Medical Marijuana was passed in November 2010 Arizona with Prop 203, getting the 15th US State to comprehend its medicinal properties for many different debilitating medical conditions. The Arizona Department of Health Services is currently constructing the Rules and Regulations for its dispensing and use.

Marijuana was legal until 1937 at the US. It was commonly prescribed medicinally. The Marijuana Tax Act was introduced before Congress in 1937, that was passed and placed a tax upon the sale of cannabis. This tax equaled roughly one dollar on anyone who dealt marijuana. The ACT did not criminalize the possession or usage of marijuana however. Even the American Medical Association opposed the bill, arguing that cannabis was not dangerous and its medicinal use would be severely curtailed by prohibition. Within 4 decades, medical marijuana was withdrawn from the US pharmaceutical market because of the law's requirements.

Back in 1970, the Controlled Substances Act has been passed, making Marijuana a Schedule 1 Narcotic. A Program 1 Narcotic is allegedly one which has a high potential for abuse, no medical use, and not safe to use under medical supervision. As you will read shortly within this E-Book, plenty of states disagree, and Arizona is the latest to comprehend marijuana's benefits medicinally.

The California Compassionate Use Act, called Proposition 215, let patients independence from prosecution using a doctor's recommendation. The federal government went after the initiative and threatened to detain physicians for advocating it, but a federal court decision protected doctors under the First Amendment.

Despite persistence of federal oppositions, numerous states have passed their own medical marijuana laws, with the latest being Arizona. Canada has also altered their laws with regards to medical marijuana as well. In 2005, the Supreme Court upheld the federal ban on marijuana but didn't question the validity of the state laws. Thus, patients are protected from state prosecution in the states with legal medical medical marijuana oklahoma marijuana, but not federal. The DEA and Justice Department have said they don't want to really go after patients, just large traffickers.

There were not lots of regulations put into place in California upon passing medicinal marijuana. Colorado then passed it in 2000. Due to federal regulations neither state had widespread abuse of medical marijuana with the prospect of federal prosecution looming.

That changed in 2009. President Obama declared his government could not use federal funds to proceed after dispensaries and patients provided that they complied with state laws. Dispensaries started to multiply like rabbits, and in a few months patients had been signing up in Colorado at a rate of 1000 daily. In Los Angeles alone, medical marijuana dispensaries outnumber McDonald's and Starbucks by 2 to 1.

It was an extremely close vote which took over 11 days following the actual election to finalize the count. 1.7 million people voted and originally the vote was 7000 votes against it, but if it was final it won by slightly over 4000 votes.

Voters have passed medical marijuana in Arizona twice in the past but because of wording and conflicting federal laws nothing actually went into effect. Marijuana stays entirely illegal under federal law. It's a Schedule 1 Medication under the US Controlled Substances Act, so it is considered with high abuse potential and no medical use. Its possession, sale, manufacture, transport and supply for any function are against federal law.

But an increasing number of states continue to comprehended its medicinal purposes. Fifteen states now have laws allowing medical use of marijuana. These laws exempt patients from criminal charges for personal possession and/or cultivation of small amounts with a physician's recommendation. This signifies is because the overwhelming bulk of smaller scale drug offenses are prosecuted by state law, patients are usually safe in those states from arrest (as long as local legislation is followed).

A 2002 Time magazine survey showed an amazing 80 percent of Americans supported legalizing medical marijuana.