During the last election, voters passed prop 64 making it legal for adults to use recreational marijuana in California. Adults over the age of 21 are now allowed to use marijuana legally without a medicinal card as long as they are not using it in public areas. California became the fifth state to legalize the use of recreation marijuana after Washington, Colorado, Alaska, and Oregon. According to the California National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, California residents can use or carry up to one ounce of marijuana as well as grow up to 6 plants for personal use. But the big question is, how will the new laws for marijuana in California affect you? In this article, we are going to discuss this topic to inform you how the new laws are going to affect you.
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No Need For Doctor’s Recommendations
Before the new marijuana laws were enacted, marijuana consumption was only allowed to an individual with medical conditions. However, when voters passed the new marijuana laws, both recreation and medical marijuana are now legal to use. Adults over the age of 21 can now share, possess, use as well as grow cannabis at home without doctor’s recommendation. This means that Californians who don’t have a major medical problem don’t need to spend their time and money trying to get doctor’s recommendation in order to use marijuana. However, patients with medical conditions have some additional rights that marijuana recreation users don’t have. For instance, individuals with medical marijuana card can use medical marijuana at the age of 18 while those who want to consume recreation marijuana must be 21 and above to get marijuana from local dispensaries. Those with medical marijuana card will also have more access to marijuana.
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You Can Grow Marijuana Without a License
You don’t need to obtain a license anymore in order to grow marijuana at your home. When the new laws passed, those consuming marijuana for recreational purposes is allowed to grow up to 6 plants in their homestead. However, the law only allows people to grow cannabis on a site that is not visible to the public. Upon harvesting, you need to lock it in a place that cannot be accessed.
You also need to check the laws of your local city because some have pass rules that only allows you to grow marijuana indoors. However, state laws allow individuals to grow up to 6 plants on their private property. The license is only required for individuals who want to grow more than 6 plants for commercial purposes. Medical marijuana patients with state ID cards will still be allowed to cultivate marijuana up to 100 square feet.
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You Can Still Be Fired By Your Employer For Marijuana Consumption
When the new marijuana laws were passed, many people thought that employers lost the right to fire employees who have marijuana in their system but that is not true. Your employer still gets to set working rules. If the rules say that you can be fired for having marijuana in your system, the employer can do so even if you are sober when working. The new marijuana laws did not compel employers to revise their policy regarding marijuana.
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Be Prepared To Pay More
Both medical and recreational marijuana will be taxed. However, medical marijuana will be taxed at a lower rate than recreational marijuana. Medical marijuana is currently taxed at 2% at cultivation, 2% at production and 2% at the sale. However, when the new marijuana laws were passed, both medical and recreational marijuana is taxed at 15% at cultivation. However, only recreational marijuana is sold with 10% sales tax. Local government also have the right to impose a local tax on marijuana on top of state taxes. However, medical marijuana patients who have government-issued ID cards will not pay sales tax which averages at about 10% but they will still pay the 15% special tax.
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No Consumption Of Marijuana In Public
The newly enacted marijuana laws do not allow adults to ingest or smoke marijuana in public places. This means that you can only use marijuana in private residence. In addition to that, it is still illegal to drive or operate a vehicle or machine when under influence of drugs and marijuana is not exempted. The packaging of marijuana should not be done in a way that it will appeal to children. Those found using marijuana in public will be taken to court and charged.
