LIKE IT OR NOT, IT'S THE LAW

County Should Create Medical Marijuana IDs

Five years ago, lawmakers agreed on compromise legislation aimed at
limiting abuses in the state's 1996 medical marijuana law and
preventing prosecution of patients who grow and possess small amounts
of cannabis.

As part of this legislation signed by Gov. Gray Davis in 2003,
counties are required to establish voluntary identification card
programs so law enforcement officers can verify that people found
with marijuana are bona fide patients or caregivers.

With little controversy, 40 counties have since approved such ID
programs, including Placer, El Dorado, Yolo, Amador and Yuba
counties. Yet for reasons that are not entirely clear, the Sacramento
County Board of Supervisors hasn't yet directed county health
officials to implement such an ID program here.

That could change after March 18, when the supervisors are scheduled
to hold a hearing on the matter.

Regardless how you feel about Proposition 215, the medical marijuana
law that voters approved in 1996, it is the law of the state. (Those
with long memories may recall that this page opposed Proposition
215.) Some 53 percent of Sacramento County voters cast ballots for
it, and statewide polls continue to show wide support for the
statute. If anything, the ID program helps ensure that only people
with real illnesses have access to marijuana, preventing abuses and
shoring up voters' intent.

The situation is complicated by the fact that San Diego and San
Bernardino are continuing to sue the state over the ID program,
contending that federal law pre-empts Proposition 215. In 2006, the
San Diego County Superior Court rejected the claims of these
counties, which have since filed an appeal.

San Diego and San Bernardino might eventually prevail in court, but
their chances seem slim. In the meantime, counties are legally
obligated to implement the ID program, and people with AIDS, cancers
and other illnesses expect them to do so. Sacrament supervisors
shouldn't delay any longer. By law, they need to direct staff to
implement the Medical Marijuana ID Card Program.