COUNTY COULD BEGIN ISSUING MEDICAL MARIJUANA ID CARDS

Supervisors Also Will Consider Banning Dispensaries

San Diego County could begin accepting applications for medical
marijuana ID cards by July 6 if the Board of Supervisors next week
approves a plan to charge up to $166 for each card.

The county fought the state's medical marijuana law for years until
the case hit a legal dead end last month, when the U.S. Supreme Court
declined to hear an appeal from San Diego and San Bernardino counties.

If the plan is approved at Tuesday's meeting, the county will
beginning the process of implementing the state law.

Also at the meeting, the board will consider prohibiting medical
marijuana dispensaries from opening in the unincorporated areas of
the county, according to agenda documents released late on Friday.

Medical marijuana patient and activist Rudy Reyes said the proposed
price for the medical marijuana ID cards is too high. Reyes, of
Santee, uses marijuana to alleviate the pain of third-degree burns
suffered during the 2003 Cedar wildfire.

"Now, they are trying to make a penny off people they've tried to
hurt for years," Reyes said.

Dr. Wilma Wooten, the county's public health officer, said the county
is simply trying to cover the cost to run the program.

The state requires a $66 fee and the county needs $100 to cover staff
time and other administrative costs, she said. San Diego County's
$166 fee would be $13 higher than neighboring Riverside and Los
Angeles counties, which charge $153 for the cards.

The county's Health and Human Services Agency calculates that it will
cost about $120,700 a year to process about 100 applications a month,
Wooten said.

Under state law, counties are responsible for collecting and
maintaining records, such as medical proof that patients were
prescribed marijuana by their doctors. They must also transmit the
information to the state.

There are about 31,000 medical marijuana patients in California,
according to state data.

Low-income patients who are on Medi-Cal would get a 50 percent
discount on the cards, or $83. Wooten said the ID cards would be
valid for one year. When they expire, the cards would have to be
renewed, including fees.

The Compassionate Use Act, which legalized marijuana for medical use
in 1996, did not require counties to issue ID cards, but the state
Legislature did by passing Senate Bill 420 in 2003.

San Diego County's challenge to overturn the Compassionate Use Act
began in November 2005 with a split vote by supervisors to defy SB 420.

The ID card law was intended to help police officers identify
legitimate medical marijuana patients.

California law allows for the prescription and possession of medical
marijuana in amounts less than 8 ounces.

Reyes said the county should have created a committee, including
medical marijuana advocates, to guide the Board of Supervisor's
policies on the matter. Reyes said he would have preferred that a
private, nonprofit organization handle the applications.

State law allows counties to designate nongovernment groups to
process the applications, said Ralph Montano, a spokesman for the
California Department of Public Health. He said he was unaware of how
many counties did so.

Wooten said the county looked at "all options," and will administer
the program in-house because it was the most efficient and
cost-effective. Wooten added that she knew of only one county,
Alameda, that did not process the applications itself.

If the program is approved, the county will publish a Web site with
information about how to apply for the cards on Friday. Applications
will only be accepted in person at the county's Health Services
Complex, 3851 Rosecrans St., San Diego, beginning on July 6, Wooten said.

The county's Web site is: www.sdcounty.ca.gov.