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STATUS | U.S. FEDERAL LAW: Illegal; Both Cannabis and Tetrahydrocannabinols, the active chemicals contained in Cannabis plants, are Schedule I in the United States. This means they are federally illegal to cultivate, buy, possess, or distribute (sell, trade or give) in all forms (cannabis plants, extracts, hash, hash oil, thc, etc) except synthetic THC (Marinol) which is Schedule III. Learn more >> As a Schedule I drug under the federal Controlled Substances Act of 1970, marijuana (cannabis) is considered to have "no accepted medical use" and is illegal for any reason, with the exception of FDA-approved research programs. The Act allows mis-controlled substances to be reclassified by petition by any member of the public, but federal agencies have so far delayed for many years each such petition on behalf of cannabis, and then denied it. Four living patients continue to receive federal marijuana, including, since 1983, Irvin Rosenfeld (for bone spurs), a 52-year-old stockbroker who has been featured in numerous print articles and on the Penn & Teller: Bullshit! cable television series; Elvy Musikka (for glaucoma); and George McMahon (who authored Prescription Pot, a book detailing the federal program, which contains the only existing medical study performed on legal patients). The marijuana is grown on a farm at the University of Mississippi in Oxford and each person receives 300 doses a month. These patients are required by the U. S. Government to smoke the marijuana through a "rolled paper tube" (not ingesting or using pipes or vaporizers). Patients and their doctors report significant medical benefits from their use of marijuana. U.S. STATE LAW(s): Laws and Enforcement varies from state to state - Legal in two (2) states, Eighteen states and DC have enacted laws that legalized medical marijuana; Several have Hemp laws but no-one is planting any seeds or harvesting. Learn more >> There is a split between the U. S. federal and many state governments over medical marijuana policy. On June 6, 2005, the Supreme Court, in Gonzales v. Raich, ruled in a 6-3 decision that Congress has the right to outlaw medicinal cannabis, thus subjecting all patients to federal prosecution even in states where the treatment is legalized. Currently, there are at least sixteen states with medical marijuana laws in effect on the books: Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Delaware, Hawaii, Maine, Michigan, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, New Jersey and Washington, plus the District of Columbia. Maryland's law does not legalize possession of medical cannabis, but rather makes it a non-incarcerable offense with a maximum penalty of a $100 fine. The case brought into tension two themes of the Rehnquist court: the limits it has imposed on the federal government and the latitude it has afforded law enforcement officers. Joining Justice John Paul Stevens's majority decision were Justices Anthony Kennedy, David Souter, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, and Stephen Breyer. Justice Antonin Scalia wrote separately to say he agreed with the result, though not the majority's reasoning. Chief Justice William Rehnquist and Justices Sandra Day O'Connor and Clarence Thomas dissented. Source(s) = [0] - Legal and medical status of cannabis | From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Legal_and_medical_status_of_cannabis / [1] - Legal Status of | Cannabis around the World - by Erowid http://www.erowid.org/plants/cannabis/cannabis_law.shtml / [2] - Legality of cannabis by country | From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Legality_of_cannabis_by_country

I. Eighteen states and DC have enacted laws that legalized medical marijuana, and two (2) of those states have Legalized, making it Medical for Everybody:

State	Year Passed	How Passed (Yes Vote)	Fee	Possession Limit	Accepts other states' registry ID cards?
1. Alaska	1998	Ballot Measure 8 (58%)	$25/$20	1 oz usable; 6 plants (3 mature, 3 immature)	unknown1
2. Arizona	2010	Proposition 203 (50.13%)	unknown2	2.5 oz usable; 0-12 plants3	Yes4
3. California	1996	Proposition 215 (56%)	$66/$33	8 oz usable; 18 plants (6 mature, 12 immature) 5	No
4. Colorado, * (Legal state)	2000	Ballot Amendment 20 (54%)	$90	2 oz usable; 6 plants (3 mature, 3 immature)	No
5. Connecticut	2012	Legislative action (HB 5389); Approved: By House 96-51, by Senate 21-13	TBD, Learn More >>	TBD, Learn More >>	No
6. DC	2010	Amendment Act B18-622 (13-0 vote)	*	2 oz dried; limits on other forms to be determined	unknown
7. Delaware	2011	Senate Bill 17 (27-14 House, 17-4 Senate)	**	6 oz usable	Yes5
8. Hawaii	2000	Senate Bill 862 (32-18 House; 13-12 Senate)	$25	3 oz usable; 7 plants (3 mature, 4 immature)	No
9. Maine	1999	Ballot Question 2 (61%)	$100/$75	2.5 oz usable; 6 plants	Yes6
10. Massachusetts	2012	Question 3 (61%);	TBA, Learn More >>	TBA, Learn More >>	??
11. Michigan	2008	Proposal 1 (63%)	$100/$25	2.5 oz usable; 12 plants	Yes
12. Montana	2004	Initiative 148 (62%)	$25/$10	1 oz usable; 6 plants	Yes
13. Nevada	2000	Ballot Question 9 (65%)	$150 +	1 oz usable; 7 plants (3 mature, 4 immature)	No
14. New Jersey	2010	Senate Bill 119 (48-14 House; 25-13 Senate)	**	2 oz usable	unknown
15. New Mexico	2007	Senate Bill 523 (36-31 House; 32-3 Senate)	$0	6 oz usable; 16 plants (4 mature, 12 immature)	No
16. Oregon	1998	Ballot Measure 67 (55%)	$100/$20	24 oz usable; 24 plants (6 mature, 18 immature)	No
17. Rhode Island	2006	Senate Bill 0710 (52-10 House; 33-1 Senate)	$75/$10	2.5 oz usable; 12 plants	Yes
18. Vermont	2004	Senate Bill 76 (22-7) HB 645 (82-59)	$50	2 oz usable; 9 plants (2 mature, 7 immature)	No
19. Washington, * (Legal state)	1998	Initiative 692 (59%)	***	24 oz usable; 15 plants	No

[Note: 12 of the 15 states require proof of residency to be considered a qualifying patient for medical marijuana use. Only Oregon and Montana have announced that they will accept out-of-state applications. It is unclear if non-residents will be able to apply to be qualifying registered patients in Arizona until the rules are determined by ADHS. Karen O'Keefe, JD, Director of State Policies for Marijuana Policy Project (MPP), told ProCon.org in a Nov. 2, 2010 email that "Patients and their caregivers can cultivate in 13 of the 15 states. Home cultivation is not allowed in New Jersey or the District of Columbia and a special license is required in New Mexico. In Arizona, patients can only cultivate if they live 25 miles or more from a dispensary."]

II. Some states have passed laws that, although favorable towards medical marijuana, did not legalize its use:

State Year Passed Provision 1. Maryland 2003 Allows medical use defense in court

III. Some states have municipalities and such that have passed laws favorable towards medical marijuana. This does not legalize its use in the state just as state laws are over-ridden by federal:

State, City Year Passed Provision/s 1. Missouri; Columbia, Cliff Village 2004 Visit - /links/Missouri.html - for more Detail. 2. Michigan; Ann Arbor, Detroit, Ferndale, Flint, and Traverse City 2004 - 2007 Now has state law, so city laws moot. Visit - http://norml.org/index.cfm?Group_ID=7198

Source:  www.ProCon.org