MARIJUANA PROTEST PLANNED

Group Says County Should Give I.D.S

Protesters plan to gather today in front of the San Bernardino County
Health Department building in opposition to the county's resistance
to issuing medical-marijuana identification cards, according to a
statement from the Marijuana Anti-Prohibition Project.

"What the court has told them twice now is that the law is
constitutional," said Lanny Swerdlow, a registered nurse and the
group's director. "You have to issue the I.D. card."

Protesters plan to gather at 11 a.m. at 351 N. Mountain View Ave.,
San Bernardino.

Then the protesters will walk over to the county government building
to speak before the Board of Supervisors, Swerdlow said.

In 1996, voters passed Proposition 215, which required counties to
issue medical-marijuana cards allowing chronically ill patients to
grow and smoke the drug.

Most recently, county attorneys had joined with San Diego County in
contesting the state law, which requires counties to distribute
registration cards to patients using medical marijuana.

But a court of appeals ruled against the two counties July 31,
maintaining that the law is constitutional.

County spokesman David Wert said the case takes on an important
law-enforcement issue because the state's medical-marijuana law
contradicts federal law, which criminalizes the drug.

"It's not working," Wert said of the state law. "Federal authorities
are still arresting medical-marijuana users."

County counsel has not decided whether to appeal the appeals court's
decision to state Supreme Court, he said.

He added that the appeals court did not order the county to issue
identification cards.

He also said the appeals court decision did not address the existing
conflict between state and federal law.

Swerdlow criticized the county for wasting money on legal action when
the county is facing cuts to health programs.

Wert said the county has kept legal costs low by using county attorneys.