Text
of
California’s Proposition 215
(CA
Health & Safety Code 11362.5)
The
Compassionate Use Act of 1996
California
’s ‘Medical Marijuana’ Law
This
initiative measure is submitted to the people in
accordance with the provisions of Article II, Section 8 of
the Constitution.
This
initiative measure adds a section to the Health and Safety
Code; therefore, new provisions proposed to be added are
printed in italic type to indicate that they are
new.
=====================
THE
LAW:
---------------
SECTION
1. Section 11362.5 is added to the Health and Safety Code,
reads:
11362.5. (a) This section shall be
known and may be cited as the Compassionate Use Act of
1996.
(b)(1) The people of the State of California
hereby find and declare that the purposes of the
Compassionate Use Act of 1996 are as follows:
(A) To ensure that seriously ill Californians
have the right to obtain and use marijuana for medical
purposes where that medical use is deemed appropriate and
has been recommended by a physician who has determined
that the person's health would benefit from the use of
marijuana in the treatment of cancer, anorexia, AIDS,
chronic pain, spasticity, glaucoma, arthritis, migraine,
or any other illness for which marijuana provides relief.
(B) To ensure that patients and their primary
caregivers who obtain and use marijuana for medical
purposes upon the recommendation of a physician are not
subject to criminal prosecution or sanction.
(C) To encourage the federal and state
governments to implement a plan to provide for the safe
and affordable distribution of marijuana to all patients
in medical need of marijuana.
(2) Nothing in this
section shall be construed to supersede legislation
prohibiting persons from engaging in conduct that
endangers others, nor to condone the diversion of
marijuana for non-medical purposes.
(c) Notwithstanding any other provision of
law, no physician in this state shall be punished, or
denied any right or privilege, for having recommended
marijuana to a patient for medical purposes.
(d) Section 11357, relating to the possession
of marijuana, and Section 11358, relating to the
cultivation of marijuana, shall not apply to a patient, or
to a patient's primary caregiver, who possesses or
cultivates marijuana for the personal medical purposes of
the patient upon the written or oral recommendation or
approval of a physician.
(e) For the purposes of this section,
''primary caregiver" means the individual designated
by the person exempted under this section who has
consistently assumed responsibility for the housing,
health, or safety of that person.
SEC.
2. If any provision of this measure or the
application thereof to any person or circumstance is held
invalid, that invalidity shall not affect other provisions
or applications of the measure that can be given effect
without the invalid provision or application, and to this
end the provisions of this measure are severable.
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