Jones, Jones-Sawyer, Kim, Lackey,
Levine, Linder, Lopez, Low, Maienschein, Mathis, Mayes,
McCarty, Medina, Melendez, Mullin, Nazarian, Obernolte,
O'Donnell, Olsen, Patterson, Ridley-Thomas, Rodriguez, Salas,
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Santiago, Steinorth, Mark Stone, Thurmond, Ting, Wagner,
Waldron, Weber, Wilk, Williams, Wood, Rendon
NO VOTE RECORDED: Eggman, Beth Gaines, Quirk
Prepared by:Tobias Halvarson / JUD. / (916) 651-4113
8/22/16 20:37:53
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