SUPERVISORS OK COUNTY MEDICAL MARIJUANA CARD

The county has a medical marijuana identification card program, now
that the county Board of Supervisors has given its final OK.

A 2003 state law requires counties to issue cards to qualified medical
marijuana patients and their primary caregivers. Their names then go
into an online registry that law enforcement officers can use to
verify an ID card's validity.

Supervisors voted unanimously without any discussion to create an
ordinance that establishes a $78 fee for the ID program, which will
pay for the program. People with Medi-Cal benefits will be charged $39
for an ID card.

The program is up and running through the county Public Health
Department.

The program limits the amount of marijuana a person can have at one
time to 8 ounces, six mature plants or 12 immature plants.

San Luis Obispo County is the 21st in California to issue the cards.
Neighboring Santa Barbara and Kern counties already do.

San Luis Obispo County currently has one marijuana dispensary
operating in Morro Bay.

Before moving forward with the program this summer, supervisors
discussed at length the discrepancies between state and federal law
regarding marijuana use. Federal law prohibits the use or sale of
marijuana. In 1996, California voters passed Proposition 215 -- also
known as the Compassionate Use Act -- legalizing marijuana for medical
use.

Following a public hearing on Aug. 1, supervisors directed the public
health officials in a 3-2 vote to implement a medical marijuana ID
program as mandated by state law.

Supervisors Jerry Lenthall and Harry Ovitt dissented then, saying it
violated federal law.