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Next August, low-income Berkeley, California residents will be able to receive free, high quality medical marijuana from dispensaries to help with the laundry list of ailments for which California allows pot to be prescribed. And while prohibitionists and non-hippies alike have argued it's a bad idea, it's actually an expansion of a system already in place to provide medical marijuana for people who can't afford it.

As The New York Times explains, an ounce of marijuana can set a person back $400, and several people rely on "compassion" (a nickname for free medical marijuana) to treat various illnesses. David Theisen, a 56-year-old line cook who lost his job and uses cannabis for insomnia, told The Times “I can’t afford to buy it, but my need isn’t any less than anyone else’s."

In July the Berkeley City Council voted — unanimously — to mandate that the city's three medical marijuana dispensaries allocate two percent of their product to donate to low-income residents. Low-income translates to $32,000 a year or $46,000 a year for a family of four. The reaction to the rule was either mocking or concern. The Washington Post noted "Berkeley out-Berkeleys Berkeley." An editorial in The San Francisco Chronicle argued that pot isn't medicine and the city should "use the cash equivalent of this requirement to expand job training, build housing or subsidize child care."