Six states have legalized the medical use of marijuana.
California was the first, passing Proposition 215 in 1996.
Alaska, Arizona, Nevada, Oregon and Washington followed suit two years later.
California lets people grow marijuana for medical purposes and supply it to people who have a doctor’s prescription.
The fight to pass it was led by Dennis Peron, who says he realized pot’s medicinal benefits when his lover, Jonathan West, developed AIDS.
When West smoked marijuana, his appetite improved and he experienced less pain, Peron says.
Peron, an unapologetic pothead and gadfly, began his fight by collecting signatures for a citywide initiative calling on San Francisco officials not to enforce marijuana laws.
To his surprise, it passed.
From there, he progressed to Proposition 215.
He even ran for governor as a liberal Republican, but lost in the primary to state Attorney General Dan Lungren.
Peron says Lungren retaliated last year by closing the Cannabis Buyers Club he operated in downtown San Francisco.
Peron opened a 20-acre pot farm in the rolling hills of Clear Lake, 60 miles north of the city.
He has 200 patients and under the law, is allowed to grow 100 marijuana plants for each.
New York doesn’t have a medical marijuana law, but it does have the Marijuana Reform Party, which advocates the legalization of pot.
Tom Leighton, the party’s founder, ran for governor last year and plans to run again.
Even though the six states have passed medical marijuana laws, users still face federal prosecution.
Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.) has introduced legislation to remove that threat.