MEDICAL MARIJUANA ZONED OUT: LOCAL REGULATION MEETS STATE ACCEPTANCE AND FEDERAL QUIET ACQUIESCENCE

摘要

Despite the fact that the federal government does not explicitly allow it, sixteen states and the District of Columbia currently permit the medical use of marijuana for qualified patients (Alaska, Arizona California, Colorado, Delaware, Hawaii, Maine,Michigan, Montana, New Jersey, New Mexico, Nevada, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Washington). Despite authorizing the use of medical marijuana to covered citizens, most of the state statutes fail to account for the challenges that confront municipalities whose residents demand that attention be paid to the public health and safety issues attendant to the cultivation, sale, distribution, and use of this medication.