COUNTY PREPARES TO DOLE OUT MEDI-POT CARDS TO PATIENTS

Placer County plans to roll its medical marijuana identification-card
program out March 1.

But it's still uncertain whether the state-overseen and
state-authorized program -- which remains voluntary for
marijuana-medicating patients under the 11-year-old Proposition 214
Compassionate Use Act -- will take hold.

Neighboring El Dorado County established its own ID program under
state guidelines in mid-August and has issued 13 cards.

Statewide, the three-year-old program has issued 18,847 cards in 36 counties.

While the legal battle pitting the federal government against the
voter-approved Prop. 214 continues to play out in the courts,
adoption of the ID program in Placer County came last month with no
discussion by the Board of Supervisors as it considered the proposal
as part of a larger package of fees. A state Senate bill adopted five
years ago approved the ID card system.

Mark Starr, Department of Health and Human Services director of
community health clinics, said Thursday that a cost analysis by the
county established the annual fee for a card at $125, with the state
taking $66 as its share. MediCal patients will pay $62.50.

The state Office of County Health Services has estimated Placer
County could issue as many as 250 identification cards to patients
who have a doctor's recommendation allowing them to cultivate,
transport and use marijuana under Prop. 214 guidelines.

"In most counties, the number issued has been less than state
estimates," Starr said.

Aaron Smith, California organizer for the Washington, D.C.-based
Marijuana Policy Project, said that some of the estimates he has seen
suggest that California has 300,000 medical marijuana patients
eligible for the cards.

The cards provide law enforcement agencies with a new, computer-based
way to verify whether a drug-possession suspect can possess marijuana
under Prop. 214 guidelines.

There is no name or address on the card. But there is a photo and a
serial number.

"It's valid in all counties and that helps while someone is
traveling," Smith said. "While law enforcement may be understanding
in one county, in others they are sadly looking for an excuse to
arrest somebody."

San Bernardino and San Diego counties, for example, have been seeking
a court ruling to overturn Prop. 215, Smith said.

In Placer County, Sheriff's Lt. Jeff Ausnow said that officers are
basing decisions on the amount of marijuana a medical cannabis users
can possess on Prop. 215 criteria. The proposition allows 12 immature
plants, six mature plants or eight ounces of processed marijuana, he said.

Ausnow said any amounts that exceed those guidelines would be seized.

"If someone has 15 ounces of processed marijuana and produces a card,
we're going to take everything over and above eight ounces," he said.
"It's a state law and we have to abide by it regardless of our own opinions."

Cards in Placer County will be issued by the state and processed at
North Auburn's Vital Statistics Office, 11484 B Ave. Appointments
will be necessary because the processing will take place one or two
days a week.

Card applicants would be required to show identification, the
doctor's recommendation and have a photo taken. The information would
be submitted to the state and the card would come back within about 30 days.

Starr said county staff will not be offering advice on where people
can go to obtain recommendations or medical marijuana. Information is
available on the Internet for cooperatives where medical marijuana is
being offered, including a Colfax location. The Journal contacted the
Golden State Patient Care Collective in Colfax by phone and was told
by a staff member that dispensary employees do not make comments to the media.

Smith said he thinks the lack of enthusiasm among medical marijuana
patients could be linked partly to the cost of a card - which is more
than the standard $100 fine for misdemeanor possession of marijuana.

"And counties are doing nothing to promote the program," Smith added.
"Our hope is that the state will start promoting the program in
places like AIDS clinics."

Smith said he didn't think the ID program would result in creating
more medical marijuana patients.

"But it would make them feel more comfortable when they are driving
back from a dispensary," he said. "It's something law enforcement can
verify when doctor recommendations all look different."