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Going To Pot, Carl E. Schneider
Going To Pot, Carl E. Schneider
Articles
In several earlier columns, I suggested that judges are usually poorly placed to make good biomedical policy, not least because the law so rarely offers them direct and cogent guidance. Recently, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit proffered a new example of this old problem. In 1996, California's voters approved Proposition 215. Its "Compassionate Use Act of 1996" provided -that a patient "who possesses or cultivates marijuana for the personal medical purposes of the patient upon the written or oral recommendation or approval of a physician" committed no crime.
Proposition 215: De Facto Legalization Of Pot And The Shortcomings Of Direct Democracy, Michael Vitiello
Proposition 215: De Facto Legalization Of Pot And The Shortcomings Of Direct Democracy, Michael Vitiello
University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform
In 1996, California voters passed Proposition 215, officially titled The Compassionate Use Act of 1996, and popularly known as the "medical marijuana" initiative. This initiative allows qualifying people and their caregivers immunity from criminal prosecution when the state attempts to charge them with possession or cultivation of marijuana. Professor Vitiello uses the medical marijuana initiative as a case study illustrating flaws in California's ballot initiative process He examines the history of the initiative process in California, misleading aspects of the campaign for Proposition 215, and ambiguities in the proposition's language. Concluding that the initiative process as it now stands fosters …