The nation's most populous state joins a growing list of other states, and the nation's capital, where so-called recreational marijuana is permitted even though the federal government continues to classify pot as a controlled substance, like heroin and LSD. Cannabis now legal in California for recreational use

Pot is now legal in California for adults aged 21 and older, and individuals can grow up to six plants and possess as much as an ounce of the drug. Residents of Los Angeles and San Francisco will not be able to find recreational pot Jan. 1 as local regulations were not approved in time, so neither city has issued the licenses needed to get state permits for selling recreational pot. More than two decades after California became the first U.S. state to legalize medical marijuana use, on January first it becomes the final West Coast state to legalize pot for recreational purposes — a move approved by California voters in November 2016, in a referendum known as Prop 64.
California becomes the latest and most-populated state to legalize the recreational use of cannabis.