MMJ: What's Next?

Woohoo! We did it! Weed is legal! Yay California! Um, what happens next? – Hy Al’Datayim

Yay. Woohoo. Congrats California. Good for us. Now we can carry around up to an ounce of marijuana any time we want. We can have up to six cannabis plants in our homes and gardens. (That’s six per household, not per person – sorry all you folks living in communes.) You still can’t smoke it in public, but I don’t think the cops will bother you in bigger cities. And you can give anyone you like up to an ounce of weed, as long as no money changes hands. Just in time for Christmas!

Even better news: All over California, people who have been facing jail time for cannabis “crimes” have seen their charges dropped. This is awesome. Passing Prop. 64 means there’s a new addition to the California health code (section 11361.8) that allows for people convicted of cannabis offenses to petition for dismissal. Orange County already has a form on its website, and I expect other counties to have their own versions up soon.

Also, if you are a medical cannabis user and you don’t want to pay any sales tax on your medicine, you can get a county-issued card that will exempt you from paying the sales tax. County cards will probably cost you $60-$100.

The thing is, I can’t really get excited about this right now. Donald Trump has just been elected president, and even setting aside his racist and sexist views, the three people he has suggested for Attorney General (Chris Christie, Rudy Giuliani and Jeff Sessions) are all staunch cannabis prohibitionists. Some of you don’t remember the raids. I do. And while the Rohrabacher-Farr Amendment prohibits the feds from spending money to interfere with state-approved medical cannabusinesses, it does not address recreational use – and it expires when the current budget agreement does. With the GOP controlling both houses of Congress, there is no guarantee the amendment will be renewed. My hope is that the jobs created and vast sums of money being made by states with legal cannabis will compel lawmakers to leave cannabis alone. But there is no way to know. The American people have selected a pathological liar to the highest office in the land, so the future is extremely uncertain.

So, enjoy it while you can. Smoke your weed, make new friends, fight against racism and let’s create a better future for all Americans.