LAWSUIT FILED OVER REFUSAL TO ISSUE MEDICAL MARIJUANA CARD

SAN BERNARDINO - About 20 people from all points of San Bernardino
County met in front of a San Bernardino courthouse Monday to cheer
one of the last vestiges of the counterculture -- marijuana.

They came to show support for medical marijuana activist Scott
Bledsoe, of Crestline, who filed a lawsuit Monday against San
Bernardino County for refusing to issue him a medical marijuana card.

Named in the petition writ as respondent is Jim Lindley, director of
the San Bernardino County Department of Public Health. A petition
writ such as this only seeks enforcement of a law. It does not ask
for financial compensation.

The pull between state law, which allows the sale of prescription
marijuana, and federal law that bans it, has muddled the issue
throughout the state. Locally, Riverside and Orange counties issue
cards, while San Bernardino and San Diego counties do not.

"I'm thrilled. Beyond thrilled," Bledsoe said after filing his
lawsuit with his lawyer, J. David Nick. "My phone rings constantly,
people thanking me and telling me their stories. My heart breaks.
They fear going to jail and in San Bernardino, it's a real possibility."

Nick said the lawsuit has been referred to the Superior Court in
Needles and would be assigned a hearing date within the next week.

San Bernardino County is not issuing medical marijuana cards and
sheriff's deputies are instructed to arrest people who possess
marijuana -- even when the users present marijuana ID cards issued by
other counties, sheriff's spokeswoman Arden Wiltshire said.

In 1996, California voters approved Prop. 215, which allowed
individuals to obtain marijuana for medical purposes when approved by
a physician. The state Legislature in 2003 approved Senate Bill 420,
which provided additional legal guidance to medical marijuana users
and led to dispensaries opening around California.

Marijuana has been used in the course of treatment for anything from
cancer, anorexia, AIDS, chronic pain and glaucoma.

Riverside County

Lanny Swerdlow, a registered nurse and director of the Marijuana
Anti-Prohibition Project in Palm Springs, said he is frustrated with
Riverside County as well.

Although he holds a card issued by Riverside County, Swerdlow said
there is no place to purchase medical marijuana because cities
continue to outlaw stores. In one instance, he said, authorities
raided a collective and took all the plants.

Swerdlow said he has been trying to reach the Riverside County
district attorney's office for two months, but has not received a
response regarding the legal formation of a collective.

Riverside County district attorney's office spokesman John Hall said
his office still refers to a 2006 report it issued that says, "The
Riverside County District Attorney's Office believes that the
cooperatives being considered are illegal and should not be permitted
to exist within the county's borders. They are a clear violation of
federal and state law, they invite more crime, and they compromise
the health and welfare of the citizens of this county."

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MARIJUANA LAWS

1996

California

Compassionate Use Act allows patients and primary caregivers to
cultivate, transport and use marijuana for medical conditions with a
doctor's recommendation.

2003

SB 420 permits medical marijuana use to treat symptoms of AIDS,
anorexia, cancer, chronic pain, glaucoma, migraines, seizures, severe
nausea and other illnesses. The law requires the state to maintain a
voluntary identification card program. Allows possession of no more
than 8 ounces of dried marijuana.

2005

U.S. Supreme Court rules that patients in states with
compassionate-use laws may still face criminal prosecution for
transporting and using marijuana. California Attorney General Bill
Lockyer said the ruling does not overturn California law.

Riverside County begins issuing medical-marijuana identification cards.

2006

San Bernardino County supervisors join San Diego and Merced counties
in suing the state to overturn California's medical marijuana laws.
Supervisors say the state's laws conflict with federal drug
provisions. In December, San Diego Superior Court ruling backs the
state program.

2008

In a 3-0 opinion, judges from the state's 4th District Court of
Appeals in San Diego reject San Bernardino and San Diego's latest bid
to overturn California's Medical Marijuana Program Act. Later in the
year, the California Supreme Court rejects a bid to review the lower
court decision.