Medical marijuana is legal in 23 states and the District of Columbia. But the federal government still considers the drug to have no legitimate medical use.
That would change under a proposed bill in the U.S. Senate.
The Compassionate Access, Research Expansion and Respect States Act, which is co-sponsored by Sen. Barbara Boxer, would end the federal prohibition on medical marijuana. The measure would reclassify marijuana from Schedule I to Schedule II. It would allow Veterans Affairs physicians to prescribe the drug to their patients, and it would allow banks to offer financial services to the marijuana industry.
At the same time, advocates in California are working to put a marijuana legalization measure on next year's ballot. California voters rejected a similar measure in 2010.
Mason Tvert, director of communications for the Marijuana Policy Project, thinks the time is right to give it another shot. He said the proposed measure would both regulate and tax the drug.
“Ultimately we would take marijuana sales and production out of the underground market, and instead have it done by licensed, legitimate tax-paying businesses," Tvert said.
Marijuana is now legal in four states, while Nevada will consider legalizing it next year.
