Medical Marijuana and Proposition 215

Fifty-six percent of voters approved Proposition 215 on November 5, 1996

The law took effect the following day. It removes state-level criminal
penalties on the use, possession and cultivation of marijuana by patients
who possess a "written or oral recommendation" from their physician that
he or she "would benefit from medical marijuana."

Patients diagnosed with any debilitating illness where the medical use
of marijuana has been deemed appropriate and has been recommended by
a physician" are afforded legal protection under this act.

Conditions typically covered by the law include but are notlimited to:
arthritis; cachexia; cancer; chronic pain; HIV or AIDS; epilepsy; migraine;
and multiple sclerosis. No set limits regarding the amount of marijuana
patients may possess and/or cultivate were provided by this act, though
the California Legislature adopted guidelines in 2003.

Senate Bill 420 took effect on January 1, 2004, imposing statewide
guidelines outlining how qualified patients and/or their primary caregivers
may possess no more than eight ounces of dried marijuana and/or
six mature (or 12 immature) marijuana plants.

However, S.B. 420 allows patients to possess larger amounts of marijuana
when such quantities are recommended by a physician. The legislation also
allows counties and municipalities to approve and/or maintain local
ordinances permitting patients to possess larger quantities of medicinal
pot than allowed under the new state guidelines.