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Medical Marijuana: A Brief History

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Medical Marijuana first legalized On November 5, 1996 California became first state ever to legalize medical marijuana by passing Proposition 215 by a 56% majority. Soon after in 1998 Alaska, Oregon, and Washington followed suit. This allowed anyone who could obtain a doctors recommendation access to legal marijuana either thru their own cultivation or through collectives. Collectives such as the Oakland Cannabis Buyers Collective soon popped up all over California and other states with allowed medical marijuana

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Legal Developments In 2001 the Oakland Cannabis Buyers Cooperative was sued by the US government for being in violation of the federal regulations regarding controlled substances. The supreme court unanimously held that "there is no medical necessity exception to the Controlled Substances Act's prohibitions on manufacturing and distributing marijuana." This opened the door to federal raids against any medical marijuana facility as they were all now considered in violation of federal law.

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Another important legal decision came in 2002 with the decision of Conant v. Walters. In a 3-0 decision the Ninth Circuit court of appeals held that the federal government could not revoke the license of any physician for discussing or prescribing marijuana to a patient. Although medical marijuana was still technically illegal, this now made it possible for doctors in states with medical marijuana to prescribe it to any patient they wished without losing their jobs.

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In 2004 California passed Senate Bill 420 which limited the amount of marijuana medical patients could carry at one time. It also stated that any patients who collectively or cooperatively grew weed for medical purposes were not subject to prosecution. In 2005 the Supreme court upheld that the Controlled Substances Act was constitutional and the government did have authority to override state law regarding marijuana. One unforeseen consequence of this was that California disallowed their state id cards for medical patients for fear that state employees who issued them could be held accountable. The program was only reinstated after the state attorney general issued a statement that no state employee would face prosecution.

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On December 12, 2005 the DEA conducts the most widespread marijuana raid in California history Over 15 dispensaries were targeted by the raid. Millions of dollars in plants and supplies were seized but no official arrests were made. 3 months later an Oakland based company Beyond Bomb which specialized in marijuana laced candies to sell to clubs was shut down and 11 members arrested on marijuana distribution charges.

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In 2008 two more important legal rulings were made. First the Second District Court of Appeals ruled that the limits placed on medical patients by SB 420 were unconstitutional. The second ruling was by California Attorney General Jerry Brown who recommended that state and local law officials not arrest nor seize any marijuana under federal law if the suspect in question is adhering to Californias medical marijuana laws

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These sanctions only affected Californians but two more rulings made in 2009 had far reaching effects for all medical marijuana patients across the country. First in February of 2009 the US Attorney General stated the DEA would no longer organize raids against medical marijuana dispensaries. The second ruling came in October of 2009 when the US Attorney General announced the Department of Justice would no longer make prosecuting individual medical marijuana patients a priority. It did state that any commercial enterprise that sought to sell medical marijuana for profit would still be targeted.

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Now in 2012 After a new wave or raids against medical facilities in California was ordered a lawsuit was filed against the US government for violation of the promise made in 2009. A US District Judge subsequently threw out the case stating that there was no promise not to enforce the Controlled Substance Act, simply a list of priorities.

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Another major development in 2012 was a vote by the Los Angeles City Council. In a unanimous 14-0 decision the city council voted to ban medical marijuana shops from LA. All 762 of the cities registered dispensaries were sent cease and desist letters and ordered to shut down immediately. However, the same city council ordered an ordinance that would allow around 150 of the dispensaries to remain open.

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Finally on November 6, 2012 Washington and Colorado officially become the first states to abolish their medical marijuana systems by completely legalizing marijuana for all residents over 21. By taxing the sale and production of marijuana both of these states hope to raise millions of dollars in tax revenue for their states

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This video outlines the amount of money Colorado is estimated to earn through the taxation of marijuana. These numbers are huge and yet they represent as little as 1/6 of the potential revenue that California stands to make through legalization.