MEDICAL POT CARDS GET MORE EXPENSIVE

Hollister - Medical marijuana identification cards are about to get
much more expensive.

At its meeting Tuesday, the San Benito County Board of Supervisors
approved increasing fees from $40 to $213 per card. The main culprit,
according to Health and Human Services Director Kathy Flores, is an
increase in state fees.

The ID cards are supposed to reduce the chances that someone who is
legally using marijuana for medicinal purposes would be wrongfully
arrested. Medical marijuana users aren't required to have the ID
cards, but the county is required by state law to provide them.

Marijuana is sometimes prescribed by physicians to treat conditions
such as AIDS, arthritis and chronic pain.

Officials at the state's Department of Health Services originally
estimated that San Benito County would receive around 230
applications per year for the ID cards. However, only four ID cards
were given out during the program's first three months.

Some county staffers have speculated that things will pick up as the
program becomes more established. But if the rate holds steady, the
county will be giving out only 16 cards per year.

When asked if she was surprised, Flores noted the ID program is new
territory for her staff.

"Frankly we weren't quite sure what to expect," she said.

Flores said she doesn't know how the state arrived at its projection,
but she believes the relatively few applicants could be due to a
combination of several factors, from a possible dearth of medical
marijuana users in San Benito County to a lack of awareness about the program.

Other counties have seen a spike in applications as medical marijuana
users try to get their cards before the fee increase. Flores said
it's possible that a similar surge in applications could occur here
once marijuana users learn about the higher fee.

At both a state and county level, the ID program must be funded
entirely by fees, rather than taxpayer dollars. To make that
possible, California's Department of Health Services announced in
December that it will be increasing its per-card fee - which is a
part of the county's expenses - from $13 to $142.

As before, Medi-Cal users will only need to pay half the cost.

The Board of Supervisors gave its final approval to both the program
and the initial fee last summer.

San Benito County has no marijuana co-ops or clubs where people could
obtain medical marijuana locally, so residents seeking medical
marijuana have to travel at least as far as Santa Cruz.

Supervisor Anthony Botelho said the county won't be getting marijuana
dispensaries any time soon.

"Overseeing something like that would just add to the cost and
bureaucracy," Botelho said. "I just have a view of marijuana as an
illegal drug, and I would never support dispensaries in San Benito County."