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that California, which was one of the first states to prohibit cannabis, was likewise one of the first to decriminalize it and the first to re-legalize its medical use. It should not be surprising that a state that pioneered cannabis legislation should be a leader in marijuana reform. Unlike their predecessors on the California Board of Pharmacy, present-day policymakers may profit from clearer knowledge about cannabis in the light of a lengthy historical record extending over a century.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS: Thanks to Jim Baumohl, Richard Bonnie, Patricia Morgan, Jerry Mandel, Michael Aldrich, John Lupien, and Ellen Komp for their assistance in researching this article. Thanks to Andrew Garrett for the invaluable references provided in ReeferMadnessMuseum.org

April 17, 1999; revised Feb. 12, 2000, Dec. 10, 2002, Mar. 3, 2005; substantially revised and re-written Jun. 17, 2006; revised May 28, 2012.

Dale Gieringer, Ph.D. Berkeley, CA canorml@igc.org