California: In 2001, California passed a safe harbor exemption health freedom law (remember famous SB 577!) that protects consumer access to practitioners that are not conventional medical health care occupations licensed by the state, such as herbalist, traditional naturopaths, homeopaths, and other healing arts practitioners practicing in the public domain.  These independent practitioners have an exemption for state licensing requirements if they practice within the safe harbor law which includes a duty to avoid prohibited conduct and to give out disclosures to their clients spelled out in the law.

In addition, California has a law that licenses Naturopathic Doctors and that law has special exemptions in it for practitioners practicing naturopathy without license under the California Health Freedom Act, and also the Licensed Naturopathic Doctor law has a special title exemption as follows: California Business and Professions Section 3645, (a) This chapter permits, and does not restrict the use of, the following titles by persons who are educated and trained as any of the following:

(1) Naturopath

(2) “Naturopathic practitioner”

(3) “Traditional naturopathic practitioner”

   (b) This chapter permits, and does not restrict, the education of persons as described in paragraphs (1) to (3), inclusive, of subdivision (a).  Those persons are not required to be licensed under this chapter.”

Sunshine Health Freedom Foundation has received positive feedback from traditional naturopaths and herbalist in California that this law is working very well for their clients.

Sunshine Health Freedom State Coordinator

 Loring Hammer
2201 Pillsbury Rd #130
Chico, Ca.  95926
Phone: (530)345-8600
E-mail:  loringhammer@sbcglobal.net

 California Health Freedom Coalition
Voicemail:  650-352-4533