California AG Chief Talks About Balancing State And Local Marijuana Rules

California is still writing the rules on regulating medical marijuana.

Meanwhile Agriculture Department Secretary Karen Ross says the state is mindful voters may decide to legalize recreational marijuana. Given that possibility, she says the state is working on making medical marijuana rules as "adaptable as possible." 

Ross says local governments will have a strong role in how the marijuana sector plays out in their jurisdictions.

"We know of some counties who have already passed 'no outdoor grow' at all," explains Ross. "So the local government is still going to have significant say on some of this. And that's why this is really complicated."

Ross says the state just wrapped up a series of workshops taking into account "what's going on in each county of the state and trying to prevent conflict wherever that's possible."

If voters pass Proposition 64 to legalize marijuana, Ross concedes the state will be regulating an industry that's been in the shadows for decades and trying to do it on a "fast track."

Ross used to work in the wine industry. She says she knows a thing or two about the legacy of Prohibition.