Newsom signed all the major cannabis reform bills that came to his desk in 2022, including those protecting employment rights and pain patients’ rights. He has been criticized for not pushing hard enough to reduce burdensome taxes and regulations on cannabis, but as part of this year’s state budget, he signed legislation to eliminate the cannabis cultivation tax and support equity businesses. He has long championed marijuana legalization, and convened a Blue-Ribbon panel on the topic while Lt. Governor.

Important Actions Taken:

Taking aggressive action to protect communities, consumers, and the environment alike, Governor Gavin Newsom has directed the creation of a new multi-agency, cross-jurisdictional taskforce of enforcement agencies designed to better coordinate agencies combatting illegal cannabis operations and transnational criminal organizations. (October 2022)

Huffman posted a fine voting record on marijuana while in the state assembly.  In Congress, he has co-sponsored reform bills, including the MORE and SAFE Acts.  He is a sponsor of the Small Homestead and Independent Producers (SHIP) Act, to allow small family farmers to sell their products in interstate commerce.   He has also introduced bills to deal with illegal marijuana grows on public lands, such as 2013's PLANT Act to direct the US Sentencing Commission to enhance penalties for drug offenses involving use of poisonous chemicals, water diversion, or vegetation removal. 

A hard-core small-government conservative, McClintock has taken a libertarian line on marijuana laws.  A leading House Republican supporter of cannabis reform, he co-sponsored an amendment to stop DOJ from interfering in state adult-use legalization laws.

Beri is running in District 6. He is a medical doctor who worked with AIDS patients and supports medical marijuana. He opposed Prop. 64 to legalize recreational use in California in 2016, but has voted twice in favor of the MORE Act to legalize recreational cannabis at the federal level, as well as co-sponsoring the SAFE Banking Act, and voting to allow VA doctors to recommend medical cannabis for veterans, and preventing the Justice Department from prosecuting medical cannabis patients and providers.

Garamendi has been a reliable vote for cannabis bills, including the MORE Act, and co-sponsored the SAFE Banking Act.

Harder won a hard-fought race to flip the 10th district to the Democrats in 2018, defeating anti-marijuana Republican Jeff Denham.  Since then he has voted well on marijuana issues, including the MORE Act.

When she was Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi had a policy of not voting on bills.  Her leadership however empowered House leaders to advance the most sweeping marijuana reform and legalization measures in the history of Congress.

Congresswoman Barbara Lee is a longtime friend and champion of the marijuana reform movement. She was a staffer for Rep. Ron Dellums, one of the first Congress members to advocate marijuana reform in the 1970s, and continued to support marijuana reform as a state legislator and Congress member during the darkest days of the drug war. A strong racial justice advocate, Rep. Lee denounces cannabis laws for their disproportionate impact on minorities.  

Lee is a Co-Chair of the Congressional Cannabis Caucus.  She was a leading co-sponsor of the Marijuana Opportunity Reinvestment and Expungement (MORE) Act, the first-ever federal legalization bill to be approved (twice, in 2019 and 2021) by the House of Representatives.  At age 77, Rep. Lee is the most senior major candidate in the race, but also the most likely to push cannabis as a high-priority issue in the Senate.      

Consistent supporter of legal marijuana;  co-sponsor of MORE and SAFE acts.

Good voting record in state legislature.

Eshoo has been a reliably good vote.  Though not a vocal advocate for cannabis or drug reform,  she did co-sponsor the SAFE Banking Act, and has been a staunch defender of human rights in general.  

Congressman Ro Khanna has supported marijuana reform since his election to Congress and is a lead co-sponsor of the Marijuana Justice Act to end federal prohibition, expunge records, and reinvest in the communities that have been hardest hit by prohibition. 

Longtime Democratic member of the Judiciary Committee, specializing in immigration and intellectual property, Lofgren has a strong record on civil liberties and criminal justic reform, including cannabis.

Strong supporter of legal cannabis and co-sponsor of the MORE Act.

Dependably good vote on cannabis and criminal justice issues.

Consistently good vote on cannabis legislation;  co-sponsored SAFE Banking Act.

Cardenas has a solid pro-marijuana voting record, both in the Assembly and in Congress, going back to 1999.  

 Best known for leading the House impeachment investigation of Donald Trump,  Adam Schiff has been more reticent on cannabis and criminal justice reform. He has typically voted well on cannabis bills, but has generally held off from co-sponsoring them.   One exception is the STATES Act of 2018-9, a Trump-era bill that would have protected the legality of state marijuana laws. 

Napolitano has followed the Democratic leadership in supporting the MORE Act and other cannabis reform legislation.

Longtime supporter and co-sponsor of cannabis reform legislation

 A strong supporter and co-sponsor of cannabis legislation, including the MORE Act

Strong supporter of legal cannabis and co-sponsor of MORE Act.

Co-sponsor, MORE Act and SAFE Banking Act of 2019.   Says cannabis a "Criminal and racial justice issue."   Has reached out for input from cannabis community. 

Vocal critic of the war on marijuana, Lieu has been a strong supporter and co-sponsor of cannabis reform legislation.

Fine voting record in state legislature. She supports descheduling marijuana, and sent a letter to the DEA in February 2024 saying, “At minimum, I ask that you follow HHS recommendations and reschedule marijuana to Schedule III and reject any argument in support of maintaining marijuana in Schedule I or Schedule II based on U.S. Treaty obligations.” https://kamlager-dove.house.gov/media/in-the-news/congresswoman-tells-dea-reject-any-argument-marijuana-rescheduling-would-violate

Congressman Takano is the Chairman of the Veterans Affairs Committee. In this leadership role, he has yet to call for a vote on any of the multiple bills that have been introduced to address veterans' issues in relationship to cannabis policy. 

Former Long Beach Mayor Robert Garcia is a progressive Democrat who supports Medicare for All, the Green New Deal, defending immigrant families and protecting civil and LGBQT rights.  He was Long Beach's first gay mayor and strongly supported establishing dispensaries in the city.  In Congress, he has proposed path-breaking legislation to halt drug testing of federal job applicants for cannabis and prevent security clearance denials to federal workers for prior cannabis use.

Has championed marijuana for veterans and repealing obsolete border restrictions against marijuana users.

Katie Porter is co-chair of the Democratic Progressive Caucus.  She takes pride in being the only candidate who never accepts corporate donations.  She is  particularly interested in economic issues, but has consistently voted well on marijuana bills.  She has participated in the Congressional cannabis caucus  and co-sponsored the MORE legalization act.  Porter is the only single mother in Congress. She was the first Democrat to be elected to represent her district, which covers much of south-central Orange County. She was voted toughest questioner in Congress for her tough questions to corporate executives on wage and banking issues.  Porter is fighting to beat out Republican Steve Garvey in the race for second place in the primary, so she can run face-to-face in the runoff against her Democratic colleague Adam Schiff, who is leading the polls.

Supported by San Diego cannabis reform groups. 

"Our nation’s marijuana laws are outdated, ineffective, and too costly, It’s wrong that we waste billions every year arresting and locking up and destroying the lives of tens of thousands of people for low-level, non-violent marijuana violations." -Campaign Twitter

Democrat Peters supported and co-sponsored the MORE Act, and has proposed legislation to expedite research with state-legal cannabis. 

Her website says: It’s time for the federal government to de-criminalize cannabis. And we need to make sure that tax money derived from legal cannabis sales go back to rebuilding communities that have been devastated by the drug wars, and that we pardon all those who are in the criminal justice system due to non-violent marijuana-related offenses that would now be considered legal. https://sarajacobsforca.com/criminal-justice-reform

Democrat Vargas has voted well, supported the MORE Act and co-sponsored the SAFE Act.

Longtime, strong supporter and cannabis advocate.  Led campaign for Berkeley's 1979 marijuana initiative.  One of first legislators in U.S. to vote for a total legalization bill in 2009.     Has headed off bad legislation as chair of Public Safety Committee.

Cal NORML legislator of the year, 2018.  Sponsored AB 34, allowing tax-free giveaways of medical cannabis to needy patients.

Josh Becker is founder of a philanthropic fund that supports nonprofits and is one of the few legislative candidates to have the formal backing of Gov. Gavin Newsom. He’s also raised a fair amount from Silicon Valley’s biggest venture capitalists.

Has a good voting record.  Sponsored bill to allow interstate commerce agreements for cannabis.

Dave Cortese has been on the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors since 2008, and ran for San Jose mayor in 2014 with the support of organized labor. Before that, he was a defense attorney, and was disturbed by the number of marijuana and drug offenders in prison.   Cortese has been one of two Santa Clara supervisors to support establishing local cannabusiness.   

"It's time to turn the page on overtaxation," Cortese told the state of cannabis conference, saying that taxation should be modest and not used to fund other state services.  He regards expungement  as "justice served." 

Supported by the Women's Alliance for Medical Marijuana in Santa Cruz.  Formerly Mayor of Santa Cruz, where he had a long history of defending safe access to marijuana.   Believes overtaxation of cannabis is a key problem.   

Monique Limon has a perfect voting record in the Assembly. 

http://www.drugsense.org/dpfca/CAStateScorecard2018.html

Good voting record.

Consistently good voting record.  Labor leader with UNITE HERE International Union. Favors marriage equality, raising minimum wage, resisting Trump's assault on immigrants.

Newman (D) was recalled on June 5, 2018 after he voted for a gas tax. Former Assemblywoman Ling Ling Chang (R) was selected to replace him. He defeated Chang in 2016 for the seat and is running for it again. 

Has a good voting record. Introduced bill to regulate CBD products in CA. 

Excellent voting record in 2021-2.

Perfect voting record in 2021-2 session.   Former organizer for Obama campaign is endorsed by Gavin Newsom, Sen. Harris and Barack Obama. Advocates a public health approach to drug policy, emphasizing rehabilitation over punishment for all drugs.

Good voting record in Assembly, except for supporting SB 1207 (2023) to enact restrictive labeling on cannabis products. 

Attorney, law professor and environmental advocate. Has a good voting record. 

Strong advocate for cannabis in San Francisco;  sponsored employment rights resolution on Board of Supervisors.  Criticized for supporting S.F. Measure D raising business taxes on cannabis. 

Sponsored bill to expedite expungement of cannabis offenses.  Wife of A.G. Rob Bonta.

Votes in line with pro-cannabis views of San Francisco. Sponsored bill to force more local outlets. 

Votes well and was friendly to cannabis advocates at Lobby Day 2023.

Lee is a young Gen Z progressive from a more conservative Chinese constituency.  He is enthusiastically  in favor of legal marijuana, social equity, employment rights for marijuana users, and more.  He doesn't use drugs, but is open to discussing legalization of psychedelics.

Strong supporter of the cannabis industry. Sponsored two bills to allow veterinarians to recommend cannabis, and dispensaries to carry pet products. 

Young, openly gay, progressive Democratic legislator who has been a vocal supporter on LGBTQ rights and cannabis issues in the state assembly.   Sponsored AJR 27 calling on President Trump to leave legal cannabis industry alone.   

Votes well on cannabis bills. 

Democrat Steve Bennett, 69, is a Ventura County supervisor. In March 2017, he voted in favor of land-use amendments that would allow a limited number of dispensaries, processing plants and farms to provide marijuana for medicinal purposes in Ventura County.

“I asked the Board to approve a direction to staff to begin the process of developing proper regulations needed to have safe, practical access to medical cannabis while minimizing any negative impacts on the community,” Bennett said in 2016. “I made that request because I believe medical benefits of cannabis use are becoming more broadly known and we will only have safe, practical access with minimal negative impacts on the community if we invest the time and energy to create rational, effective regulations with a broad stakeholder input.” 

Good voting record. 

New to Assembly in 2018. Has a good voting record. Won handily in the March primary against her Republican challenger, earning 72% of the vote. 

Good voting record. Sponsored bills to allow for hemp commerce. 

Perfect voting record in 2021-2 session.

Excellent voting record.

Good voting record. 

Has voted well. Human rights advocate. 

Typically good vote on cannabis issues.  From a family of Calderon legislators.

One of five Assembly leaders on legal cannabis legislation. Cal NORML 2017 legislator of the year award. Sponsored parental rights bill and co-sponsored Employment Rights legislation in 2022. 

Newly appointed to fill vacant seat, McKinnor hasn't compiled a full voting record yet, but has indicated strong support for cannabis users' rights.

Perfect voting record in first term.  

Former San Diego City Councilman and Chief of Staff to State Senator Marty Block. Chaired the San Diego City Council’s economic development committee, which voted 4-0 in September to draft a cannabis equity policy in November 2019. https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/communities/san-diego/story/2019-11-17/battle-heating-up-over-san-diegos-proposed-cannabis-equity-program

Perfect voting record in 2021-2.

Perfect voting record since joining house in June 2022.  Replaced Lorena Gonzalez, who resigned to head California Labor Federation.