{"id":2192,"date":"2021-11-04T23:14:19","date_gmt":"2021-11-04T23:14:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.leafly.com\/wp-home\/?p=183545"},"modified":"2021-11-04T23:14:19","modified_gmt":"2021-11-04T23:14:19","slug":"25-years-later-californias-medical-marijuana-vote-still-feels-revolutionary","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thcinct.com\/?p=2192","title":{"rendered":"25 years later, California\u2019s medical marijuana vote still feels revolutionary"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>  <title>25 years later, California&#8217;s medical marijuana vote still feels revolutionary &#8211; Leafly<\/title>     <!-- This is Index Exchange, a script\/\/3rd-party integration that interjects GAM. It needs to be 'ahead' of GTM in the DOM, which comes from Cephalopod. GTM loads GAM. This script needs to setup it's interjection stuff before GAM loads. --> <!-- End Index Exchange --> <!-- Quotes = strings--><!-- No quotes = boolean-->\t   <!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v17.1.2 (Yoast SEO v17.1) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->                  <!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. --> <\/p>\n<p> <!-- BEGIN Sailthru Horizon Meta Information --><\/p>\n<p><!-- END Sailthru Horizon Meta Information -->  <!-- Google Publisher Tag --> <!-- End Google Publisher Tag --> <!-- Google Tag Manager --> <!-- End Google Tag Manager --> <!-- Chartbeat --> <!-- End Chartbeat --><br \/>\n <!-- Google Tag Manager (noscript) -->   <!-- End Google Tag Manager (noscript) -->   <title>Leafly<\/title>     <title>Leafly \u00ae<\/title>                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              <title>Loading\u2026<\/title>     <\/p>\n<div class=\"bg-white fixed flex hidden inset-0 items-start md:h-auto md:items-center overflow-auto\" id=\"age-gate-container\">\n<div class=\"bg-white md:h-auto mx-auto p-lg text-sm w-full\" id=\"age-gate\">\n<p><label for=\"select-country\">Where are you from?<\/label><\/p>\n<div class=\"age-gate__info\">\n<p><button class=\"button\" data-testid=\"age-gate-no-button\" id=\"tou-cancel\">no<\/button><button class=\"button ml-md\" data-testid=\"age-gate-yes-button\" id=\"tou-continue\">yes<\/button><\/p>\n<p><label class=\"checkbox__label my-xl\"><span class=\"text-xs\" id=\"remember-user-label\">Remember me for 30 days. <br \/>I confirm that this is not a shared device.<\/span><\/label><\/p>\n<p class=\"error error--underage hidden\">Darn! You&#8217;re not old enough to use Leafly.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"hidden age-gate__loading\">Redirecting you to<span class=\"redirect-domain\"><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"text-xs mt-auto\">By accessing this site, you accept<br \/>\nthe <a class=\"py-xl\" data-testid=\"tou-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.leafly.com\/info\/terms-of-use\">Terms of Use<\/a><br \/>\nand <a class=\"py-xl\" data-testid=\"pp-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.leafly.com\/info\/privacy-policy\">Privacy Policy<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"container my-xl\">\n<div class=\"row\">\n<div class=\"col md:col-9\" id=\"article-content\">\n<p>The passage of California\u2019s Proposition 215 a quarter-century ago\u2014on Nov. 5, 1996\u2014was nothing less than a seismic event.<\/p>\n<p>Today, as the cannabis community <a href=\"mailto:https:\/\/www.canorml.org\/25th215\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">prepares to gather<\/a> in San Francisco to celebrate the silver anniversary of the first-ever statewide medical cannabis law, we live in an entirely different world\u2014particularly those of us living in places that have more or less followed California\u2019s lead.<\/p>\n<p>Thirty-six additional states now legally sanction some form of medical cannabis. Eighteen states and Washington, DC, have legalized the adult use of cannabis entirely. And while the federal government continues to classify cannabis alongside heroin as a Schedule I narcotic, with the highest potential for abuse and no approved medical use, the days of DEA raids on state-licensed cannabis dispensaries seem to be behind us.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"h-what-s-normal-today-was-radical-in-1996\">What\u2019s normal today was radical in 1996<\/h2>\n<p>One measure of the incredible success of Proposition 215 is that we have begun to take all of the above for granted. But back in 1996, simply protecting AIDS and cancer patients from arrest for growing a plant or smoking a joint that their doctor recommended was a truly radical change. It struck at the heart of a racist and oppressive status quo that at the time appeared nearly unassailable\u2014even to some of the renegades who risked everything to take on the system, and often suffered the consequences.<\/p>\n<p>The history of America\u2019s medical cannabis movement includes a lot of such martyr stories, because despite what you might hear at the next big cannabis business conference, our rights were not secured by the investor class looking to cash in or the political class bending to the will of the electorate.<\/p>\n<p>Safe access to medical cannabis became law in California due to the struggle and sacrifice of a grassroots movement of patients, advocates, and agitators engaged in a sustained campaign of civil disobedience.<\/p>\n<p> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.leafly.com\/news\/strains-products\/leafly-buzz-best-cannabis-hash-concentrates-fall-2021\" class=\"wp-block-leafly-blocks-leafly-single-inline-block leafly-inline-related-story\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"border border-deep-green-alt border-l-0 border-r-0 my-xl p-md font-bold\">\n<p>Related<\/p>\n<p>Leafly Buzz: 12 terped-out, new hashes for harvest season<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/a> <\/p>\n<h2 id=\"h-celebrating-where-it-started-san-francisco\">Celebrating where it started: San Francisco<\/h2>\n<p>On Friday, California NORML will host a conference and afterparty in San Francisco to commemorate the groundbreaking law\u2019s big anniversary.<\/p>\n<p>The celebration features \u201coriginal sponsors, organizers, medical patients, attorneys and advocates of the Prop. 215 campaign, plus memorials&nbsp;to those who have since passed away and to patients, doctors and caregivers who have been arrested, harassed or imprisoned in the fight for their right to medical marijuana.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Highlights include a reunion of some of Proposition 215\u2019s co-authors, with California NORML director Dale Gieringer, registered nurse and patient advocate Anna Boyce, and WAMM co-founder Valerie Corral all on hand to share their recollections of drafting the ballot initiative and campaigning for its passage alongside fellow co-authors Dennis Peron, John Entwistle, Jr., William Panzer, Scott Tracy Imler, Leo Paoli &nbsp;and Dr. Tod H. Mikuriya.<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"h-the-instigators-dennis-peron-and-brownie-mary\">The instigators: Dennis Peron and Brownie Mary<\/h2>\n<p>It takes many people to make up a movement, but the story of Dennis Peron and Brownie Mary will always be this movement\u2019s starting place. They led a movement that grew out of the desperate need for medical access among San Francisco\u2019s LGBTQ community. And that movement forever changed the way the city, the state, and ultimately the world views cannabis.<\/p>\n<p> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.leafly.com\/news\/strains-products\/best-marijuana-preroll-california-2021\" class=\"wp-block-leafly-blocks-leafly-single-inline-block leafly-inline-related-story\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"border border-deep-green-alt border-l-0 border-r-0 my-xl p-md font-bold\">\n<p>Related<\/p>\n<p>The California pre-roll battle royale 2021<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/a> <\/p>\n<h2 id=\"h-peron-discovered-cannabis-during-the-war\">Peron discovered cannabis during the war<\/h2>\n<p>For Dennis Peron, it all started with his deployment to Vietnam in 1967, where he was pleasantly surprised to find Saigon filled with the sweet smell of weed smoke. A closeted homosexual and a committed pacifist, he worked in the morgue, stacking bodies. Cannabis would prove to be the saving grace of a horrific situation.<\/p>\n<p>When he was discharged in December 1969, he stuffed two pounds of the highest grade cannabis he could find in Vietnam into his Air Force duffel bag and smuggled it to San Francisco. By 1974, he\u2019d parlayed those two pounds into a thriving underground empire that included The Island, a vegetarian health-food restaurant where each patron was greeted with a joint prior to sitting down to eat. <\/p>\n<h2 id=\"h-an-early-advocate-for-gay-rights\">An early advocate for gay rights<\/h2>\n<p>Peron was also heavily involved in San Francisco\u2019s push for gay rights, including Harvey Milk\u2019s successful run for San Francisco Board of Supervisors. In July 1977, however, just months before that historic election, the San Francisco Narcotics Squad raided Peron\u2019s operation. During the raid, he was shot in the leg, shattering his femur. He also faced serious prison time over the 200 pounds of cannabis seized.<\/p>\n<p>But after the horrors of Vietnam, Peron always claimed the police couldn\u2019t scare him. In fact, he continued to sell cannabis from his bedside while recovering at St. Joseph\u2019s Hospital.<\/p>\n<p>During a break in the ensuing trial, the officer who\u2019d shot him blurted out a string of anti-gay slurs, and said he\u2019d wished he\u2019d shot him dead. As a result, the officer\u2019s testimony was thrown out of court and the charges were lowered.<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"h-planning-a-campaign-while-in-jail\">Planning a campaign while in jail<\/h2>\n<p>Still, Peron spent seven months in prison. While incarcerated, he began planning a local ballot initiative to stop San Francisco authorities from arresting and prosecuting people who \u201ccultivate, transfer or possess marijuana.\u201d It would pass by a wide margin. <\/p>\n<p>San Francisco Mayor George Moscone subsequently instructed the city\u2019s police force to ignore minor cannabis offenses. But then on Nov. 27, 1978, Mayor Moscone and Harvey Milk were assassinated by a homophobic ex-police officer, and the SFPD went back to business as usual.<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"block-90f7a44e-b63c-40dd-b1a9-ee039292d304\">Elsewhere in the city, Mary Rathbun found her calling<\/h2>\n<p id=\"block-18600978-e777-4652-b5af-dd70835190e1\">Mary Jane Rathbun was a self-described anarchist whose vocal advocacy for workers\u2019 rights, reproductive rights, and other social justice causes estranged her from her parents and family in Wisconsin. After moving to San Francisco, she married a recently-returned World War II veteran, but the marriage ended in divorce, leaving her to raise their child alone on an IHOP waitress\u2019s earnings.<\/p>\n<p id=\"block-c035d19f-bdba-4159-b8f3-ecaa668c97f4\">When her daughter later died in an automobile accident at just 22 years old, Rathburn was bereft, without any surviving family to call her own and often struggling to make ends meet.<\/p>\n<p id=\"block-c9dc8c75-aefc-4991-a343-34de241d4612\">Then one fateful day in the late 1970s, she perfected the recipe for some \u201cmagically delicious\u201d cannabis infused brownies. Those brownies would make her locally famous in the Castro\u2014San Francisco\u2019s predominantly gay neighborhood\u2014and then turn her into an international cannabis <em>cause<\/em> <em>celebre<\/em>.<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"block-804cefa4-f808-4019-868d-c06b773460b6\">A brownie becomes a business<\/h2>\n<p id=\"block-f0f3ffa9-e22b-4c92-a153-cbf226a15f9e\">Before long, business was booming, with Mary baking several dozen brownies every day to keep up with demand.&nbsp; A grandmotherly figure with curly gray hair, a kind-hearted disposition, and a sailor\u2019s vocabulary, she became a beloved figure in the Castro, serving as a kind of mother figure to countless young people who\u2019d left their families behind in pursuit of a community that accepted them.<\/p>\n<p id=\"block-7db04ac8-ceb2-4566-873f-807620238bed\">Rest assured: Mary most definitely got high on her own supply. Typically she\u2019d eat half a brownie in the morning and then finish the rest in the afternoon. Otherwise, she couldn\u2019t get around too well on her artificial knees, which she earned through a lifetime of standing on hard floors as a waitress.<\/p>\n<p> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.leafly.com\/news\/lifestyle\/mary-rathbun-pot-brownie\" class=\"wp-block-leafly-blocks-leafly-single-inline-block leafly-inline-related-story\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"border border-deep-green-alt border-l-0 border-r-0 my-xl p-md font-bold\">\n<p>Related<\/p>\n<p>Meet Mary Jane Rathbun, mother of the pot brownie<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/a> <\/p>\n<h2 id=\"h-1980s-a-deadly-plague-hits-san-francisco\">1980s: A deadly plague hits San Francisco <\/h2>\n<p>As the AIDS crisis took hold and devastated San Francisco in the early 1980s, Mary Jane Rathburn noticed that the then little-understood virus vastly disproportionately affected the young gay men she\u2019d taken to thinking of as her children. She also observed that cannabis proved incredibly effective in combating their symptoms and restoring their appetites.<\/p>\n<p>So she began volunteering as a nurse\u2019s assistant.<\/p>\n<p>While making the rounds in local AIDS and cancer wards, she made her brownies available to patients for free. At first she dipped into her Social Security checks to cover the cost, but as word spread of \u201cBrownie Mary\u2019s\u201d kindness and compassion, she began to get donations from altruistic local weed growers.<\/p>\n<p>Meanwhile, across town, Dennis Peron tirelessly advocated for medical cannabis as a compassionate, palliative response to the crisis. He also worked to supply AIDS patients with cannabis directly, in defiance of the law. <\/p>\n<h2 id=\"h-if-you-got-a-warrant-i-guess-you-re-gonna-come-in\">If you got a warrant I guess you\u2019re gonna come in<\/h2>\n<p>In 1981, the SFPD raided Rathbun\u2019s apartment in a public housing project for senior citizens.&nbsp;The raid yielded 18 pounds of pot, and led to a court date for the 57-year-old edibles impresario. <\/p>\n<p>The case also made national headlines. That spread the message that cannabis was an effective medicine for AIDS and cancer patients, while Rathbun herself presented a sympathetic character and case in the media.<\/p>\n<p>Sentenced to 500 hours of community service, Rathburn volunteered at Ward 86 of San Francisco General Hospital, where doctors, nurses, and staff greeted her with admiration and respect, after seeing firsthand how her brownies brought nausea relief, pain relief, and restored quality of life to countless AIDS patients.<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"h-i-m-going-to-ask-for-my-marijuana-back\">\u2018I\u2019m going to ask for my marijuana back.\u2019<\/h2>\n<p>A year after getting busted, the now notorious \u201cBrownie Mary\u201d got busted again. This time the District Attorney dropped the charges. Not that it satisfied Rathburn.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019m not a criminal. I did nothing wrong. I was helping my kids,\u201d she said. \u201cThey can\u2019t drop the charges without saying I haven\u2019t done anything wrong. And if they do that, I\u2019m going to ask for my marijuana back.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>In 1986, San Francisco General hospital named her Volunteer of the Year\u2014but that didn\u2019t stop her from getting arrested for a third time a few years later. <\/p>\n<p>Charged with possession of 2.5 pounds of cannabis, she made bail the same day thanks to Dennis Peron, who made sure she emerged from custody to a phalanx of supporters, plus a scrum of reporters and TV cameras.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIf the narcs think I\u2019m going to stop baking pot brownies for my kids with AIDS, they can go fuck themselves in Macy\u2019s window,\u201d she announced to deafening applause. <\/p>\n<h2 id=\"h-1990-arrest-leads-to-the-first-dispensary-in-america\">1990 arrest leads to the first dispensary in America<\/h2>\n<p>In 1990, the narcs came again for Dennis Peron. This time ten officers armed with sledgehammers performed a no-knock raid on his home in the Castro. As they searched his apartment for drugs, Peron tried to protect his longterm partner, Jonathan West, who was gravely ill with AIDS. After the raid recovered only four ounces of cannabis, one of the officers put his boot on West\u2019s neck and taunted him with anti-gay jokes. Then they hauled Peron off to booking, leaving his bedridden partner alone and terrified. <\/p>\n<p>West lived just long enough to testify at Peron\u2019s trial. Frail and in obvious physical agony, his story moved the judge to throw out the case and admonish the arresting officers.<\/p>\n<p>Peron seized the moment by co-founding by co-founding (with husband and fellow activist John Entwistle) the San Francisco Cannabis Buyer\u2019s Club. Although he still risked arrest and prosecution, this time he had the tacit approval of City Hall to run a non-profit collective dedicated to supplying cannabis to the seriously ill for free or at a steep discount. The menu featured a wide selection of organic cannabis, plus edibles, tinctures, topicals and health food. In addition to the retail counter, there were plenty of places to make yourself comfortable and share some cannabis with friends or friendly strangers.<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"h-a-campaign-born-out-of-the-club\">A campaign born out of the club<\/h2>\n<p>The San Francisco Buyer\u2019s Club also served as a hub for the ascending cannabis movement\u2019s political campaigns. The earliest efforts to draft what became Prop 215 all happened at the Buyers Club, where Peron brought together medical cannabis patients and providers with academics, politicos, and activists eager to join forces on the historic effort.<\/p>\n<p>Here\u2019s how journalist Fred Gardner, who has served as chronicler of the movement, described <a href=\"https:\/\/beyondthc.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/Dennis-and-Prop-215-NB.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">the political coalition<\/a> that Peron brought together for Sunday meetings at the first ever dispensary:<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <em>Among those who came were Dale Gieringer, the head of California NORML. Valerie and Mike Corral came up from Santa Cruz. She has epilepsy, the result of an accident suffered in the \u201970s; Mike had become a grower to develop strains that worked best for her. There was Jack Herer, author of \u201cThe Emperor Wears No Clothes,\u201d who had been organizing for legalization since the early \u201970s from his home base in Fresno\u2026 Pebbles Trippet, a migraine sufferer who\u2019d been arrested often over the years for marijuana possession and transportation\u2026 Bill Panzer and Rob Raich, lawyers from the East Bay\u2026 Bob Basker, a union man and longtime ally of Dennis\u2019s, and John Entwistle, a closest political confidante\u2026 Historian\/activist Michael Aldrich and activist Michelle Aldrich\u2026 Community organizer Gilbert Baker. Writers Ed Rosenthal, Ellen Komp, and Chris Conrad. Mary Pat and Monty Jacobs Judy and Lyn Osburne, Lynnette Shaw, Dave Bowman, Vic Hernandez\u2026 At some meetings, Dennis estimated, there were \u201calmost 100 people.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<p>Mary Jane Rathbun also played a major role in the campaign to pass Prop 215, despite growing seriously ill in the run up to the election.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI think I might live to see it, I really do,\u201d she t<a href=\"http:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/1996\/07\/06\/us\/brownie-mary-fights-to-legalize-marijuana.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">old the New York Times<\/a>, adding that if California did approve Prop 215, then Governor Pete Wilson, who\u2019d vetoed similar proposals by the Legislature, would \u201cwet his pants, he really will.\u201d <\/p>\n<h2 id=\"h-many-hands-built-a-coalition\">Many hands built a coalition<\/h2>\n<p>As time has passed, Denis Peron and Brownie Mary Rathbun have become legends in San Francisco, in California, and among cannabis legalization advocates worldwide. <\/p>\n<p>But as we tell and retell their stories, it\u2019s important to stress that many other activists contributed mightily to building the medical cannabis movement and passing Prop 215. <\/p>\n<h2 id=\"h-remember-dr-tod-mikuriya\">Remember Dr. Tod Mikuriya<\/h2>\n<p>Particular attention should go to the late Dr. Tod H. Mikuriya, the only physician to co-author the 1996 initiative. Mikuriya was a tireless public advocate for the therapeutic properties of cannabis who risked his career and medical license to break the barriers of prohibition. <\/p>\n<p>Also, while the ideas, energy, heart and soul of the campaign came from a core team of grassroots activists, it must be noted that the millions in funding required to collect enough signatures to get the proposition on the ballot and then run a statewide campaign against stiff opposition came largely from a trio of wealthy donors. <\/p>\n<h2 id=\"h-it-takes-money-to-run-a-campaign\">It takes money to run a campaign<\/h2>\n<p>George Soros, Peter Lewis, John Sperling, Richard Dennis, and George Zimmer all helped <a href=\"https:\/\/www.latimes.com\/archives\/la-xpm-1996-11-02-mn-60512-story.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">bankroll<\/a> the Proposition 215 campaign, coming in late to assure it made the ballot and then bringing in a campaign team to help promote it. <\/p>\n<p>A dramatic and thuggish miscalculation on the part of the opposition also helped aid the passage of Prop 215. <\/p>\n<p>Just months before voters decided on the issue, one hundred heavily armed police officers raided the San Francisco Buyer\u2019s Club, busting open the front door with a battering ram, in a transparent attempt to intimidate the initiative\u2019s backers and swing the vote against Prop 215. <\/p>\n<p>But the authorities\u2019 oppressive action backfired, pushing many previously undecided voters to support medical cannabis.<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"h-voters-approve-medical-marijuana-becomes-legal\">Voters approve: Medical marijuana becomes legal<\/h2>\n<p>Both Dennis Peron and Mary Jane Rathbun indeed lived to see the day. Prop 215 passed statewide on Nov. 5, 1996, with 56% approval\u2014a huge margin considering that neither the Democratic nor Republican party were willing to endorse it. <\/p>\n<p>Arizona voters also approved a medical marijuana legalization measure in that same election. But the Arizona Legislature quickly nullified the initiative, leaving California to go it alone. It wasn\u2019t easy. The Clinton administration fought medical legalization for years, using the power of federal arrest and prosecution in an attempt to stop, or at least slow, the progress started by Peron, Rathbun, and the voters of California. <\/p>\n<p>For more than a decade, the glaring discrepancy between state and federal law would result in people and collectives operating as authorized by state law getting raided, arrested and imprisoned by federal law enforcement. <\/p>\n<p>Full adult-use legalization would not arrive until 20 years later, with the passage of Prop 64 in the Nov. 2016 election. But ultimately, Prop 215\u2019s significance went far beyond California. It not only freed the state\u2019s patients to find relief without fear of arrest\u2014it sent shockwaves around the world that still reverberate today.<\/p>\n<div class=\"my-xxl wp-block-leafly-blocks-leafly-related-articles\">\n<p><h2>Related articles<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"author-box\" class=\"p-lg my-xxl bg-white rounded border border-light-grey elevation-low\">\n<div class=\"mb-lg\"> <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/thcinct.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/25-years-later-californias-medical-marijuana-vote-still-feels-revolutionary.jpg\" alt=\"David Bienenstock's Bio Image\" class=\"lazyload inline-block mr-md rounded-full border border-light-grey\"> <\/p>\n<p>David Bienenstock<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p class=\"text-sm\">Veteran cannabis journalist David Bienenstock is the author of &#8220;How to Smoke Pot (Properly): A Highbrow Guide to Getting High&#8221; (2016 &#8211; Penguin\/Random House), and the co-host and co-creator of the podcast &#8220;Great Moments in Weed History with Abdullah and Bean.&#8221; Follow him on Twitter @pot_handbook.<\/p>\n<p> <a class=\"text-sm font-bold underline text-green\" href=\"https:\/\/www.leafly.com\/news\/author\/david-bienenstock\">View David Bienenstock&#8217;s articles<\/a> <\/div>\n<div class=\"leafly-sailthru-signup p-lg my-xl bg-white rounded elevation-low border border-light-grey\">\n<p class=\"text-xs pt-lg\">By submitting this form, you will be subscribed to news and promotional emails from <a href=\"https:\/\/www.leafly.com\">Leafly<\/a> and you agree to Leafly&#8217;s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.leafly.com\/company\/tos\">Terms of Service<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.leafly.com\/company\/privacy-policy\">Privacy Policy<\/a>. You can unsubscribe from Leafly email messages anytime.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p> <!-- Chartbeat --> <!-- End Chartbeat -->  <!--\nPerformance optimized by W3 Total Cache. Learn more: https:\/\/www.boldgrid.com\/w3-total-cache\/ Served from: _ @ 2021-11-04 16:14:25 by W3 Total Cache\n--><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>25 years later, California&#8217;s medical marijuana vote still feels revolutionary &#8211; Leafly Leafly Leafly \u00ae Loading\u2026 Where are you from? noyes Remember me for 30 days. I confirm that this is not a shared device. Darn! You&#8217;re not old enough to use Leafly. Redirecting you to By accessing this site, you accept the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. The passage of California\u2019s Proposition 215 a quarter-century ago\u2014on Nov. 5, 1996\u2014was nothing less than a seismic event. Today, as the cannabis community prepares to gather in San Francisco to celebrate the silver anniversary of the first-ever statewide medical cannabis law,&#8230; <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2193,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2192","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-marijuana_information"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/thcinct.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/25-years-later-californias-medical-marijuana-vote-still-feels-revolutionary.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thcinct.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2192","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thcinct.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thcinct.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thcinct.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thcinct.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2192"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/thcinct.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2192\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thcinct.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/2193"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thcinct.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2192"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thcinct.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2192"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thcinct.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2192"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}