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Friday, May 16, 2014

Legal Marijuana in Focus: California

Legal medical marijuana continues to shape the country, bringing much needed relief to those who really need it. If you really want to see these changes, however, you'll need to look closer, as in by state. Follow this special report on how states have come to legalize the controversial drug.

First on the list is "ground zero." California, where it all began.

The Golden State became the first state in the U.S. to legalize pot in 1996 via Ballot Proposition 215. The proposition, which was eventually known as the Compassionate Use Act on November 5th, was met with criticism about the lack of details. Democrat senator Diane Feinstein was one of Proposition 215's staunchest opponents.

However, the fate of the proposition wasn't determined by the legislature; it was determined by the people. More than five million Californians, roughly 56 percent of the entire state, voted for the legalization of medical marijuana. Soon enough, every county in California wholeheartedly, if not halfheartedly, accepted the voice of the people.

California followed with Senate Bill 420, which took effect in 2004 as the Medical Marijuana Program Act. Under the Act, a qualified patient may possess no more than eight ounces of dried pot and six (mature) or twelve (immature) pot plants. The Act also provided state protection for medical marijuana dispensaries, given that they dispense products with due requirements.

As of 2012, California remains as having the largest medical pot community in the country, with more than 553,000 patients (based on voluntary registration).


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