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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