According to the nationwide marijuana activist organization, NORML, as of 2011 there are more than 1 million patients who hold valid California medical marijuana cards.
The leader in pioneering the medical marijuana movement, and the most proactive state in the union amongst the 15 others and DC that have decriminalized marijuana for medicinal usages, California, also tops the list for most active holders of a California medical marijuana cards, too. When you really break down the numbers, however, the spectrum of abuse is virtually nonexistent. Proponents of California medical marijuana cards would have you believe otherwise; that people are rampantly abusing this drug and that it should be illegal.
Pundits and the real numbers tell a different story, however.
According to a recent news report that was published in late May by the San Francisco Weekly, there are 1.1 million California medical marijuana cards that are active and that are currently being used by patients, according to NORML; a pro marijuana activist organization that has goal to see the drug legalized nationwide. To offer more perspective on this matter, the state has a staggering population of more than 37 million persons, and according to recent census data, this number reflects not even 3% of the population that holds California medical marijuana cards.
Some say that the numbers are not accurate, as all California medical marijuana cards information is kept strictly confidential and not recorded on any database so as to best protect a patient’s identity and freedom, and the same is true for doctors who recommend California medical marijuana cards to patients … it’s all very hush-hush. But at last estimates, the number has grown from 75,000 in 2003, when marijuana was first made legal to use as medicine in this state, and then from 350,000 in 2007 to nearly triple that amount of California medical marijuana cards in 2011.
Let’s also keep in mind that over the past several years more than 150 different ailments and medical conditions have been approved by state lawmakers and added as treatable conditions that would warrant the issuance of California medical marijuana cards. So it’s not all about people lying to get a card. Furthermore, marijuana doctors view it as medicine, the same as a painkiller, and they don’t hand out California medical marijuana cards recommendations like candy, either.
NORML Director, Dale Gieringer, issued a statement to the press recently, stating that, “The data shows that medical marijuana users are becoming an increasingly important constituency. It is time for the federal government to stop ignoring the facts and recognize their right to medicine.”
Medicinal marijuana in California and California medical marijuana cards brings in more than $4.5 billion in taxable revenue annually, a number that has steadily increased since 2003, and one that helps to pay for public services like a fire department, police department, new roads, trash, sewer and official salaries.
California medical marijuana cards are issued by the California Department of Public Health (CDPH), which manages and regulates the medical marijuana program in this state.
