POT ID CARDS ABUSED

Doctors are traveling around California and selling medical marijuana
ID cards without examining patients, according to a new report by the
county's top lawyers submitted to the Kern County Board of
Supervisors for its review.

The eight-page report, which also lists options for the supervisors
to take on handling medical marijuana dispensaries, detailed the
practices of some doctors abusing state law.

State law allows seriously ill people to get medical marijuana if
they have a doctor's recommendation.

"Doctors travel up and down the state renting motel rooms" to sell
the medical recommendations, says the report from County Counsel
Bernard Barmann and his deputy John Irby.

Since doctors are not punished for recommending a patient for
marijuana, they have abused the "system," the report alleges.

This is a "statewide" issue, Barmann said Thursday night.

Currently, Kern County further regulates medical marijuana
dispensaries by requiring them to have a license.

In December 2006, the sheriff's office gave out six licenses.

Then Sheriff Donny Youngblood said July 17 he would no longer issue
any licenses after the Drug Enforcement Agency raided several local
dispensaries and federal indictments were handed down.

Every medical marijuana dispensary in the county has since shut down.

Right now, the county has an ordinance that calls for the sheriff to
issue dispensary licenses. The thinking behind it, according to the
county lawyers' report, was that would allow deputies to more easily
oversee and access the dispensaries to prevent "nuisance-related
activity," especially if one were near a school. However, state law
does not require the county to regulate medical marijuana.

The report, researched by county lawyers at supervisors' request,
lists options supervisors can take to abide by the state law. The
board will consider the report at the 9 a.m. portion of Tuesday's meeting.

"These are not recommendations," Barmann said. "We're trying to give
the board a picture of what is going on."

Among the options:

* County supervisors could repeal the current ordinance and just let
state law govern dispensaries.

* The county could wait and see how a case involving San Diego County
turns out.

* The county can't legally ban dispensaries, because state law allows
organized distribution of medical marijuana.

* The supervisors could pick a county official other then the sheriff
to issue dispensary licenses.

* The board could legally create a new ordinance allowing "small
cooperative-type dispensaries" and closely regulate them.