S.F. SUPES VOTE FOR MEDICAL MARIJUANA I.D. CARDS

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - San Francisco supervisors approved a city ordinance
Monday calling for identification cards for people who qualify to use
medical marijuana.

The board voted 10-1 for the ordinance, which would allow cardholders to
obtain medical marijuana at several San Francisco dispensaries. The board
is scheduled for a second vote Jan. 31 for final approval of the ordinance.

Proponents of the program said the identification system is important to
prevent the arrest or detention of legitimate medical marijuana users.

"These individuals who carry these cards have a great deal of stress on
them already. They're sick and dying individuals. We don't need to press
them anymore than what they have right now," said Wayne Justman, director
of the San Francisco Patients Resource Center, which proposed the ordinance.

"This should provide the bearer of this card access to the various
facilities here in San Francisco that dispense medical marijuana. It should
also identify to law enforcement that I am a legitimate user of medical
cannabis and if I am stopped and I have cannabis that I should not be
detained," Justman said.

Those seeking the cards would have to present a doctor's recommendation and
personal identification to the San Francisco Department of Public Health.

Board president Tom Ammiano cast the sole vote against the ordinance.
Ammiano said there were too many unanswered questions regarding financing
and patient privacy.

"I have a lot of trepidation about keeping people's confidentiality,
particularly patients with AIDS and cancer," Ammiano said prior to the vote.

Justman's organization co-sponsored the ordinance with Act Up, Oakland
Cannabis Buyers Cooperative and C.H.A.M.P. (Cannabis Helping Alleviate
Medical Problems). The groups would work with the San Francisco Department
of Public Health to implement the ID system after final approval, Justman
said.

Currently, patients qualifying for medical marijuana use must often provide
a doctor's validation for each visit to a dispensary. The new ID cards
would be valid for up to two years, and renewable thereafter.

Jane Weirick, director of the St. Martin's Dispensary in San Francisco,
said patients who come to her facility can expect only the best quality
marijuana

"Right now we have the highest medical grade in the world," Weirick said.

There are similar ID card programs in other California cities. In Arcata,
the police chief personally issues photo identification cards to registered
medical marijuana patients. Mendocino County also uses an ID card system.

California voters approved Proposition 215 in 1996, which permits marijuana
use under a doctor's care.