California’s Prop 215 Still Alive!

Patients Grow to their Needs

That’s right.  Medical Cannabis patients in California can grow to their needs, NO LIMITS. 
 
California voters did something right when they enacted Prop 215.  The 1996 voter initiative provides a defense for medical patients and their defined caregivers who grow and possess Cannabis at any amount for medical purposes.
 
Titled the “Compassionate Use Act of 1996”, Prop 215 identifies medical conditions as the underlying defense for growth and possession of Cannabis.  The qualifying medical conditions need to be confirmed by physician evaluation.  As well, the physician is responsible for guidance. Prop 215 authors, Dennis Peron, Valerie Corral, Dale Gieringer, Tod Mikuriya, and many more, formed an all-star cast of compassionate professionals who chose not to describe Cannabis as a commodity in the law. They emphasized COMPASSION for patients.
 
There are many who recognize the poor job California regulators have since done in regulating Cannabis.  A lot of the problems are attributed to Prop 64, the “Control, Regulate, and Tax Adult Use of Marijuana Act”.  Like a tenant of the Evil Empire, the Prop 64 initiative describes Cannabis as a commodity and benefits large corporate growers.  As a result, many small crop Cannabis farmers have shut down their licensed operations and sold their farms.  Currently, the best access to quality, low-cost medical Cannabis remains the 215 recommendation which allows patients to grow their own.
 
Confusion Continues
 
“How many plants can a qualified medical cannabis user grow in California? Ask law enforcement or various state and county departments, and each agency, in some cases, each individual within each agency has a different answer,” writes Nichole Norris in the Redheaded Blackbelt.  Apparently, county officials are confused.  Humboldt County Sheriff deputies and code enforcement officers have been caught on camera saying, “There is no medical anymore,” and “215 doesn’t matter.” However, in an interview with Ms. Norris this summer, Humboldt County Sheriff Billy Honsal recognized medical cannabis laws.  Sheriff Honsal believes Prop. 215 was not written well. However, he understands that if someone is growing more than six plants deputies must look at the 215 documents. 
 
Adding to the confusion, Humboldt County Building and Planning Department operates on different limits allowing 100 sq-ft, 200 sq-ft, or 400 sq-ft depending on lot size. Cannabis expert and local criminal defense attorney, Eugene Denson, writes “It is important for the Sheriff, the Code Enforcement Unit, and other county officials to understand what is allowed under existing law because I believe they are presently violating the law… due to a mistaken opinion of what the laws of California allow. These actions make the county liable for damages and other legal remedies available to patients.”

Past medical patients uprooted their lives and moved to Humboldt County to benefit from a favorable Cannabis environment.  Some patients see Cannabis as the plant that saved their lives from the suffering of chronic illness..  Humboldt County is well known as an epicenter of Cannabis.  The tenacity and persistence of Emerald Triangle inhabitants to grow their own Cannabis despite the laws enacted to "control, tax, and regulate" has started a movement to world wide legalization..  However much regulators put their hands out panning for cash to fill government coffers, they cannot bully the medical Cannabis patient. Thankfully, the authors of Prop 215 saw Cannabis as more than a commodity. As a result of their incredible foresight, medical Cannabis patients can continue to produce their own medicine and the legacy the personal medical Cannabis garden continues.