CSUN On Point

Proposition 64 passed on November 8, 2016 in the state of California. As a result, adults over the age of 21 can possess and privately use marijuana. In 2018, commercial sales and production of the substance also became part of California’s economy. It has become a rapidly growing industry, but the new laws have not erased the confusion and controversy around the substance, and how it can be legally and safely used.

Last year, the Los Angeles Times reported that California has the largest legal marijuana market in the world, with more dispensaries, recreational users and consumer choices than ever before. But the new legalities did not erase the past completely.

“[Many people] thought that prior convictions they had would be cleared,” said attorney Lisa Mattern, who specializes in marijuana cases. Thousands have been overturned in California, but the process is not simple or automatic, and the debate over when and whether to overturn those convictions continues.

Mattern also said law enforcement officers still face challenges when pulling over drivers who are under the influence of marijuana. NBC Los Angeles reported last year “an increase of up to six percent in the number of highways crashes in states where recreational use of marijuana is now legal, compared to states where the same use is illegal.”

Mattern said when an officer smells marijuana in a vehicle,  the DUI investigation begins. But the substance can remain in a person’s body long after the effects have worn off, making the results of field tests problematic. The varying levels of THC in cannabis products also deliver mixed results when consumed. There are no standardized limits or tests yet, but data does show that marijuana impairs driving.

“[Police] don’t have the tools [to test for it],” Mattern said. “They don’t have any field sobriety tests.”

Aside from the legal issues, there are also health issues remaining for many recreational users. Despite a common belief that they can’t, some marijuana users do develop dependency, and, according to Healthline.com, can exhibit “mood swings, a lack of energy, and cognitive impairment.” when they stop using.

“There’s an assumption that because it’s legal, it means that there are no risks that come along with it,” said CSUN University Counseling Services Drug and Alcohol Liaison Dr. Steve Silver. He said a lot of users are misinformed about the effects of the drug.

New methods of consuming marijuana, like edibles and wax, can alter the time it takes for effects to be felt, and the magnitude of those effects. “It can be quite unsettling,” Silver said, when a reaction is stronger than anticipated. Levels of THC can vary greatly. The risk is ever-present to become dependent on the substance, or experience discomfort while consuming it.

California is among 21 states that have legalized the recreational use of marijuana. But the future of legalization remains uncertain due to the lack of support from the federal government, a growing range of properties and strains, and inevitable comparisons to alcohol regulations in the nation.

Producer: Alex Guerrero

Anchor: Brittany Smith

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Fire is a word Californians are all too familiar with these days.

Every year people anticipate fire season, however more and more fires are happening outside the seasonal norm. Human activity as well as climate change have caused this irregularity.

“We used to think there was a fire season,” CSUN Geography & Environmental Studies Professor Amalie Orme said. “In our traditional way of thinking, probably from mid-20^th century into the early years of this century, we always thought it was going to be sometime in the fall and maybe into early winter, but I think in the last two decades now, we’ve seen a very different type of pattern, where we can see fire year round.”

Data show that these fires are becoming larger as well. The most recent highly destructive fire in Southern California was the Thomas fire. It burned for more than a month, leaving thousands of acres burned and destroying nearly 800 homes.

In efforts to control fires, campaigns like Smokey Bear have been used. This wildfire prevention campaign educates the community on what it can do to prevent these fires with fuel management practices. Unfortunately, these efforts do not always work when Mother Nature gets involved.

“All these fires are driven by these natural things,” retired LAFD fire-fighter and FlameMapper.com co-founder Anthony Shafer said. “The real thing, that I personally think adds to it, is the buildup over the years of fuels, and the tons per acre of dry fuels on the landscape, and the fact that we haven’t figured out how to get rid of that, or decrease that.”

“You have this other dynamic in here,’ Orme said, “when you have this big fuel-loading, especially in areas that are difficult to access, because when you start to look at the way fires are patterned over time…we wind up with these mosaics of vegetation, which may not have the adaptive capacity to regenerate and prevent the understory from basically refueling itself.”

Climate change is another driving force behind these California flames. Temperatures are rising, causing landscapes to be drier for longer periods of time. The current California drought does not help the situation either, and experts say heavy rainfall may not even be enough to counteract the rising temperatures. These conditions leave certain areas more susceptible to catch and sustain fire.

These susceptibilities can change someone’s life overnight.

“When I was about 8-years-old, my family lost their home to the 1993 Topanga fire,” FlameMapper.com co-founder Shea Broussard said.  “I didn’t really understand how to process the feelings of emotion at the time. It was very strange and very odd. When you lose your house, you don’t realize you lose that sense of place, that sense of home… You’ve had the worst day that could ever happen to you, and you don’t have a place to go home to.”

Broussard said no one can really prepare for the devastation of a fire. Fires occur unexpectedly, and many people do not know what to do after they’re over, or how they can protect their homes against the scorching flames.

“[People] don’t have their to-go bags,” Shafer said. “They don’t have all their financial information; they don’t have all their insurance documentation…That’s where the devastation is, the fact that they get to [shelters], and they’re sitting there on this bench, and they realize the only thing they’ve got in the world is what they are sitting there with.”

No two fires are the same, but they have similar and lasting effects.

“A fire can really change a community,” Broussard said. “It takes years to try to recover, and it’s a bigger event than people can actually wrap their brain around.”

Moderator: Angela Bickmann

Producers: Angela Bickmann and Marissa Martinez

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Californians no longer have to think twice about where their new pets come from, now that a new law requires pet stores to sell animals acquired only from shelters and rescue organizations.

Governor Jerry Brown signed AB 485 this month. The bill was written by California State Assembly members Patrick O’Donnell (D – Long Beach) and Matt Dababneh (D – Woodland Hills), and it makes California the first state in the nation to regulate the breeding of pets and their sale to this extent.

“Basically what it will do is create a statewide ban on the sale of puppies, dogs, kittens, cats and rabbits in for-profit pet stores when they’ve been gotten from puppy mills,” Dababneh said. “We’re not going to let animals be sold in our state as pets when they come from inhumane breeding facilities that treat these animals as commodities, and don’t have any regard for the animal’s health or wellbeing.”

This new bill rules out the selling of animals that come from puppy mills or kitten factories, but independent breeders will still be able to sell their animals to pet stores. It primarily applies to the selling of dogs, cats and rabbits.

“This bill is extremely important,” said Charlotte Laws, an animal rights activist. “It will hopefully end the killing in the shelters. Right now, in Los Angeles, I believe we adopt out something like 84 percent of the animals that come into the shelters.”

“I think what the bill will do is promote more responsible pet ownership,” Bunnyluv Rabbit Resource Center representative Jody Springborn said. Springborn said that rabbits are the highest killed animals in shelters because they face a multitude of challenging health issues commonly affecting their teeth and eyes.

The bill’s supporters said that since rescue organizations are ‘no kill’ and require thorough adoption screenings, the placement of rescue animals into pet stores will help prevent the killing of many animals unnecessarily. Many shelters are recognized as being ‘no kill’, but others do have to euthanize animals with in critical health conditions or who have not been adopted within a certain time period.

The bill will go into effect on January 1, 2019.

Moderator: Shannon Ozburn

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California voters face an important decision in this upcoming November ballot, about making marijuana legal for recreation use.

Prop 64, also known as the Adult Use of Marijuana Act, will let Californians decide whether to allow individuals 21 years or older possess up to 28.5 grams of marijuana for legal use.

The National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws says four states: Colorado, Washington, Alaska and Oregon, have legalized the use of recreational marijuana without any major problems, while other states have legalized it for medical use.

The initiative would create a 15% excise tax on the retail price of recreational marijuana. “The government of California would rake in a substantial amount of revenue from that,” said CSUN economics professor Dennis Halcoussis. The projected revenue from legalization is expected to exceed $1 billion.

Marijuana retailers also expect to make money from the new law. “I think [business] is going to be even better,” said Garden Secrets Medical Marijuana Dispensary owner Tommy Amady.

According to the Los Angeles Times, the revenue that will come from taxes will be used for substance abuse education and treatment programs, environmental improvement, and more.

“Our biggest win, that I think is unprecedented compared to all the others states, is we have a $50 million reinvestment fund that will go to communities previously harmed by the War on Drugs,” said Campaign Program Associate for Californians for Responsible Marijuana Reform, Leslie Otañez.

Voters will have their opportunity to cast their vote on November 8, and decide whether they are ready for a change in the marijuana industry.

Moderator: Thomas Gallegos

Anchor: Jackie Wawee

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