VENTURA ENTERS THE BRAVE NEW WORLD OF 420

County Becomes 42nd In California To Issue MMJ Patient ID Cards

After years of delay, Ventura County has fully complied with the state
mandated "Medical Marijuana Program Act", which changes the way the
county and its municipalities regard medical cannabis and the
estimated 10,000 seriously ill patients who require it.

Indeed, as early as December 7, an intrepid Web voyager could find her
way to a page on the Ventura County Public Health site titled "Medical
Marijuana Program." The ordinary-appearing page provides information
for qualified Ventura County medical cannabis patients regarding how
to obtain the state-issued Patient's ID Card.

County compliance with Senate Bill 420 has taken too long, yet we
thank the Board of Supervisors for finally doing the right thing. The
Patient's ID Card, which provides patients with extended protection in
law enforcement encounters, is one of a number of rights and
privileges guaranteed patients by the Medical Marijuana Program Act of
2004. Importantly, the law assures patients safe and local access to
medicine. For the vast majority of patients, safe and local access
means acquiring medicine through a dispensing collective with a
"storefront" operation. According to the attorney general's
"Guidelines" on medical cannabis, issued during August 2008,
collectives must operate on a "not-for-profit" or "non-profit" basis.
Additionally, a collective must be a "closed-circuit" - all medicine
must be cultivated by the collective exclusively for its members. No
illicit marijuana may enter the medical supply stream, and no medical
cannabis may enter the black market.

Today there is not a single medical cannabis "dispensary" operating
publicly in Ventura County. While the situation has caused years of
unnecessary hardship for patients, there might be a positive side. The
L.A. experiment and its 400 dispensaries have produced, with notable
exceptions, a spawn of poorly managed, copycat operations bearing
scant resemblance to anything "medical" - a situation the attorney
general's "Guidelines" attempt to remedy. The fact that Ventura County
is virgin territory for medical cannabis gives local patients a unique
opportunity to create the next generation of facilities and services,
to develop a new dispensary model viable for our community and others,
to better serve both patients and the community.

There is also a very substantial economic impact. For a number of
years, the county has not benefited from it estimated $50 million
annual medical cannabis economy. Now, more than ever, that $50 million
needs to stay in our community, where it can bring much-needed
economic development and job creation.

Visit 420Ventura.com to learn more about medical cannabis and its
therapeutic benefits, where you'll also find news, legal and medical
resources. Additionally, 420Ventura.com helps qualified patients find
collectives forming in the county.

Documents cited here may be viewed and downloaded from 420.Ventura.com