Editor's note

Introducing Green State, the Chronicle’s new marijuana initiative

Some Chronicle readers may be wondering why their news source is devoting more space to the topic of marijuana today. Others might wonder what took The Chronicle so long. Such is the controversy over one of humanity’s oldest medicines and one of its most contentious contemporary policy issues. Simply put, we’re devoting more resources to cannabis — starting with the issue of senior citizen access to medical pot — because it’s an important topic — and readers care about it.

A new poll from Quinnipiac finds 91 percent of Americans support access to medical marijuana. Yet it remains a federally illegal Schedule I drug, listed alongside heroin and LSD as being medically useless and dangerous. Twentynine states have medical cannabis laws and, along with California, seven states and Washington, D.C., have legalized marijuana for adult use.

Yet doctors generally are not trained in how cannabis works in the body.

We’re responding to reader demand when we provide tips on the best doctors, the best dispensaries and the best products. Readers are also clamoring for basic information — so we’re detailing how patients get marijuana, and how the science of marijuana works. There’s even a glossary in back.

Surveys show just 2 percent of California seniors have used medical marijuana. But among those who have, 92 percent said it worked. Considering that California’s senior population will grow by 50 percent to 9 million by 2030, comprising a record 20 percent of the state’s population, we’re going to need more cost-effective, safer alternatives to prescription drugs for many senior ailments. Some doctors suspect cannabis could be one of those alternatives. Indeed, for many seniors, we’ve discovered cannabis already is an alternative.

Welcome to Green State. We’re here to serve.