ONCE a jolly baggie man camped for a bigger bong, under the shade of a coolabah tree. Smoking weed is as Australian as the annual Bong Bong Picnic Race Club Race Meeting in Bowral, so it is disconcerting to observe that mere possession of marijuana is still a criminal offence in most states.

Drug dogs run wild in Kings Cross, city and Darlinghurst nightclubs, sitting down next to poor possessors they have sniffed out. People walking out of the local railway station can be tracked down by an addicted dachshund or labrador and be legally searched. Sniffer dogs do not seem to be the ideal or fair way to catch the Mr Bigs of baggies. Outdoor concerts are ruined by packs of dogs running like pelted torpedoes through crowds of partygoers.

In California there seem to be more outlets for cannibusiness – dispensaries, co-operatives, wellness clinics and taxi delivery services – than all the Starbucks, McDonald's and 7-Eleven stores in the state combined. Since November 1996, when Proposition 215 (the Compassionate Act) was voted into law, the number of medical marijuana dispensaries in California has skyrocketed to more 800. There were only 183 in 2007. In case the dispensary is too far away, or you are too stoned to go out and get weed, a secondary industry has developed in which couriers are employed to deliver it to your door, like pizza. Given grass's propensity to give one the munchies, this is a handy way to kill two birds using one stone.

This semi-legality is based on the proposition that a medical recommendation that the patient/user would benefit from medical marijuana. On the state level in California the doctor, the dispenser and the user are protected from criminal process, if these conditions are met.

In November voters in California can pass legislation to regulate and tax production and sale to persons 21 or older. But it prohibits smoking in schools or public places. The proposal has been certified by California Secretary of State Debra Bowen. Under federal US law, medical users and providers in California are still vulnerable but there is no political or legal will to prosecute. Under the November proposition, the will of the federal government and policing authorities will be further tested. Lawyers believe federal law trumps state law but the invocation of states' rights to leave their grass smokers alone, in a Republican state under Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, is staggering.