?
Medical Marijuana Initiative Section 1. Section 11362.5 is added to the Health
and Safety Code, to read: 11362.5. (a) This section shall be known and may be
cited as the Compassionate Use Act of 1996. (b) (l) The people of the State of
California hereby find and declare that the purposes of the Compassionate Use
Act of 1996 are as follows: (A) To ensure that seriously ill Californians have
the right to obtain and use marijuana for medical purposes where that medical
use is deemed appropriate and has been recommended by a physician who has
determined that the person's health would benefit from the use of marijuana in
the treatment of cancer, anorexia, AIDS, chronic pain, spasticity, glaucoma,
arthritis, migraine, or any other illness for which marijuana provides relief.
(B) To ensure that patients and their primary caregivers who obtain and use
marijuana for medical purposes upon the recommendation of a physician are not
subject to criminal prosecution or sanction. (C) To encourage the federal and
state governments to implement a plan to provide for the safe and affordable
distribution of marijuana to all patients in medical need of marijuana. (2)
Nothing in this act shall be construed to supersede legislation prohibiting
persons from engaging in conduct that endangers others, nor to condone the
diversion of marijuana for nonmedical purposes. With standing any other
provision of law, no physician in this state shall be punished, or denied any
right or privilege, for having recommended marijuana to a patient for medical
purposes. (d) Section 11357, relating to the possession of marijuana, and
Section 11358, relating to the cultivation of marijuana, shall not apply to a
patient, or to a patient's primary caregiver, who possesses or cultivates
marijuana for the personal medical purposes of the patient upon the written or
oral recommendation or approval of a physician. (e) For the purposes of this
section, "primary caregiver" means the individual designated by the person
exempted under this act who has consistently assumed responsibility for the
housing, health, or safety of that person. Sec. 2. If any provision of this
measure or the application thereof to any person or circumstance is held invalid,
that invalidity shall not affect other provisions or applications of the measure
which can be given effect without the invalid provision or application, and to
this en d the provisions of this measure are severable. On November 5th,
Californians approved Prop. 215, allowing patients to use medical marijuana.
Voter support of this historic new law was 55.7% in favor verses only 44.3%
opposed, a spread of 11.4 points. The ...