Next month, voters in California could vote to legalize the use of marijuana for recreational use -- a result that simply wouldn't have been thinkable five years ago. According to a recent Field Poll, 49 percent of likely voters approved of measure, called Proposition 19, while 42 percent disapproved.

Thing is, regardless of what happens in California, using any quantity of marijuana for recreational use will still be a violation of federal law, namely the Controlled Substances Act, first passed into law in 1970.

So...