CITY MEDICAL MARIJUANA ID CARDS PROPOSED

A state decision to increase the cost of medical marijuana ID cards
from $13 a year to $142 has prompted a San Francisco supervisor to
call for the city to issue its own cards at a lower cost.

The idea is being floated by Supervisor Ross Mirkarimi, who authored
legislation last year regulating medical cannabis dispensaries in San
Francisco. He submitted a nonbinding resolution last month urging the
city to issue its own ID cards for medical marijuana patients,
referencing a $25 fee per card under San Francisco's old ID program.

"The purpose of the resolution is to make sure that the state card
program does not defeat its own purpose with a 1,000 percent price
increase," Mirkarimi said.

The state began issuing ID cards three years ago as part of
California's Proposition 215, a measure approved by voters in 1996
that provides for the use of marijuana for a medical condition as
recommended by a physician. The cards issued under a voluntary
program are primarily used to protect patients from arrest and to
indicate they have a legitimate medical use for marijuana they may be
carrying.

To date, 24 counties, including San Francisco, participate in the ID
program. But the roughly 9,500 patients who have registered aren't
enough to support its costs, prompting state officials to send out
letters in December alerting patients to the fee increase starting March 1.

State offices were closed Monday, and a spokesman for the California
Department of Health Services could not be reached.

Dr. Josh Bamberger, who oversees the ID process for San Francisco's
Department of Public Health, said he will take direction from the
Board of Supervisors, which must first hold a hearing on Mirkarimi's
resolution.

"We're happy to follow their recommendations," Bamberger said.

But some medical marijuana advocates worry that policies like the one
proposed by Mirkarimi could encourage other cities and counties to
forgo the state ID program. The supervisor said Monday he is willing
to amend the resolution to satisfy those concerns.