# Is medical marijuan legal where you live? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [March 27, 2012, 2:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-medical-marijuan-legal-where-you-live/616917 "2012-03-27T02:30:04Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Mewl\_Dear](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d6d6ee/32.png) [@Mewl\_Dear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mewl_Dear)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2012, 2:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-medical-marijuan-legal-where-you-live/616917/1 "2012-03-27T02:30:04Z")
I don’t think I can ask how you imbibe. It is legal in many places and not sure why the last thread was closed. I can not be the only doper doing real dope. ---
**Author:** ![Covered\_In\_Bees](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7ab992/32.png) [@Covered\_In\_Bees](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Covered_In_Bees)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2012, 2:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-medical-marijuan-legal-where-you-live/616917/2 "2012-03-27T02:32:42Z")
If you don’t know why the last thread was closed, perhaps you should cut down? ---
**Author:** ![Mewl\_Dear](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d6d6ee/32.png) [@Mewl\_Dear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mewl_Dear)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2012, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-medical-marijuan-legal-where-you-live/616917/3 "2012-03-27T02:37:01Z")
> [@Covered\_In\_Bees](#): > > If you don’t know why the last thread was closed, perhaps you should cut down? If you have no answer perhaps you should not post. ---
**Author:** ![Frank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Frank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frank)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2012, 2:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-medical-marijuan-legal-where-you-live/616917/4 "2012-03-27T02:38:07Z")
> [@Mewl\_Dear](#): > > If you have no answer perhaps you should not post. Ah ha! I have an [answer](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=646395)! ---
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2012, 2:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-medical-marijuan-legal-where-you-live/616917/5 "2012-03-27T02:47:24Z")
I have an answer and it is yes. I’m in San Jose. There are probably four or five dispensaries within a mile of me. ---
**Author:** ![living\_in\_hell](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/3d9bf3/32.png) [@living\_in\_hell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/living_in_hell)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2012, 2:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-medical-marijuan-legal-where-you-live/616917/6 "2012-03-27T02:47:29Z")
Among contemporary users, “dope” no longer refers to marijuana, but rather, heroin. Be careful with your lingo! ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2012, 2:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-medical-marijuan-legal-where-you-live/616917/7 "2012-03-27T02:48:37Z")
It is here, but you have to [buy it from the government](http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/dhp-mps/marihuana/index-eng.php). 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![living\_in\_hell](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/3d9bf3/32.png) [@living\_in\_hell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/living_in_hell)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2012, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-medical-marijuan-legal-where-you-live/616917/8 "2012-03-27T02:49:31Z")
I have an answer and it is yes. But I will not say where I live. (Aside from hell.) ---
**Author:** ![Frank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Frank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frank)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2012, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-medical-marijuan-legal-where-you-live/616917/9 "2012-03-27T02:50:29Z")
> [@living\_in\_hell](#): > > Among contemporary users, “dope” no longer refers to marijuana, but rather, heroin. Be careful with your lingo! The OP is not a contemporary user? ---
**Author:** ![living\_in\_hell](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/3d9bf3/32.png) [@living\_in\_hell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/living_in_hell)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2012, 3:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-medical-marijuan-legal-where-you-live/616917/10 "2012-03-27T03:15:30Z")
I was trying to be diplomatic and not call OP an old geezer. Thanks for blowing up my spot, Frank! 😉 ETA: once my mom called it “grass” and when I laughed at her she said “what do you want me to call it–‘Mary Jane’?!” ---
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2012, 3:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-medical-marijuan-legal-where-you-live/616917/11 "2012-03-27T03:31:27Z")
No, with a “but.” In Maryland we have the “medical marijuana affirmative defense law,” meaning that if you are charged with a marijuana-related offense, medical use will be considered a mitigating factor and your maximum penalty will be a $100 fine. However, you must _successfully_ make the case _at trial_ that your marijuana use is medically necessary. ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2012, 3:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-medical-marijuan-legal-where-you-live/616917/12 "2012-03-27T03:32:19Z")
> [@Sunspace](#): > > It is here, but you have to [buy it from the government](http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/dhp-mps/marihuana/index-eng.php). 🙂 WTF Health Canada? “Medical Use of **Marihuana** ”? Are you guys selling recently unearthed 1920’s Style Death Buds? It is legal here in NV but I don’t know the specifics. It is apparently much harder than in California. Over there you pretty much need to pay the doctor and make up a disease on the spot. ---
**Author:** ![Rachellelogram](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rachellelogram/32/8689_2.png) [@Rachellelogram](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rachellelogram)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2012, 5:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-medical-marijuan-legal-where-you-live/616917/13 "2012-03-27T05:29:06Z")
It’s pretty much forbidden to discuss current drug use on the boards. Discussions of medical mj and dispensaries are sometimes permitted, if they remain cerebral. But if, as your locked post indicates, you want to talk about your current weed consumption, do it somewhere else. ---
**Author:** ![Rushgeekgirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rushgeekgirl/32/3715_2.png) [@Rushgeekgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rushgeekgirl)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2012, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-medical-marijuan-legal-where-you-live/616917/14 "2012-03-27T20:41:59Z")
It’s quite illegal here in Tennessee. They treat you like a child rapist if you’re caught with more than a dime bag. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2012, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-medical-marijuan-legal-where-you-live/616917/15 "2012-03-27T20:50:06Z")
As I used to say to my kids, “It’s not legal here. Period. If you think the law is stupid, try to get it changed.” ---
**Author:** ![Reply](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/reply/32/15952_2.png) [@Reply](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reply)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2012, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-medical-marijuan-legal-where-you-live/616917/16 "2012-03-27T21:03:23Z")
I don’t think it’s legal anywhere in the US because federal law says it’s not, and the courts decided the feds can regulate even home growing/use as interstate commerce. States can’t actually “legalize” it, as far as I know, even if they enact it into law, because the federal laws trump the make-believe state ones. The states can choose to not waste money enforcing the federal will, but if becomes an issue, the [feds start blackmailing local counties](http://www.times-standard.com/localnews/ci_19694880). I live in Humboldt County, California, and supposedly-legal dispensaries come and go depending on how iron-fisted the feds feel that particular year. And 215 (CA’s medical marijuana card) isn’t recognized by the local university because it receive federal funding and federal student aid. ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2012, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-medical-marijuan-legal-where-you-live/616917/17 "2012-03-27T21:06:21Z")
When I worked in a bank, we took CA Medical ID as a secondary ID (i.e. still need a DL). It has a photo, I believe. My supervisor was not terribly enthusiastic about the whole thing. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2012, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-medical-marijuan-legal-where-you-live/616917/18 "2012-03-27T21:09:32Z")
It’s legal here in Israel. ---
**Author:** ![Jasper\_Kent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a9a28c/32.png) [@Jasper\_Kent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jasper_Kent)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2012, 12:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-medical-marijuan-legal-where-you-live/616917/19 "2012-03-28T00:04:20Z")
> [@Rushgeekgirl](#): > > It’s quite illegal here in Tennessee. They treat you like a child rapist if you’re caught with more than a dime bag. Yep, this is true. What a lot of people _don’t_ know is that marijuana is TN’s \*\*#1 \*\*cash crop.