SAN BERNARDINO COUNTY GETS READY FOR MEDICAL MARIJUANA

San Bernardino County could begin providing identification cards to
medical marijuana patients by August, but dispensaries will have to
wait for guidelines before they can set up shop.

The Board of Supervisors approved a plan Tuesday to screen applicants
and issue cards to patients. The program takes effect 30 days after
the formal adoption of the ordinance, set for July 14.

The board also approved a 45-day moratorium on the establishment of
dispensaries -- retail outlets that sell medical marijuana -- to give
county officials time to establish zoning and licensing rules.

The decision comes a little over a month after the U.S. Supreme Court
declined to hear San Bernardino County's legal challenge of the
state's medical marijuana program, which has been upheld by lower
court rulings. For more than three years, San Bernardino and San Diego
counties challenged the law on the grounds that it conflicts with
federal drug laws.

With the legal battle lost, San Bernardino will be one of the state's
last counties to provide cards for patients. Forty-eight other
counties, including Riverside, offer them.

Once the program begins, patients and their caregivers will be able to
contact the county's public health department for appointments.
Patients who have been prescribed marijuana by their physicians will
be entered into a state database and screened before receiving the
card, which identifies the patient as a legitimate user of medical
marijuana, said Jim Lindley, county public health director.

The county plans to charge an annual fee of $166 to non-Medi-Cal
patients and $83 for Medi-Cal patients to cover the costs of running
the program. About 250 to 300 patients are expected to apply for
cards, a staff report to the board said.

With the card program approved, medical marijuana advocates and county
officials have turned their attention toward the dispensary permits.

During the moratorium, county officials will study zoning and permit
rules in use in other jurisdictions, said Julie Rynerson Rock, land
use services director.

By about Aug. 4, they will return to the board with a status report,
she said. An ordinance enacting the rules would then go before the
Planning Commission for approval.

Rynerson Rock said she could not provide a timeline for how long the
process will take and said she expects the moratorium will last longer
than 45 days. But she said they intend to introduce rules "as quickly
as we can.

"We have no intention of dragging it out forever," she
said.

Although any county resident can apply for the card program, the
dispensary ordinance would only apply to unincorporated areas. Cities
are responsible for establishing their own regulations.

County officials said they do not know of any city in the county that
has a dispensary.

Medical marijuana advocates questioned the need for the moratorium and
said they should be allowed to help set up rules for
dispensaries.

"I urge you to have input from the patients in this process," said
Scott Bledsoe, a Crestline resident who sued the county over its
refusal to issue identification cards.

County spokeswoman Lynn Fischer said the state program allows an
alternative to dispensaries. Patients who have been issued cards are
allowed to grow a small amount of marijuana for their own personal
use, she said.

Several Inland cities have banned or enacted moratoriums against
dispensaries, including Beaumont, Perris, Moreno Valley, Colton,
Yucaipa, Highland and Hemet.

In Riverside County, only Palm Springs has zoning to allow medical
marijuana collectives and co-ops.

Last summer, state Attorney General Jerry Brown released guidelines
allowing marijuana collectives and co-ops to exist so long as they
don't operate for profit. The groups must not purchase marijuana from
illegal sources and must have detailed records proving users are
legitimate patients.