SB COUNTY TO INSTITUTE ID CARD PROGRAM FOR MEDICAL MARIJUANA PATIENTS

San Bernardino County will implement an identification card program for
medical marijuana patients within 45 days, county spokesman David Wert
said Tuesday.

The Board of Supervisors gave the directive during its closed session
meeting Tuesday that preceded its regularly scheduled public meeting.

Officials from the state Department of Health Services will be in San
Bernardino next week to begin training county staff in the administrative
process, Wert said.

At the county level, patients will fill out applications and provide
public health department personnel with the necessary documentation,
showing they are legitimate medical marijuana patients. That information
will get bumped up to the state, which reviews the applications and issues
the cards accordingly, said Dr. Maxwell Ohikhuare, county health officer.

On May 18, the U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear an appeal from San
Bernardino and San Diego counties, who argued that the federal law
outlawing marijuana possession and use under any circumstance pre-empted
California's law allowing for the possession and use of the drug by
patients given legitimate prescriptions by doctors.

The U.S. Supreme Court's decision ended a three-year legal battle to
thwart the identification card programs in San Bernardino and San Diego
counties.

San Bernardino County took its aggressive stand at the urging of former
Sheriff Gary Penrod, who said his deputies, especially those
cross-deputized as federal law enforcement officers and participating in
narcotics task forces, faced the dilemma of deciding whether or not to
arrest medical marijuana growers, distributors or patients when
encountered, Wert said.

Federal law does not permit marijuana use or possession under any
circumstance.

"The county's only objective was to have a court rule on which law
deputies should follow, because the laws are in direct conflict," Wert
said.

Tuesday's announcement came as welcoming news to medical marijuana advocates.

"We're certainly glad they're finally doing the right thing, but it's sad
it took so long and it had to be slapped down by the courts repeatedly for
them to do it," said Bruce Mirken, spokesman for the Washington D.C.-based
Marijuana Policy Project.

It now leaves only eight counties in the state that do not have
identification card programs for medical marijuana users, Mirken said.

Officials in San Diego County couldn't be reached for comment Tuesday to
discuss its plans.

Lori Green, a parent chair with the Inland Valley Drug Free Coalition,
also couldn't be reached for comment.

Lanny Swerdlow, director of the Inland Empire-based Marijuana Prohibition
Project, said he doesn't understand why the county didn't act sooner, but
he's glad to see the wheels are starting to move.

"It's a good first step. Now we need to license and regulate collectives
so they could legally operate and not cause any problems to the
community," Swerdlow said.

Sheriff's Lt. Rick Ells said the department is already training deputies
on adhering to the state's Compassionate Use Act and putting together a
set of guidelines that will ensure minimal problems at marijuana
collectives and dispensaries.