So wait, is marijuana legal or not?

Well, of course like most criminal law legal issues, the answer is pretty confusing. But here’s the basics:

Proposition 64 was approved by the voters in 2016 and is known as "the Control, Regulate, and Tax Adult Use of Marijuana Act. Health & Safety Code § 11362.1 was added by Proposition 64. Subject to specified statutory exceptions, H&S § 11362.1, subdivision (a) declares it lawful under state and local law for persons 21 years of age or older to possess, process, transport, purchase, obtain, or give away to persons 21 years of age or older without any compensation whatsoever, not more than 28.5 grams of cannabis not in the form of concentrated cannabis.

However, H&S § 11359 still says that every person who possesses for sale any marijuana, except as otherwise provided by law, shall be punished. And H&S § 11358 still says that every person who plants, cultivates, harvests, dries, or processes any marijuana plants, or any part thereof, except as otherwise provided by law, has committed a crime.

So let’s see, so far it looks like if you’re over 21, if it’s not concentrated, if you’re not planning on selling it, you don’t sell it, and you have less than an ounce, you’re okay. Everything else, watch out, there’s strict rules. And they have to be followed to the letter or you could be in trouble.