One of the nation’s largest marijuana reform groups has endorsed the leading proposal to legalize the drug in California’s November election. The National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML) announced in February that it would support the initiative spearheaded by tech billionaire Sean Parker. His group has dramatically out-raised every competing effort. There are roughly 20 of those ...

In what could mark a major development for medical marijuana patients, a Northern California hospital could soon allow patients to openly use pot as medicine. Officials at Marin General Hospital in Kentfield, Cal., are considering a policy change that would make Marin the first mainstream healthcare facility in California to officially allow marijuana use on its campus. Members of the ...

Officials in Lynwood will allow legal pot grows under California’s new medical marijuana rules, making theirs the first city in Los Angeles County to do so. The Lynwood City Council voted 3-2 Sept. 8 to license the cultivation and manufacture of medicinal cannabis within city limits. The permits are also subject to other local and state regulations, officials said. Specifically, ...

Police in California are arresting far fewer people on felony marijuana charges in the wake of a vote to reclassify those crimes as misdemeanors. Voters passed Prop. 47 in 2014, converting several cannabis-related felonies into misdemeanors. Data recently released by the office of California Attorney General Kamala Harris show the vote has led to a sharp decline in felony marijuana ...

Backers of a petition to legalize marijuana for recreation are moving closer to success in November. Organizers of the Adult Use of Marijuana Act (AUMA), a public ballot initiative that would make recreational cannabis legal throughout California, say they are almost ready to hand in the signatures necessary to put the question before voters. The proposal would allow adults 21 ...

If there’s one thing both marijuana advocates and their opponents agree on, it’s that stoned driving is a bad idea. But they don’t always agree on how to deal with the problem. A California lawmaker has introduced legislation that would crack down on high driving by allowing a sort of saliva-based Breathalyzer for cannabis. The idea, says GOP state Sen. ...

When it comes to talk of marijuana legalization in California, the focus, understandably, is on California. It would be unrealistic to expect the state’s voters to care much about reform in other parts of the country. But it’s an important question. If the Golden State goes legal, what happens elsewhere? Would a vote to flip here lead the rest of ...

http://www.canorml.org/medical-marijuana/patients-guide-to-california-law WHAT OFFENSES ARE COVERED? WHAT ILLNESSES ARE COVERED?  WHO QUALIFIES AS A PHYSICIAN? WHO MAY CULTIVATE UNDER PROP. 215? HOW MUCH CAN I POSSESS OR GROW? CAN I STILL BE ARRESTED OR RAIDED?  CAN I BE CHARGED OR PENALIZED FEDERALLY? SHOULD I GET A STATE I.D. CARD? WHERE CAN I GET MEDICAL MARIJUANA?  WHERE CAN MARIJUANA BE SMOKED?  WHERE ...

California’s marijuana laws are relatively liberal but complicated. Medical marijuana has been legal since 1996, and recreational cannabis was decriminalized in the 1970s. But non-medical cultivation, transport, and sale are crimes. Paraphernalia sales are illegal, as are possession, manufacture, or sale of hash and other concentrates.   LAW BREAKDOWN Cannabis is easy to find and buy in California, including the ...

Medical marijuana proponents in California are pushing back against a proposed sales tax that could substantially increase prices for patients. The proposal would impose a 15 percent sales tax on all medical cannabis sales, plus any local fees or taxes. In Los Angeles, where patients already pay a 5 percent local tax, the cost of a $200 ounce of mid-quality ...