SAN DIEGO OFFICIALS URGE IDS FOR MEDICAL POT USERS

San Diego should issue identification cards to medical marijuana users to
protect them from arrest, a City Council committee recommended yesterday. If
the proposal is adopted by the council, San Diego and San Francisco will be
the only large California cities to issue such cards.

"It will reduce the fear patients have of being prosecuted," said San Diego
Councilman Ralph Inzunza Jr., who proposed the measure. Standing beside
Inzunza at a City Hall news conference, Councilwoman Toni Atkins said, "San
Francisco has successfully done this, and San Diego can do it, too."

San Francisco adopted a program last year allowing sick people with a
doctor's note to pay a $25 fee to get a city identification card allowing
them to use marijuana to relieve their symptoms.

On a 4-1 vote yesterday, the San Diego council's Public Safety and
Neighborhood Services Committee instructed a citizens Medical Marijuana Task
Force to develop an identification card plan similar to San Francisco's.

"Identification is the No. 1 issue on patients' and doctors' minds right now
- -- how do they prove they are legitimate users," said Juliana Humphrey, a
defense lawyer and chairwoman of the task force.

The task force was created by the council in May to develop guidelines on
implementing Proposition 215, the 1996 ballot measure allowing the medical
use of marijuana.

Councilman Brian Maienschein voted against the identification card plan,
saying it is premature. Maienschein said the city should wait until the
courts resolve a conflict between state law, which allows medical marijuana
use, and federal law, which prohibits it.

As proposed by Inzunza, the cards would be issued through the county Public
Health Department and require agreement from the county Board of
Supervisors, which is far from certain.

"I probably wouldn't be for it," said Board of Supervisors chairman Bill
Horn, reached by phone last night. "I really don't have an opinion about it
at this point."

If the county does not go along with the identification card plan, the city
could issue cards through the Police Department, said Atkins, chairwoman of
the Public Safety and Neighborhood Services Committee.

San Diego police would welcome a medical marijuana identification card plan,
although they would prefer the cards be issued by the state or county, said
Sgt. David Robowits.

"An ID card would certainly ease the burden on officers," Robowits said.

He said a county or state ID card would be best because they would apply to
a larger area.

The City Council is not scheduled to meet again until September. Inzunza
said he hopes to have a identification program in place by the end of the
year.

Mayor Dick Murphy said he is undecided on the issue.

"I am not opposed to Proposition 215, which authorized medical marijuana,
but I do not have enough information at this time to take a definitive
position on a voluntary identification card program," Murphy said in a
telephone interview.

Historically, San Diego has been considered a conservative city and not one
to take a lead on such social matters. Several observers of city politics
said the old perception no longer applies.

"You're going to see city decision-makers, city policy-makers, move in a
more liberal direction," said Steve Erie, director of the urban studies and
planning program at the University of California San Diego.

"This is not a one-time deal. You're going to see a lot more of that,
particularly with this council." The election of Donna Frye certainly
changed the dynamics, and Murphy has shown himself to be pragmatic on a
whole range of issues."

Frye, an environmental activist, was elected in a June special election,
giving Democrats a 5-4 edge on the nine-member council, which is officially
nonpartisan.

"San Diego voters are pretty mainstream, pretty evenly balanced between
Republicans and Democrats," said veteran political consultant Tom Shepard.

Generally, city voters tend to be moderate, even tilting toward liberal on
cultural issues, Shepard said.

Proposition 215 actually drew more support within San Diego's city limits,
where 56.1 percent of voters favored it, than its statewide total of 55.6
percent of voters in favor. Overall, San Diego County gave the measure 52.1
percent of the vote.

Atkins said she has scheduled a Sept. 26 committee hearing on a proposal to
distribute free needles to intravenous drug users as a way to reduce the
spread of hepatitis and other diseases.

The council deadlocked 4-4 on needle exchange in December when one council
seat was vacant. Atkins said she thinks a majority will vote for it this
time.

"We're focused on problem solving," Atkins said. "To me, that's the issue."