IDS FOR USERS OF MARIJUANA WILL BE OFFERED

Contra Costa health officials will soon offer an identification card to
medical marijuana users to help local law enforcement distinguish them from
people illegally carrying the drug.

The Health Services Department "is working on the very early stages of
developing this policy," said Francie Wise, director of the county's
communicable disease program. "We're going to be talking with all the
people involved to make sure that when we issue a card, everyone
understands what it is for and what it means."

County officials have not worked out specifics or notified most local law
enforcement agencies, but do expect to begin issuing cards within a few
months. The program would be similar to those operated by San Francisco and
Oakland, Wise said, and would be used only to identify the carrier's legal
rights to police.

Wise said she did not know how many county residents would use the program.
The Contra Costa Sheriff's Office, meanwhile, is reviewing its arrest and
seizure policies.

"As we speak, we are reviewing our policies and procedures regarding
medical marijuana in response to concerns expressed by the county health
department as well as the district attorney's office," said sheriff's
spokesman Jimmy Lee. "Our goal is to make a policy that is in accordance
with state law."

That neatly echoes a policy shift broadcast to Highway Patrol field offices
across the state last week from Sacramento. Officers will now accept local
identification cards and many other forms of proof that someone uses
marijuana legally -- a departure from a more narrow policy that cannabis
activists claim violated state law.

"The CHP's reluctance to follow state law was more than just superficial,
it was unlawful," said Kris Hermes of Oakland-based Americans for Safe
Access. "They had a policy of seizing marijuana that was enforced
regardless of whether the patient supplied proper documentation."

The group sued the CHP this year, claiming the agency was the state's most
egregious violator of medical marijuana law based on the number of
traffic-stop arrests of cannabis patients. The suit remains unresolved but
the group heartily approves of the policy change.

The CHP previously accepted cannabis cards from the state Department of
Health Services, said Lt. Joe Whiteford, though that agency's relatively
new program has only issued a few hundred cards. By contrast, San Francisco
has issued more than 8,000.

Questions from officers about how to enforce state law and this summer's
U.S. Supreme Court ruling that federal drug prohibitions still applied in
states with medical marijuana laws prompted the Highway Patrol
administration to change the policy, Whiteford said.

"We ask our officers to use sound professional judgment. We will ask for
information to validate" information on an identification card, doctor's
note or other forms of proof, Whiteford said.

Highway Patrol officers still have the legal right to search cars of
medical marijuana patients who acknowledge they are carrying the drug,
Whiteford said, to verify they are carrying legal quantities.

The CHP will impound an amount larger than 8 ounces regardless of whether
the owner carries a cannabis card, and it will wait for a court order to
return seized medical marijuana.

Officers will also arrest anyone suspected of driving under the influence
or with paraphernalia that appears to be recently used.

Few Contra Costa police agencies have such a succinct medical marijuana
policy. The Contra Costa District Attorney's office has seen a drop in
police seeking criminal charges against cannabis patients, said District
Attorney Robert Kochly.

"Nobody is trying to keep marijuana from people who need it, at least in
amounts that are appropriate," Kochly said. "What the Highway Patrol is
announcing is not inconsistent with what we would advise our local
jurisdictions to do."