STATEWIDE MEDICAL POT ID SYSTEM IN PLACE LOCALLY

Mendocino County's new state-approved medical marijuana ID card is now
available.

The Board of Supervisors Tuesday approved fees for the program at $50
for each ID card and $50 for each caregiver ID card with discounts for
MediCal patients.

Mendocino County is one of a handful of state counties chosen to pilot
the new statewide ID card system, which will put the county Health
Department fully in charge and remove the county Sheriff's Department
from the equation.

"I strongly support this statewide ID program so everyone's on the
same page," said Sheriff Tony Craver at the meeting. He stressed that
medical marijuana ID cards, which he pioneered with DA Norm Vroman
several years ago in this county, save lots of money in investigative
time for deputies and detainment time for legitimate medical marijuana
users. He called the benefits "immeasurable."

Craver said one of the problems now is that several counties have
issued their own ID cards, creating a mishmash of systems that police
in other counties have trouble authenticating.

The new statewide system will mean medical marijuana patients can get
a card that will be recognized by all law enforcement in the state.

Health Department Director Carol Mordhorst added that her department
would likely also create an educational handout for medical marijuana
patients, making them aware of concerns about pesticides and other
harmful substances that may exist in marijuana sold on the open market.

"We could do an educational handout with the application," she said,
and "inform people of questions they ought to ask their caregiver."

The Health Department will also keep records of how many people apply
for the card -- which is voluntary -- and whether the fees succeed in
paying the county's costs.

Mordhorst said the county now has about 1,200 cards registered with
the Sheriff's Department and she wasn't sure how many of those people
will switch to the statewide system. She indicated that the cards will
continue to be good in Mendocino County.

Supervisors were unanimously in favor of the new system.

During the pilot project, qualified patients and their caregivers
should apply in person at the Health Department in Ukiah on Tuesdays
and Thursdays from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Following the pilot project, the
state expects to implement these cards statewide beginning in August.