The Legalization of Marijuana (Jan. 30th)

For the past few decades, the legalization of marijuana has been a subject of debate and controversy in California. Marijuana is illegal to consume, use, possess, cultivate, transfer or trade in most countries of today. Since the beginning of the worldwide spread of marijuana prohibition of the mid 1900s, most countries have not re-legalized it for personal use, although more than 10 countries tolerate, or have decriminalized, its use and cultivation in limited quantities. However, medicinal use of marijuana is also legal in a number of countries, including Belgium, Canada, Czech Republic, Netherlands, Israel and 16 states of the U.S.

Even though marijuana is illegal in most parts of the world, many considerable resources are committed to both interdiction and counter-interdiction of its cultivation. Thermal imaging helicopters, inspection of trash, examination of credit purchases, and analysis of energy bills, have been used in the prosecutions of marijuana. However, in the U.S., thermal imaging is considered to violate civil liberties that are constituted in the U.S. constitution. This had resulted in significant changes to growing trends and availability in our country.

In 1996, California voters passed Prop 215 (the Compassionate Use Act) by means of popular initiative. It allows for patients with a valid doctor's recommendation to possess and cultivate marijuana for personal medical use and now expanded to the point where if protects a growing system of collective and cooperative distribution. It was the first law of its kind and was later followed by similar laws in Alaska, Colorado, Hawaii, Maine, Michigan, Montana, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Washington. However, California's common law has interpreted the intitiative on multiple occasions. In 2007, the courts upheld a decision of a trail court in the City of Garden Grove v. Superior Court to the Garden Grove police department to give Felix Kha his marijuana back it is said it is not the job of local police to enforce the federal drug law. In 2010, the California Supreme Court took down limits on how much marijuana people could grow or possess in the People v. Kelly case, which says its ok for people with doctors' permission to grow or possess reasonable amounts. In California there are designated shops for people who are permitted by law to purchase and use marijuana. Today there are even marijuana bakeries that make a wide variety of treats that range from chocolate bars to foods such as nachos and baked goods. These shops are made for people who have illnesses which allow them to purchase medical marijuana to go to if they do not wish to smoke in order to get the needed marijuana into their system. (wikipedia)