POT ID CARDS APPROVED

Medical marijuana users in Yuba County now have an identification
card to verify possession of the drug.

The card, which will cost $126, was approved by county supervisors
Tuesday. The card is meant to provide uniformity across the state and
give law enforcement an easier way to verify legal use of marijuana
for medical purposes.

Suzanne Nobles, director of the county's health and human services
department, said roughly half of that fee will go to the state for
administrative work and half will stay in Yuba County.

Supervisors adopted the fees in a 4-1 vote with Chairman Dan Logue
being the lone dissenting vote.

Logue said he doesn't agree with medical marijuana and did not
support the creation of ID cards from the beginning.

"I don't think it's needed," he said when asked why he voted no.
"Because federal law does not support state ordinance, I'm going to
side with federal law."

Representatives from Safe Access Now, a nonprofit organization
promoting legal access to medical marijuana, have said the ID card
will make it easier for legitimate users to carry the drug.

"This is a tool for bona fide patients to be verified, and it gives
law enforcement added confidence that patients are who they say they
are," Aaron Smith, state coordinator for Safe Access Now, said when a
request for the cards was introduced to the county.

The county board approved the need for the program in December to
stay in compliance with state law. To date, 35 counties in California
have implemented programs.

The Compassionate Use Act was passed in 1996 allowing doctors to
prescribe the use of marijuana for medical purposes. Then in 2003, SB
420 was approved by state legislators enabling the Department of
Health Services to create an ID card program.