A newly drafted protection for “micro” weed farmers is making its way through state lawmakers’ chambers. The Assembly just passed North Coast Assemblyman Jim Wood’s “Cottage Cannabis Farmers Bill” that would add a new medical marijuana cultivator license to the state regulatory framework passed last year. The new license type will be available to outdoor […]
Jim Wood
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Sorry, Kids: Tobacco Buying Age Hiked to 21, Vaping Restricted
Beginning June 9, you’ll have to prove you’re 21 to buy tobacco. Thanks to a bill sponsored by Assemblymember Jim Wood, California is joining Hawaii as the second state in the nation to raise the minimum age for tobacco purchases. Members of the armed services are exempt. The announcement that Gov. Jerry Brown had signed […]
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Our Assemblyman Golfed Pebble Beach Last Year for Free
Politicians are just like us. Who hasn’t been given $460 tickets to a Warriors or Giants game from a powerful state union or private corporation? The LA Times just released an article detailing the sports-related gifts handed to California lawmakers and there was our very own 2nd District Assemblyman Jim Wood, leading the state in […]
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Bill Aims to Ease Hospital Hiring Restrictions to Boost Rural Docs
In an effort to curb the chronic lack of health care in rural areas like Humboldt County, the state Assemblyman Jim Wood-led Health Committee passed a bill that would give small-town hospitals more freedom to hire doctors. The bill is a response to the difficulties rural areas have attracting and retaining medical providers (as the […]
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Wood Pushes Soda Tax Amid Busy Health Week
Really want that Double Big Gulp? Well, come next year, you’ll have to pay an extra $1.28 for it, if North Coast Assemblyman Jim Wood has anything to say about it. Kicking off what’s proven to be a busy week for Wood and health news, the assemblyman introduced a bill that would impose a 2-cent-per-ounce […]
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Deadline for Marijuana Laws Lifted, Two Days After Supes Cram Through Ordinance
Two days after the Humboldt County Board of Supervisors passed a comprehensive outdoor medical marijuana cultivation ordinance — an effort of superbureaucratic speed — state lawmakers lifted the deadline that led to the county’s mad rush. Assemblyman Jim Wood announced this morning that his emergency legislation, lifting a March 1 deadline for local jurisdictions to […]
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Supes Nix Planning Commission’s Tweaks of Medical Marijuana Draft Ordinance
In a play-it-safe move, the Humboldt County Board of Supervisors agreed Tuesday that it would base its discussion on a proposed outdoor medical marijuana ordinance on the original draft produced by county staff, before it underwent dozens of hours of public comment and was re-written by the planning commission in November and December. When supervisors discussed […]
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UPDATE: Medical Marijuana Bills Pass
The state Assembly and Senate approved a trio of medical marijuana regulations just before deadline Friday. The bills were the subject of some last minute tweaking, and reports of stubbornness regarding authorship began to leak out of the capitol in the days before consensus was reached (read more about that below). The bills will go […]
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Medical Pot Bills Near Legislator Vote
The first substantial regulation in 20 years of medical marijuana in California is headed to a vote in the next couple weeks. As reported in the Week in Weed, staff members for state Sen. Mike McGuire and assemblymen Jim Wood and Rob Bonta were scrambling early this week to get final amendments into their legislation […]
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McGuire Proposes Comprehensive Medical Marijuana Bill
Pot’s on a lot of minds in Sacramento these days. Our own state senator, Mike McGuire, announced on 4/20 that his proposed medical marijuana bill was approved unanimously by the Senate Business and Professions Committee. The bill would create a Bureau of Medical Marijuana Regulation under the state’s consumer affairs department, which would “license and […]
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Following the Money: Humboldt Dems Pumped $130K into Far-Flung Races
With regard to state contests, the November election was a sleepy time on the North Coast. Election Day victories of Democratic state legislative heirs-apparent Assemblyman Jim Wood and Sen. Mike McGuire’s were never in doubt, so one might imagine that the Humboldt County Central Democratic Committee was just kicking back, watching the races unfold, right? […]