STATE MEDICAL MARIJUANA LAWS

In 1996, California voters passed Proposition 215, making the Golden State the first in the union to allow for the medical use of marijuana. Since then, 32 more states, the District of Columbia, Guam and Puerto Rico have enacted similar laws. As of Jan. 22, 2018, the Vermont legislature passed adult-use legalization legislation and the governor signed the bill. The measure does NOT set up a regulatory for system for sales or production. See text of measure below.

A total of 33 states, the District of Columbia, Guam and Puerto Rico have approved a comprehensive public medical marijuana/cannabis programs.  (See Table 1 below for more info.) Approved efforts in 13 states allow use of “low THC, high cannabidiol (CBD)” products for medical reasons in limited situations or as a legal defense. Those programs are not counted as comprehensive medical marijuana programs but are listed in Table 2. NCSL uses criteria similar to other organizations to determine if a program is “comprehensive”: See Table 2 below for more information.

1. Protection from criminal penalties for using marijuana for a medical purpose;
2. Access to marijuana through home cultivation, dispensaries or some other system that is likely to be implemented;
3. It allows a variety of strains, including those more than “low THC;” and
4. It allows either smoking or vaporization of some kind of marijuana products, plant material or extract.

Medical Uses of Marijuana

In response to California’s Prop 215, the Institute of Medicine issued a report that examined potential therapeutic uses for marijuana. The report found that: “Scientific data indicate the potential therapeutic value of cannabinoid drugs, primarily THC, for pain relief, control of nausea and vomiting, and appetite stimulation; smoked marijuana, however, is a crude THC delivery system that also delivers harmful substances. The psychological effects of cannabinoids, such as anxiety reduction, sedation, and euphoria can influence their potential therapeutic value. Those effects are potentially undesirable for certain patients and situations and beneficial for others. In addition, psychological effects can complicate the interpretation of other aspects of the drug’s effect.”

Further studies have found that marijuana is effective in relieving some of the symptoms of HIV/AIDS, cancer, glaucoma, and multiple sclerosis.¹  

In early 2017, the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine released a report based on the review of over 10,000 scientific abstracts from marijuana health research. They also made 100 conclusions related to health and suggest ways to improve cannabis research.

State vs Federal Perspective

At the federal level, marijuana remains classified as a Schedule I substance under the Controlled Substances Act, where Schedule I substances are considered to have a high potential for dependency and no accepted medical use, making distribution of marijuana a federal offense. In October of 2009, the Obama Administration sent a memo to federal prosecutors encouraging them not to prosecute people who distribute marijuana for medical purposes in accordance with state law.

In late August 2013, the U.S. Department of Justice announced an update to their marijuana enforcement policy. The statement read that while marijuana remains illegal federally, the USDOJ expects states like Colorado and Washington to create “strong, state-based enforcement efforts…. and will defer the right to challenge their legalization laws at this time.” The department also reserves the right to challenge the states at any time they feel it’s necessary.

More recently, in January 2018, Attorney General Sessions issued a Marijuana Enforcement Memorandum that rescinded the Cole Memorandum, and allows federal prosecutors to decide how to prioritize enforcement of federal marijuana laws. Specifically, the Sessions memorandum directs U.S. Attorneys to “weigh all relevant considerations, including federal law enforcement priorities set by the Attorney General, the seriousness of the crime, the deterrent effect of criminal prosecution, and the cumulative impact of particular crimes on the community.” Text of the memo can be found here: https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/justice-department-issues-memo-marijuana-enforcement

NCSL’s policy on state cannabis laws can be found under Additional Resources below.

Arizona and the District of Columbia voters passed initiatives to allow for medical use, only to have them overturned. In 1998, voters in the District of Columbia passed Initiative 59. However, Congress blocked the initiative from becoming law. In 2009, Congress reversed its previous decision, allowing the initiative to become law. The D.C. Council then put Initiative 59 on hold temporarily and unanimously approved modifications to the law.

Before passing Proposition 203 in 2010, Arizona voters originally passed a ballot initiative in 1996. However, the initiative stated that doctors would be allowed to write a “prescription” for marijuana. Since marijuana is still a Schedule I substance, federal law prohibits its prescription, making the initiative invalid. Medical marijuana “prescriptions” are more often called “recommendations” or “referrals” because of the federal prescription prohibition.

States with medical marijuana laws generally have some form of patient registry, which may provide some protection against arrest for possession up to a certain amount of marijuana for personal medicinal use.

Some of the most common policy questions regarding medical marijuana include how to regulate its recommendation, dispensing, and registration of approved patients.  Some states and localities without dispensary regulation are experiencing a boom in new businesses, in hopes of being approved before presumably stricter regulations are made.  Medical marijuana growers or dispensaries are often called “caregivers” and may be limited to a certain number of plants or products per patient.  This issue may also be regulated on a local level, in addition to any state regulation.

*The links and resources are provided for information purposes only. NCSL does not endorse the views expressed in any of the articles linked from this page.

** While Montana’s revised medical marijuana law limits caregivers to three patients, caregivers may serve an unlimited number of patients due to an injunction issued on January 16, 2013.

*The links and resources are provided for information purposes only. NCSL does not endorse the views expressed in any of the articles linked from this page.

Additional Resources