The election threw up a lot of surprises, mainly with who will become the next President of the United States; however, one thing that wasn’t that much of a surprise is that Proposition 64 was passed in California. It’s been a long time coming, and it was almost a guarantee to pass when it featured on the ballot. When you look through Prop. 64, it’s a big read; the 62-page document that lays out California’s plan to tax, regulate and control the sale of marijuana across the state. There are a lot of medical cannabis card holders across California who strongly opposed Prop. 64 and some that were happy with it. In this article we’re going to explore what Prop. 64 means for the medical marijuana community and how it might affect the future of cannabis in California long into the future.
The law & what you can grow
Even with legalization, it’s definitely preferable to own a California medical marijuana card, especially if you grow your own.
Ever since California passed the Compassionate Use Act in 1996, those with a medical marijuana card have been able to legally buy and consume from dispensaries across the state. They have also been able to grow medical marijuana at a level that has regularly increased over the years.
A lot of dispensary owners and CA medical marijuana card holders have been particularly worried that with the introduction of Prop. 64 the stipulations and rules that were laid out in the Compassionate Use Act would be watered down, and it would result in more restrictions placed upon the growth and use of medical marijuana for MM card holders.
However, Prop. 64 has acknowledged and prioritized cannabis card holders to ensure that their rights are protected. Currently since Prop. 64 has passed every resident of California can grow and consume marijuana. But unless you have a medical marijuana card, heavy stipulations are placed on how much marijuana you can grow on your property.
Current rules dictate that marijuana users without a MM card are restricted to growing 6 plants on their residence, while those with their 420 card are allowed to grow up to 100 plants. This is a huge difference and there is no indication that Prop. 64 will alter this rule in any way.
The law & where you can smoke
The law is still undecided on how legalization will affect where you will be able to smoke medical marijuana.
Another thing that medical marijuana card holders are worried about is how it will affect their ability to smoke and consume their medical weed in public places. Under current regulations those possessing the credentials of a medical marijuana card are allowed to smoke or consume medical cannabis in any place that tobacco smoking is permitted.
However, now that weed has been legalized in California a lot of MM card holders are wondering if these rights will be affected. The good new is that this is not going to change with the passing of Prop. 64. The same rights of medical marijuana patients will remain in place, but there will be stricter regulations placed on those who do not have a weed card.
The full extent of these regulations are currently being explored, but having a California MM card will give you a lot more benefits than not having one. In fact, leading proponents of Prop. 64 on the medical marijuana patients side think the passing of Prop. 64 will lead to a lot of additional benefits including access and rights for those holding cannabis cards.
Where you can buy your marijuana
What a lot of users didn’t understand about the passing of Prop. 64 is that just because it passed in November, that doesn’t mean that non-medical marijuana card holders can just rock up to their local dispensaries and buy weed. In fact, it won’t be until mid-January, 2018 that licenses will even be issued for retail units to sell weed to no- California MM card holders.
Many people think that local dispensaries will be divided into two lines of people, those with medical marijuana cards and those without. The priority will always be placed on those with a CA MM card. Without one, for the next year you’ll have to grow your own weed, buying it will still be illegal, at least until licenses are issued to official sellers. It’ll be a long wait for those without medical marijuana cards to start buying and consuming regularly and legally.
What does Prop. 64 mean for the price of marijuana in California
Medical marijuana card holders should be protected from inflation in the price of marijuana.
Even with the passing of Prop. 64 the rights of medical marijuana card holders are going to be protected and even improved. However, one of the main questions the legalization of weed has MM card holders asking is, when is California is going to want to start taking their piece of the profits and is weed is going to get more expensive?
California stands as the world’s sixth biggest economy by itself, but it’s still a little broke, which is one of the reasons that Prop. 64 finally passed. Legalizing weed will mean hundreds of millions and eventually billions of dollars made in tax for the state of California. Under Prop. 64 California will add a 15% excess tax onto the sale of weed. They will also levy a tax on those who grow marijuana of $2.75 per ounce of leaves and $9.25 per ounce of flowers.
While this sounds like terrible news for those of you with MM cards, THERE IS GOOD NEWS. None of these taxes or levies will apply to those of you with a medical marijuana card, so you’ll still be paying far below those without one.
We hope that this article explains that despite the passing of Prop. 64 those of you with California cannabis cards will not only have your rights protected, but in a lot of ways improved.