AirTalk sits down with Lori Ajax, the chief of California's Bureau of Medical Cannabis Regulation, to discuss the future of marijuana regulation in the state after its legalization last year. We also parse through the opposition to LA’s recently-approved $1 billion plan to fight homelessness; pros and cons of family vlogging for children; and more.
Latest on the GOP baseball shooting in Virginia
What was supposed to be baseball practice for an annual non-partisan event Wednesday morning took an ugly turn when House Majority Whip, Steve Scalise of Louisiana, was injured along with four others, by a lone shooter.
As reported by the New York Times, the shooting lasted for 10 minutes and two of the five people who were wounded are in critical condition. Scalise was shot in the hip and is now in stable condition. In a statement, President Trump said the gunman, who has been identified as 66-year-old James T. Hodgkinson from Illinois, had died from his injuries. Hodgkinson apparently volunteered on Bernie Sanders’ campaign, and the former presidential candidate said he is “sickened by this despicable act.”
In his speech, Trump also praised the "heroic actions" of Capitol Police at the scene and said the FBI is continuing its investigation of the incident. AirTalk and KPCC are following this breaking story and will provide updates as news breaks.
With files from the Associated Press.
Guest:
Steven Dennis, congressional reporter with Bloomberg News; he has been following the story; he tweets
Pete Aguilar, Democratic congressman representing the 31st District of California, which includes the city of San Bernardino and portions of Rancho Cucamonga; he is a member of the Democratic congressional baseball team
Next steps for Senate Intel Committee following AG Sessions’ testimony
During his nearly three hour hearing on Wednesday, U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions was indignant and even defiant at times as members of the Senate Intelligence Committee grilled him with questions about possible Russian meddling in the 2016 election and what role, if any, he may have played.
Sessions categorically denied having talked with any Russian officials about election meddling, and his refusal to answer questions about details of his conversations with President Trump frustrated Senators. And while he didn’t outright claim executive privilege in refusing to answer certain questions, even when they didn’t involve confidential information or conversations, there has been some debate over whether and how Sessions may have used executive privilege as a shield.
After three high-profile Senate Intelligence Committee hearings, what will lawmakers on the panel do now with the information they have? And what are the next steps for the Trump Administration?
Guest:
Isaac Dovere, chief Washington correspondent for POLITICO; he tweets
5 things to know about California's budding marijuana industry
Since Proposition 64 was passed in November, California has been gearing up to begin sales of recreational marijuana. Who better to ask how that industry is shaping up than the state’s “pot czar,” Lori Ajax?
Ajax is no stranger to substance regulation. Before Governor Jerry Brown appointed her as the state’s first chief of the Bureau of Medical Cannabis Regulation, Ajax was the chief deputy director of the Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control. Now, Ajax is switching her focus from booze to bud. She has been tasked with leading the state’s development and implementation of recreational cannabis regulations.
Ajax joined AirTalk to weigh in on how the regulatory framework for California’s recreational cannabis market is coming along and where they’re taking cues from other states like Washington and Colorado that already have a regulatory system for cannabis in place.
Here’s what she says people need to know about entering the state’s budding marijuana industry:
1. The Bureau of Medical Cannabis Regulation is on track to start issuing licenses on Jan. 1, 2018.
Ajax has already finished the draft regulations and recently held a series of public comment hearings on proposed regulations for recreational cannabis. She says the next steps for her bureau are to draft regulations for marijuana adult use.
2. Keep an eye on Gov. Brown’s budget trailer bill on merging Prop. 64 regulations.
Depending on whether this legislation passes, pot shops may be able to to sell both medical and recreational weed in the same store. This would be more cost efficient for businesses, but it could also make it more difficult to enforce the different age restrictions and card requirements. Ajax says merging the regulations from Prop. 64 and the previous Medical Cannabis Regulation and Safety Act would take some of the confusion out of medical and recreational regulations for business owners.
3. There are currently no limits on licenses for micro-businesses.
Prop. 64 has a new license type that allows cultivation, manufacturing, distribution, and sales all in one license. This type of license is perfect for small businesses and craft growers. Draft regulations for micro-licensing will come out in the fall.
4. But you still can’t be a one-stop shop.
Under the Medical Cannabis Regulation and Safety Act, there was a restriction on how many licenses a business could hold in categories like growing, distributing, testing and retail sales. That could change with Gov. Brown’s trailer bill. Now, businesses can operate as growers, distributors and sellers all at once, but testing must be left to an independent company.
5. Thirty percent of consumers are still expected to buy marijuana on the black market.
The Bureau of Medical Cannabis Regulation contracted with the UC Agricultural Issues Center to do a study on the economic impact of California’s pot industry, and the findings show the potential for a $5 billion bump for California’s economy. “We want to encourage folks to come into the regulated market,” Ajax said. “It’s our responsibility to keep the costs down so it’s not more attractive to buy cannabis on the black market.”
For the full interview, including Ajax’s take on how police will determine how high is too high to drive, whether California should be a ‘sanctuary state’ for marijuana, and Los Angeles’ recently-proposed marijuana business regulations, click the blue player button at the top of the page.
Guest:
Lori Ajax, chief of the Bureau of Medical Cannabis Regulation
This segment has been updated.
Not everyone’s happy about LA’s $1 billion plan to fight homelessness
The L.A. County Board of Supervisors have authorized broad investments in combatting homelessness totaling nearly $1 billion over the next few years.
Hundreds of millions of dollars raised under Measure H, a sales tax which kicks in Oct. 1, will go into new homeless shelters, rental subsidies, and supportive services to try to stem the region's growing homeless crisis. The board unanimously authorized the spending plan Tuesday.
Obstacles remain, not least the seemingly endless river of people falling into homelessness each year. In January, volunteers with the county's homeless count tallied 58,000 people sleeping on the streets, in cars, and in shelters—a 23 percent rise over the previous year. That rise came despite entities in L.A. County housing over 14,000 people last year, a record number.
Officials will also have to figure out how to site new housing for homeless and homeless shelters in communities that have been less-than-receptive to welcoming services into their neighborhoods. They'll also have to figure out how, in a competitive rental market, to recruit landlords to accept temporary and permanent rental subsidies to house homeless.
Read the full story here.
You can also find Rina Palta's story on the Golden Motel here.
Guests:
Rina Palta, KPCC correspondent who covers the social safety net in Southern California; she was at the Board of Supervisors meeting yesterday
Becky Dennison, executive director of Venice Community Housing, a non-profit that aims to provide affordable housing, education and support services in Venice
Christian Wrede, member of Venice Vision, a neighborhood group that aims to create a safe and liveable community
Family vlogging: Weighing the controversy of putting kids on YouTube
YouTube is home to beauty gurus, gamers and how-to experts. But another genre that's gained popularity is the family vlog.
Yes, parents putting cute kids on camera and taking them to cool places has given YouTube-famous families the opportunity to make a living out of spending time together. But what are the pitfalls? Fame at a young age has been a subject of controversy for a long time. But with vlogs, parents are the facilitators of the story and filming takes place at home, at any hour. So what effect does this have on kids?
As reported by Forbes, Kristine and Matt of the vlog Family Fun Pack have made painstaking moves to protect the privacy of their popular children. They don't disclose their kids' last names, and even moved once because their neighbors left fan mail at their door. Today, we explore the precautions that can be taken before considering family vlogging. Do you think that family vlogs are harmless fun, or are there unavoidable repercussions for the children involved?
Guests:
Kristine, owner and creator of Family Fun Pack, a YouTube family vlogging channel; she has asked not to disclose her last name to protect her family's privacy
Yalda T. Uhls, Ph.D., adjunct professor of child psychology at UCLA and youth development expert Common Sense Media, a nonprofit aiming to help kids and parents navigate media and technology; she is also author of "Media Moms & Digital Dads: A Fact-Not-Fear Approach to Parenting in the Digital Age" (Routledge, 2015)