In the ever-shifting world of marijuana laws, it’s common to think that pot is either legal in a place or it’s not. That’s not true, though. There are still two kinds of legal weed: the recreational form and the medical form.
Medical Marijuana
Medical marijuana has been legal for over twenty years, at least if you live in California. Not surprisingly, the Golden State became the first state to make pot available for patients with certain medical conditions in 1996. A doctor had to give you a note saying you needed pot for something like chronic pain, glaucoma, “or any other illness for which marijuana provides relief.” So if you could find a doctor willing to prescribe weed for anxiety, then you had all you needed to get medical marijuana legally.
California was the first state to pass medical marijuana laws, but other states quickly followed suit. In general, polls have shown higher support for medical marijuana laws than for recreational marijuana. That’s changing nowadays, as recreational pot use becomes more acceptable, but for a while medical marijuana acted as a bridge for people to approve of marijuana use, but only within certain contexts. The message seemed to be “Sure, you can smoke pot, as long as you don’t enjoy it too much.” In fact, as of this writing, the majority of states have legalized medicinal pot in some form.
Medical pot is also formulated differently than the recreational stuff. There are two chemicals to keep in mind here: THC and CBD. CBD doesn’t give you that high that most recreational users seek, so medical marijuana has more CBD. Recreational stuff has more THC.
Don’t think state regulatory agencies go any easier on medical pot shops, though. Such businesses can’t exactly wing it; they still need a medical marijuana business plan, and that usually means hiring a lawyer experienced in cannabis law. Doing otherwise means they risk getting shut down.
Recreational Marijuana
The legal pot landscape really started to shift in 2012, when Colorado and Washington residents voted to legalize cannabis use for adults. The War on Drugs that began in the eighties (President Reagan preferred jellybeans to weed) placed a ton of non-violent offenders behind bars for pot-related crimes, so the idea that states would declare “We’re not that concerned about stoners, actually” was pretty big. Washington and Colorado no longer wanted people to buy weed from street dealers and flush it down the toilet when the cops came knocking (and not just because flushing weed down the toilet can do a number on your pipes). As the saying goes, if you can’t beat them, you might as well make some state revenue off of them.
Five years later, the trend towards more legalization has continued on a state level. In addition to Colorado and Washington, Alaska, California, Maine, Massachusetts, Nevada, and Oregon have all declared both medicinal and recreational pot to be permissible. So you can go to a doctor if you think you need the medicinal stuff, but you can also just walk into a pot shop if you’re of legal age (which is generally 21). Since it’s hard to smoke something without first possessing it, you can also have a certain amount of pot on your person in those states. But don’t take a joint to the park and light up, and don’t try to transport it across state lines.
While states are moving forward, the federal government seems determined to move backwards. Attorney General Jeff Sessions, a big fan of the War on Drugs, has made it clear that he has no use for weed, which is still illegal under federal law. He’s shown signs of cracking down on states that allow it (so much for that whole states’ rights thing). There are a few things that could happen, and most of them aren’t good, so keep a close eye on D.C.
Marijuana legalization has indeed come a long way. But before purchasing cannabis for your medical or personal needs, be sure to check if it’s legal in your state. Not only will it ensure you’re safe from jail time or from paying a fine, but you will also be educated on where you can find legal distributors of medical cannabis or CBD medication.
Now that you know by now the differences between the strains, you might be interested in purchasing some seeds. If so, Green Bud Guru has a very detailed article on how and where to buy the best seeds.
