Journal of psychoactive drugs
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The enactment of California's Proposition 215 stipulates that patients may use marijuana for medical reasons, provided that it is recommended by a physician. Yet, medical marijuana patients risk being stigmatized for this practice. ⋯ Most patients circumvented their own physicians in obtaining a recommendation to use medicinal marijuana, and also used a host of strategies in order to justify their medical marijuana use to family, friends, and colleagues in order to stave off potential stigma. The stigmatization of medical marijuana thus has a profound effect on how patients seek treatment, and whether they seek medical marijuana treatment at all.