University of the Pacific Scholarly Commons McGeorge School of Law Scholarly Articles McGeorge School of Law Faculty Scholarship 2018 Ethical Cannabis Lawyering in California Francis J. Mootz III University of the Pacific, McGeorge School of Law,
[email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarlycommons.pacific.edu/facultyarticles Part of the Legal Ethics and Professional Responsibility Commons Recommended Citation Mootz, Francis J. III (2018) "Ethical Cannabis Lawyering in California," St. Mary's Journal on Legal Malpractice & Ethics: Vol. 9 : No. 1 , Article 1. This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the McGeorge School of Law Faculty Scholarship at Scholarly Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in McGeorge School of Law Scholarly Articles by an authorized administrator of Scholarly Commons. For more information, please contact
[email protected]. ARTICLE Francis J. Mootz III Ethical Cannabis Lawyering in California Abstract. Cannabis has a long history in the United States. Originally, doctors and pharmacists used cannabis for a variety of purposes. After the Mexican Revolution led to widespread migration from Mexico to the United States, many Americans responded by associating this influx of foreigners with the use of cannabis, and thereby racializing and stigmatizing the drug. After the collapse of prohibition, the federal government repurposed its enormous enforcement bureaucracy to address the perceived problem of cannabis, despite the opposition of the American Medical Association to this new prohibition. Ultimately, both the states and the federal government classified cannabis as a dangerous drug with no therapeutic purpose, treating it the same as cocaine and heroin. Over the past few decades, a number of states have decriminalized cannabis and have permitted residents to purchase cannabis for medical conditions.