Marijuana

The state is allowing more on-street alcohol sales and food in cannabis lounges. Supporters say the laws will boost downtown economies.

State officials said a Humboldt County cannabis operation took water from streams and damaged wetlands for years without authorization. The owner called the fine extreme and unfair but agreed to pay and restore wetlands.

Under two new laws, employers in California can’t ask workers about their use of cannabis outside the workplace and can’t use hair or urine tests. Employees in construction are excluded, as are applicants for federal jobs with background checks.

California's environmental regulations are not to blame for the struggles of small pot farmers. County permitting decisions, the local political climate, and the inability of law enforcement to eradicate illicit cultivation have been much bigger hurdles.

Frustration runs deep among medical cannabis patients and advocates who say the commercial market created by Proposition 64 in 2016 isn’t meeting their needs.

After California legalized medical marijuana in 1996 and then recreational cannabis two decades later, one might think that for many patients, the state would be a sanctuary for seeking treatment.  But as CalMatters’ state Capitol reporter Alexei Koseff explains, those who rely on cannabis to treat pain, seizures, glaucoma and other ailments say that despite […]

Every rung of the cannabis supply chain in California is regressing as the illicit market continues to outpace the legal one. Excessive taxes and local control are to blame, argues a cannabis industry member.

Spurred by public outcry for more police accountability following the 2020 death of George Floyd in Minneapolis, the Legislature ordered the California Department of Justice to investigate police killings of unarmed civilians. At the time, legislators who introduced the bill — including then-Assemblymember and current Attorney General Rob Bonta — pledged that investigations would be […]

The in-person and virtual CalMatters events this year will serve as unique gathering points for civically-engaged Californians.

California has sometimes moved to help victims of emergencies who are excluded from federal aid‚ such as undocumented workers and cannabis businesses.