Two decades after California legalized medical marijuana, Sacramento has proved consistently unwilling to enact state-level regulation of the cultivation, transportation and sale of the quasi-legal plant. A key difference this year: with other states having sanctioned recreational pot, advocates are determined to put full legalization on the 2016 ballot in California. Those who favor broad regulation hope the looming ballot initiative will motivate lawmakers to rein in the medical market before voters potentially launch a new green rush. There are already two bills in the pipeline that would create a statewide cannabis system: one by Assemblyman Rob Bonta, D-Alameda, and one by Assemblyman Reggie Jones-Sawyer, D-Los Angeles.

Key players: California Police Chiefs Association/California Narcotics Officers Association, the League of California Cities, cannabis advocates