Cannabis in California

Cannabis in California comprises a number of legislative, legal, and cultural events surrounding use of cannabis. Medical marijuana is legal pursuant to Proposition 215 in 1996 and Senate Bill 420. In the November 2016 election, voters passed an amendment legalizing recreational use of marijuana.

The Poison Act was passed in 1907, and in 1913 an amendment (Stats. 1913, Ch. 342, p. 697) was made to make possession of "extracts, tinctures, or other narcotic preparations of hemp, or loco-weed, their preparations and compounds" a misdemeanor. There's no evidence that the law was ever used or intended to restrict pharmaceutical cannabis; instead it was a legislative mistake, and in 1915 another amendment (Stats. 1915, Ch. 604, pp. 1067–1068) forbade the sale or possession of "flowering tops and leaves, extracts, tinctures and other narcotic preparations of hemp or loco weed (Cannabis sativa), Indian hemp" except with a prescription. Both bills were drafted and supported by the California State Board of Pharmacy.

In 1925, possession, which had previously been treated the same as distribution, became punishable by up to 6 years in prison, and black market sale, which had initially been a misdemeanor punishable by a $100–$400 fine and/or 50–180 days in jail for first offenders, became punishable by 6 months–6 years. In 1927, the laws designed to target opium usage were finally extended to Indian hemp. In 1929, second offenses for possession became punishable by sentences of 6 months–10 years. In 1937, cannabis cultivation became a separate offense. In 1954, penalties for marijuana possession were hiked to a minimum 1–10 years in prison, and sale was made punishable by 5–15 years with a mandatory 3 years before eligibility for parole; two prior felonies raised the maximum sentences for both offenses to life imprisonment.

Proposition 19, a ballot proposition previously attempting to decriminalize marijuana, was defeated in the November 1972 state election by a 66.5% majority. In 1973, California's neighboring state of Oregon became the first state to decriminalize cannabis.

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