The City Council of Oakland, California, adopted a standard of six pounds of cannabis and 144 plants as necessary to maintain an adequate supply for patients. This was based on the amount of cannabis currently supplied by the federal government to eight patients in the Investigative New Drug program. Legal distribution is important to protect patients from having to obtain their medicine from the black market. Many of the initiatives that follow the law enforcement model require a patient to register with the state to receive protection of the law. Many civil libertarians and AIDS patients are concerned that the confidentiality of the registry is not guaranteed and that law enforcement would use the registry to target medicinal cannabis users for harrassment.
Constitutional amendments are much harder to change than statutory laws are.
YES, I 59 allows patients to possess a sufficient quantity of marijuana to assure that they can maintain their medical supply without any interruption in their treatment or depletion of their medical supply of marijuana. YES, allows a patient to possess or cultivate a 60 day supply. YES, does not require patients to enter an official registry of marijuana users. Patients must only present a written recommendation from a licensed physician, similar to a prescription. NO, allows patients to possess only one ounce and cultivate only three plants.