Free marijuana for low-income residents in Berkeley, California

If you have a medical condition and live in Berkeley in California,  the city is offering a unique benefit for low-income residents - free marijuana.

Starting August 2015, medical marijuana dispensaries in Berkeley, Calif., will be required to donate at least 2% of their weed reserves to low-income residents.

Candidates for the free pot must be Berkeley residents and show proof of income of less than $32,000 a year.

"There are some truly compassionate cases that need to have medical marijuana," Berkeley Mayor Tom Bates told the New York Times. "But it's expensive. You hear stories about people dying from cancer who don't have the money."

However, despite the enthusiasm of the City Council, others, like California Narcotic Officer's Association lobbyist John Lovell, were quick to criticize the new policy.

"Instead of taking steps to help the most economically vulnerable residents get out of that state, the city has said 'Let's just get everybody high,'" Lovell told the Times. "I don't see anything progressive about that."

Berkeley mayor Tom Bates told the Times that prices could be prohibitively expensive for those who need marijuana for medical reasons.

"There are some truly compassionate cases that need to have medical marijuana," he said. "But it's expensive. You hear stories about people dying from cancer that don't have the money."

Dispensaries, which are prohibited by California law from turning a profit, will also have to hire security guards to patrol nearby, in order to deter crime, and true to the Berkeley idiom, guards are not be allowed to carry guns.