Which Bay Area county issues the most medical marijuana cards?

Bay Area counties with medical marijuana cards for 2016-2017:

Solano County Cards issued in 2016-17: 2 Cards issued since 2004: 190 Bay Area counties with medical marijuana cards for 2016-2017:

Solano County Cards issued in 2016-17: 2 Cards issued since 2004: 190 Solano County Photo: Paul Chinn, The Chronicle Photo: Paul Chinn, The Chronicle Image 1 of / 24 Caption Close Which Bay Area county issues the most medical marijuana cards? 1 / 24 Back to Gallery

The push to legalize marijuana for recreational use has a long and complicated history, and this Nov. 8, Californians will once more have the chance to legalize it.

Proposition 64, or the California Marijuana Legalization Initiative, will allow adults 21 and older to possess and recreationally use marijuana under California state law.

Currently, if you want to legally use marijuana in the state, you have to have a medical marijuana card. In 1996, California passed Prop. 215, which allowed the use of medical marijuana. Individuals since have applied for Medical Marijuana Identification Cards (MMIC) to access certain amounts of cannabis.

Costs for MMICs vary per county but have a rate of $120 in San Francisco County as of July 2014, Shouse California Law Group reports. If passed, Prop. 64 may have a positive outcome for card holders since cannabis patients will be exempt from paying sales taxes, the Orange County Register reports.

We took a look at each of the nine Bay Area counties to compare which county has the most MMICs for the 2016-17 fiscal year and also how the demand for MMICs has grown per county since 2004.

Take a look at the slideshow above to see the total medical marijuana cards per county in the Bay Area.