ID CARDS FOR USERS OF MEDICAL MARIJUANA?

Patients using medicinal marijuana would be free from arrest if they obtain
identity cards under a state Senate proposal that has law enforcement
support.

Backers of the measure, SB 187, say the system would identify who is
eligible to use pot for medical purposes under Proposition 215, which in
1996 legalized marijuana for patients with severe conditions.

Some patients and their advocates are skeptical because the bill has broad
support from several of the same law enforcement groups and prosecutors
who opposed Proposition 215.

But the bill's author, state Sen. John Vasconcellos, D-Santa Clara, said
that support could bring enough votes in the Legislature to get the bill
approved. A similar bill died in the Assembly last year.

When the voter-approved initiative allowed qualified Californians to use
marijuana, it neither specified limits nor described an implementation
process, said Vasconcellos, a longtime champion of the drug's medicinal use.

Under the bill, the state Department of Health Services would determine how
much pot a patient could legally use. The department also would outline
how such marijuana should be grown and sold. Law enforcement groups have
been particularly concerned about their inability to
accurately determine who can legally use marijuana under the 1996
initiative.

The proposed system would work like driver's licenses, offering an
on-the-spot indication of whether someone is authorized to have
marijuana. Patients would apply through their county health agencies, which
would run the program in conjunction with the state.

"This provides some clarity for all concerned with 215," Vasconcellos said.
"If someone is stopped, but he or she has a card, the police can let
them go and won't drag them off to jail. It's clear and simple for all
those involved."

A task force assembled by state Attorney General Bill Lockyer developed the
proposals two years ago to improve implementation of the medical
marijuana law.

While using pot remains illegal under federal law, seven other states have
passed medical marijuana measures since California became the first in
1996. Vasconcellos' legislation does not resolve the conflict between state
and federal law, which is pending before the U.S. Supreme Court.

Instead, the bill tries to create a single, statewide standard that local
officials can apply uniformly across California, Vasconcellos said. Thus
far, many counties have used their own interpretations.

Prosecutors are particularly interested in the crafting of specific limits
on how much marijuana is legal, said Lawrence Brown, executive director
of the California District Attorneys Association.

"Proposition 215 as passed was absolutely silent as to any quantity
specifications," Brown said. "As a result, patients, law enforcement and
prosecutors have been operating in the dark, not to mention juries."

But the sheer fact that the district attorneys' group and police
organizations -- which opposed Proposition 215 -- now support the
Vasconcellos measure is cause for concern among some medical marijuana
advocates.

Dennis Peron, a driving force behind Proposition 215, said allowing their
changes to the law "is like asking right-to-lifers to regulate abortion."

"They're going to register every plant in the state, in addition to every
patient," Peron said. "It'll be a bureaucratic nightmare."

Peron said he is principally concerned that state and local officials will
restrict access to medical marijuana. He said the proposed law would
only scare off more patients from using marijuana. "It is intimidating, it
is very intimidating for a sick person to register with the state for
anything," he said. Vasconcellos stressed that the registry would be
voluntary and any information collected would be confidential. Peron argued
that "the law is working" as it is. He said many officers today are aware
of who qualifies under the 1996 law. "They never arrest people if they
have some kind of document or card from clubs," he said. "Why do we have
to get the state involved between doctors and their patients?"

The bill also has opposition from those who believe marijuana has no
medical value. Art Croney of the Committee on Moral Concerns said the
proposal would actually expand the definition of who can harvest marijuana.

"This is the next step toward drug legalization," Croney said. SB 187 is
headed to the Senate Appropriations Committee after passing the Senate
Public Safety Committee last week. Gov. Gray Davis opposed last year's
proposal, as he did Proposition 215. But Vasconcellos said the support of
law enforcement agencies may make a difference this year. So far, Davis has
not offered an opinion on the new bill.