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California

California on Wikipedia
Broadly speaking, across the USA, cannabis is referred to as "marijuana." For the sake of convention, we therefore use the word "marijuana" in this article when referring to any part of the cannabis plant that is used by individuals.



The California Health and Safety Code

All legislation concerning the regulation of marijuana is covered under the California Health and Safety Code. It is therefore true to say that this Code is the law that covers marijuana. The Penalty part of the Code that covers marijuana is the "Health and Safety Code 11357-11362.9". This Code was amended to include marijuana after the passage of Proposition 215.
California SB420

California SB420 establishes the medical marijuana voluntary state ID card program plus Prop. 215 guidelines for possession and cultivation effective Jan 1, 2004. State limit is set at 6 mature or 12 immature plants and 8 ounces marijuana, except where physician declares more is needed, or where local governments authorize more. (Canorml link.) The official text of California SB420 is here.

 Medical Marijuana in California
Medical marijuana became regulated in California on November 5, 1996 under a ballot initiative called Proposition 215 which was passed with 5,382,915 (55.6%) votes in favor and 4,301,960 (44.4%) against. The text of Proposition 215 is here. However, marijuana is still prohibited under US federal law and the DEA have been very active in raiding MMJ dispensaries, private gardens and grow-ops.

There have been several lawsuits and Supreme Court Judgements concerning the use of medical marijuana. One of the most well known is Gonzales v. Raich, a United States Supreme Court ruling that, under the Commerce Clause of the United States Constitution, the United States Congress may criminalize the production and use of home-grown cannabis even where states approve its use for medicinal purposes. The full text of the Gonzales v Raich Judgement is here.

2004: Physicians are the gatekeepers: Appellate court in People v. Spark overturns conviction after finding that the Compassionate Use Act does not require a finding of "serious illness" for affirmative defense under Prop 215, California's Compassionate Use Act. Case law here.

Another challenge to the law came as late as 2008, when San Diego and San Bernardino counties were seeking to throw out the state marijuana law. Their appeals were rejected by the Supreme Court in Washington D.C. The Appeal was filed in July 2008 and the official suit may be downloaded here.

Previous attempts at general cannabis legalization in California


1972: Proposition 19 (also known as the California Marijuana Initiative (CMI) was the first attempt to regulate marijuana for general adult use in California and was voted on in the ballot on November 2, 1972. It was defeated by 66.5% "no" to 33.5% "yes" votes.

The official ballot summary was, "Removes state penalties for personal use. Proposes a statute which would provide that no person eighteen years or older shall be punished criminally or denied any right or privilege because of his planting, cultivating, harvesting, drying, processing, otherwise preparing, transporting, possessing or using marijuana. Does not repeal existing, or limit future, legislation prohibiting persons under the influence of marijuana from engaging in conduct that endangers others."

Many arguments were made both for and against this Initiative, a summary of which may be found here.

2010: Proposition 19 was a Citizens Initiative that was voted on by the California electorate on November 2, 2010. It was defeated by 53.5% "no" to 46.5% "yes" votes. Interestingly enough, one of the main opponents of Prop 19 was Dennis Peron, the main author of Proposition 215, who, in his attempt to maintain Proposition 215 as the de-facto legislation covering the use of marijuana in California, by his belief that the recreational use of marijuana does not exist, declared "W e already have legalization, we just have patients not admitting it."

Since the failure of Proposition 19, a lot of repression has been happening - not just in California but in other States as well. Please click here to read more about the fallout from the failure of Proposition 19.

2012 Legalization Initiatives in California

California Cannabis Hemp & Health Initiative 2012 - The Jack Herer Initiative

Legislative Analysts Office (LAO) CA Report on CCHHI
The petrochemical industry has had a good run- they've made their billions and have us on the edge of a dangerous cliff. They did it all by making a simple plant illegal for pure greed and profit for a mere 75 years. Won't you help us start to right the wrongs of Hemp prohibition? Won't you help us end this lunacy once and for all? Enough is enough. Our initiative is simple- make Cannabis Hemp 100% legal the way it used to be- and save our economy and our environment.

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The "Regulate Marijuana Like Wine Act of 2012" (RMLW2012) proposes to legalize marijuana for general use in California along similar lines to those operated within the California wine industry. Judge James Gray is the Chief Proponent of this measure along with William McPike (Chief Counsel), Stephen Collett (Treasurer) and Steve Kubby. Please click here to download a pdf file of the comparative revisions between the May 2011 and the August 2011 versions of this Initiative.
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Links

"The Origins of Cannabis Prohibition in California" by Dale H. Gieringer (pdf file)


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Credits
Researched by Jayelle Farmer
Many thanks to Jeff Christen-Mitchell for use of his Cannabis California flag