STATE WILL ISSUE ID CARDS TO MEDICAL MARIJUANA USERS THIS SUMMER

SANTA ROSA - California will begin issuing identification cards to medical
marijuana users in 10 counties this summer, part of a pilot program
designed to protect certified users from arrest and marijuana seizures.

The voluntary ID card program, developed by the state Department of Health
Services, will be expanded statewide by year's end, said Norma Arceo, a
spokeswoman for the department.

Law enforcement officials hailed the move, saying it will simplify a
confusing patchwork of local policies and make it easier to distinguish
between legal marijuana users and criminals.

"I think it's good news for everybody," said Mendocino County Sheriff Tony
Craver, who helped start the first county medical marijuana program in
California in 1999.

The state ID cards, required under a 2003 law, have been on hold because
the Legislature hadn't authorized funding to launch the program, Arceo
said. Legislators approved $983,000 last year to implement the law,
sponsored by former state Sen. John Vasconcellos.

Some counties already have local programs to identify medical marijuana
users, and volunteered to participate in the pilot program, which is
expected to be on line in late July, Arceo said.

The pilot program participants are Sonoma, Mendocino, Marin, Del Norte,
Trinity, Shasta, Amador, Santa Cruz, Sacramento and Yuba counties.

The cards will make it easier for law enforcement officers to know whether
people they find with marijuana possess it legally, Sonoma County Sheriff
Bill Cogbill said. If they do, officers can simply walk away rather than
investigate the case.

"I'm all for it," he said.

Medical marijuana activists also were pleased.

"It's a good step in the right direction," said Dane Wilkins, director of
the North Coast office of the National Organization for the Reform of
Marijuana Laws, which pushed for implementation of the law.

Some counties, including Mendocino, initiated local ID card programs to
allow authorized medical users to possess marijuana without fear of arrest
while the state worked out the kinks in Proposition 215, the 1996
initiative that legalized marijuana for medical purposes.

But local identification cards often weren't recognized by other cities and
counties, Craver said.

The CHP, which is being sued for allegedly arresting medical marijuana
patients who have doctors' prescriptions, also largely ignored the
identification cards, he said.

Although the new identification program is expected to halt the CHP's
policy of seizing marijuana they find in vehicles, it won't affect federal
law enforcement agencies. Federal law treats all marijuana as illegal.

To implement the program, the state Department of Health Services will
begin verifying physician recommendations for marijuana, which will be
collected and processed by county health departments.

All card holders will be listed on a secure Web site, which can be accessed
24 hours a day only by law enforcement, Arceo said.

Applicants will pay an as yet undetermined fee to obtain the cards. The
fees, which will be collected by counties, will cover local and state costs
of maintaining the program, Mendocino County Public Health Director Carol
Mordhorst said.

However, many of the details are being worked out, Mordhorst said. She
doesn't know what exactly her department's role will be or its costs or fees.

"There clearly is work that has to be done," Mordhorst said.