A law passed by the city earlier this month ensures that medical marijuana dispensaries set a small amount of the drug for low-income patients.

The city ordinance states that medical marijuana dispensaries must provide cannabis free of charge to poor patients, according to the Los Angeles Times. The law also ensures that 2 percent of the cannabis given out by the dispensaries must be slated for the poor.

The city defines low-income people as individuals who make under $32,000 a year or families that make under $46,000 a year, the Berkeleyside reported. The ordinance also does prevent dispensaries from doling out bad cannabis to the poor by stating that the free marijuana "be the same quality on average as Medical Cannabis that is dispensed to other members."

However, two out of the three medical marijuana dispensaries already provided free marijuana to poor patients. Berkeley Patients Group (BPG) and Cannabis Buyers Club of Berkeley both had programs that helped the poor. However, the city ordinance only applies to Berkeley residents.

"We do this on our own, so we certainly welcome the city mandating that all dispensaries create these sorts of programs," Chief Operating Officer of BPG Sean Luse said

The city has three medical marijuana dispensaries and approved the opening of a fourth on the same vote that allows for free cannabis for the poor, a move lauded by the owners of other dispensaries.

According to Josh Barro, writing for The New York Times blog The Upshot, explained that what Berkeley is doing makes sense since medical programs like Medicaid provide free medicine to patients. However, because of marijuana's dubious legal standing, no medical program or health insurance covers it, leaving the poor in the lurch.

Barro does find fault with the system through which the cannabis would be paid for. The "cross-subsidy" requires other members at the dispensaries to cover the costs of the poor's free cannabis, possibly raising prices for the other medical marijuana users. However, since medical marijuana is quasi-legal, the city probably also does not want to risk buying the drug.