ID CARDS APPROVED FOR MEDICAL-POT USERS

San Diego Council Vote On Plan Is 7-2

People who use marijuana on their doctor's advice will get identification
cards meant to protect them from arrest under a program approved by the San
Diego City Council yesterday.

"This is a very modest response to an immediate and real need," said
Councilwoman Toni Akins, who joined Councilman Ralph Inzunza Jr. in leading
the drive for a medical marijuana ID card program.

The program, approved by the council on a 7-2 vote, will allow sick people
or those who care for them to obtain picture ID cards allowing them to
carry up to one ounce of marijuana without fear of arrest.

Under the plan, put together by a citizens Medical Cannabis Task Force,
cardholders found to be carrying more than an ounce could be detained by
police until they proved their need for the extra marijuana.

The task force was created by the council in May to implement Proposition
215, a 1996 measure allowing the medical use of marijuana.

The program will include a 24-hour hotline that police can call to verify
the identification of cardholders.

Councilmen Brian Maienschein and Jim Madaffer voted against the plan.

No one from the public objected to the plan during a council hearing yesterday.

Medical marijuana patient Susan McNichols of Hillcrest told the council a
card program could have prevented her detention by police last summer when
she was stopped for transporting marijuana plants in her car.

McNichols said she was taken in handcuffs to police headquarters and
interviewed by narcotics officers before being released.

"This was a very painful and humiliating experience," she said.

Maienschein said told his colleagues that it is improper for the city to
issue marijuana ID cards until the courts resolve a conflict between state
and federal law.

Proposition 215 authorized the medical use of marijuana in California, but
federal law still prohibits it.

"I can't imagine this is not going to be settled by the courts,"
Maienschein said.

The city-issued cards will offer no protection against arrest by federal
authorities, nor will they be valid outside San Diego city limits.

Atkins said it likely will take about six months to get the program
operating. She said the task force must raise $20,000 to $30,000 in private
money to pay for the program and will work with the city manager to find an
agency to run it.

Normally, the city manager could then implement the program without further
council action. But Atkins said she will ask City Manager Michael Uberuaga
to get council approval of his decision on who will administer it.

Inzunza said San Francisco, Oakland and several other California cities and
counties have similar marijuana card programs.

"This is the right time to do this," Inzunza said.