STATE HALTS ID CARDS FOR MEDICAL POT USE

Agency Is Concerned About Legal Fallout From Ruling That U.S. Law Is Dominant.

Concerned that the state could be aiding a federal crime, the Department of
Health Services on Friday suspended a fledgling program that issues
identification cards to medical marijuana users. The cards are supposed to
help medical pot users avoid arrest after their doctors have prescribed
marijuana for pain relief, which is legal under California's Compassionate
Use Act.

But the U.S. Supreme Court ruled last month that federal authorities can
ignore state medical marijuana statutes and enforce federal drug laws
against people who use pot to ease pain. The state has issued only 123 of
the identification cards in Amador, Mendocino and Del Norte counties since
beginning the program in May. The state started issuing the cards because
legislators in 2003 approved SB 420, requiring the state to set up a
medical marijuana identification and registry system.

Ken August, a spokesman for the Department of Health Services, said the
suspension of the identification card program does not affect medical
marijuana users' ability to get a prescription for the drug from their
physicians that is legal under state law.

Rather, he said, the department is concerned that issuing the cards could
cause legal problems for state staff and for holders of the cards. Director
of Health Services Sandra Shewry has asked Attorney General Bill Lockyer
for an opinion on the matter.

August said the court decision could embolden federal agents to go after
card carriers.

"We're also concerned that whatever information is gathered from
cardholders could potentially be used by federal agents to identify medical
marijuana users for prosecution," August said.

But Nathan Sands, chairman of the board of the Compassionate Coalition, a
nonprofit medical marijuana patients' rights group, decried the suspension
as politically motivated.

"The attorney general has already put out several press releases saying the
state law is not affected," Sands said. "We're confident he (Lockyer) will
come out in favor of the patients, but it is strange that the governor, in
addition to attacking teachers and nurses, is now attacking medical
marijuana patients."

California is one of 10 states with protections for medical marijuana use.

In the Gonzales v. Raich decision last month, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled
against two California women who sought the right to grow their own
marijuana for pain relief. The decision affirmed that Congress can prohibit
local cultivation and use of the drug, and that federal authorities can
prosecute medical users even in states that allow medical marijuana.

Teresa Schilling, a spokeswoman for Lockyer, said the attorney general is
reviewing the DHS request.

Lockyer has determined that the recent court decision does not affect
California's legalization of medical marijuana, Schilling said. Lockyer
last month sent a memo to local law-enforcement agencies statewide saying
that the court decision does not require California peace officers to start
enforcing federal drug laws, she said.

But that hasn't stopped some local officials from changing their policies
on medical marijuana.

Roseville last month repealed an ordinance allowing medical marijuana shops
to operate in some areas.