FEES FOR MEDICAL-POT CARDS TO SPIKE

Program Finds Few Takers Statewide

So few people signed up for California's medical marijuana cards that
the state is now being forced to raise fees tenfold to cover the cost
of running the program.

The Medical Marijuana ID Card Program was meant to make life easier
for the thousands who smoke marijuana for medicinal purposes, which
is legal under California law. The state-issued photo ID cards, which
are more likely than a doctor's note to be accepted by skeptical law
enforcement officials, were designed to keep patients from being
hassled or arrested.

But the program faced several challenges during its roll-out during
the past year: Only 24 of the state's 58 counties have signed up to
issue the cards; there is competition from private cannibis clubs
with their own ID cards; and some folks simply don't want to tell the
government they're smoking marijuana.

The state has informed counties that March 1, its portion of the fees
collected will increase from $13 to $142 a card. Medi-Cal patients
would pay half of that. Each county charges a fee on top of that to
process applications and verify physicians' prescriptions.

Counties that participate -- including Santa Clara, Alameda and San
Mateo -- will be meeting in coming weeks to consider the increases. A
card that costs about $50 or $60 now is estimated to increase to
about $200. Under one proposal to be considered by the Santa Clara
County Health and Hospital Committee today, the fee could rise to
$600 a card a year.

"I think it will kill the program," said Dale Gieringer, the
California executive director for the National Organization for the
Reform of Marijuana Laws. "I can't see many patients putting out $200
a year for those cards."

State health officials had predicted 150,000 cards would be issued
annually and set fees at $13 a card to cover the costs of the
program. Medi-Cal patients paid half-price. Eighteen months later,
however, the state has issued only 9,076 cards, leaving it far short
of its revenue projections.

By law, the program has to be fully funded by user fees.

"The numbers don't add up," said Michelle Mussuto, spokeswoman with
the state Department of Health Services. "The original estimates
weren't what we thought they were going to be. We're trying to remedy
the situation."

The numbers didn't add up in Santa Clara County, either.

The state had estimated Santa Clara County would have 6,900 patients
and caregivers signing up for the card; in reality, the county has
averaged just 24 clients a month since starting its program in March 2006.

San Mateo County, originally estimated to enroll 3,000 patients a
year, issued 510 cards in 2006. Alameda County has issued 945.

The fee increase is worrisome, said Pam Willow, management analyst
with the Alameda County Public Health Department. "We're very
concerned about what happens March 1. It's going to have a very
negative effect on the program."

Angel Raich of Oakland, who was the first person to sign up for the
state card when it became available in Alameda County, called the fee
increase "shameful."

"I see a boycott," said Raich, noting that patients already pay about
$200 a year for a doctor's consultation to obtain the cannabis
prescription, which is not covered by health insurance. "If the state
wants to make the system work, they need to make it affordable."

Voters in 1996 made California the first state to legalize the use of
medical marijuana with a doctor's recommendation. However, the U.S.
Supreme Court in 2005 ruled that medical marijuana patients can be
prosecuted by the federal government, even in California.

Raich, 41, who suffers from a life-threatening wasting syndrome,
chronic pain and a seizure disorder, uses marijuana on her doctor's
advice to ease her pain. She is the plaintiff in a landmark medicinal
marijuana case that probably will reach the U.S. Supreme Court. At
issue is whether Reich and others have a fundamental right to pain relief.