Law Permits Use of Recreational MJ

Proposition 64 provides The Bureau of Marijuana Control (bmcr.ca.gov) to issue licenses to marijuana-selling dispensaries by January 1, 2018. Licenses allow:

• cultivate
• test
• distribute
• sell bud

As of Nov. 9, 2016 it is legal for Californians age 21 and older (and adults visiting the state) to possess and grow marijuana.

Proposition 64 allows adults to walk around in public with up to 1 ounce of marijuana, enough to fill a sandwich baggy. Up to 28.5 grams of marijuana and 8 grams of concentrated marijuana are legal to possess and to gift another adult 21 years of age or older. An individual may also grow and cultivate 6 marijuana plants at home as long as the area is locked and not visible from a public place.

Marijuana users can smoke or eat edibles in private places.

Users may face a $100 fine if caught (except by local ordinance,) if caught smoking within 1,000 feet of schools, day care centers, and other places where children gather.

Smoking remains illegal while driving a vehicle, anywhere smoking tobacco is, and in all public places. Driving under the influence of marijuana is prohibited.

Proposition 64 legalized the recreational use of marijuana for adults aged 21 years or older. Smoking is permitted in a private home or at a business licensed for on-site marijuana consumption.

Counties and municipalities have been empowered to restrict where marijuana businesses could be located. Local governments can also completely ban the sale of marijuana from their jurisdictions.

The passing of Prop. 64 specifies two new taxes, one levied on cultivation and the other on retail price -- $9.25 per ounce for flowers and $2.75 per ounce for leaves, with exceptions for certain medical marijuana sales and cultivation. The second tax is a 15% tax on the retail price of marijuana. Taxes are adjusted for inflation starting in 2020. Local governments have been authorized to levy taxes on marijuana as well.

Revenue from the taxes are designated to be spent on drug research, treatment, and enforcement, health and safety grants addressing marijuana, youth programs, and preventing environmental damage resulting from illegal marijuana production.

Background: Previous to passage of Prop. 64 the possession or use of marijuana for recreational purposes was illegal in California.

The passage of Proposition 215 in 1996 legalized medical marijuana. Although the Department of Justice does not prosecute most individuals and businesses following state and local marijuana laws, both medical and recreational marijuana are illegal under federal law. Proposition 64 made recreational marijuana legal in California state law.

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