Pubdate: Thu, 25 Jan 2007
Source: Bay Area Reporter (San Francisco, CA)
Copyright: 2007 The Bay Area Reporter
Contact:  http://www.ebar.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/41
Author: Jaime San Felippo
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mmj.htm (Marijuana - Medicinal)

BIG FEE HIKE SOON FOR MEDICAL POT ID CARDS

The state Department of Health Services has announced that effective 
March 1, participants in California's medical marijuana ID card 
program will see a roughly 1,000 percent fee hike for their ID cards. 
Patients' annual fees to the state for the cards will go from $13 to 
$142, in addition to the $33 paid to the city.

This is such a drastic increase in price that some are worried 
current and potential participants will be discouraged from taking 
part in the program.

According to Dale Gieringer of the California chapter of the National 
Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, the fee increase is 
due to lack of participants in the program, which was launched in 
2005. The extra fees will cover the state's cost of the program.

"Cal NORML is concerned that the rate increase will strongly 
discourage new enrollment," according to Gieringer. "The prospective 
applicant pool will double shortly, when Los Angeles County comes 
online. We hope the fee increase can be delayed so as to encourage an 
influx of new applicants to pay for the program."

Currently only 24 of the state's 58 counties have implemented ID 
programs. San Francisco County holds the most cards issued at 3,241, 
followed by Marin County with 1,121, and Mendocino County with 742. 
In San Francisco, the ID cards are obtained at San Francisco General Hospital.

The Department of Health Services says there are presently only 8,703 
patients registered statewide but estimates the actual patient 
population ranges from 150,000 to 350,000.

The fight to use marijuana for medicinal purposes has been a long and 
drawn out one.

In 1996, California voters approved Proposition 215, or the 
Compassionate Use Act. Proposition 215 reads that its purpose is "to 
ensure that seriously ill Californians have the right to obtain and 
use marijuana for medical purposes where that medical use is deemed 
appropriate and has been recommended by a physician who has 
determined that the persons health would benefit from the use of marijuana."

It also aimes "to ensure that patients and their primary caregivers 
who obtain and use marijuana for medical purposes upon the 
recommendation of a physician are not subject to criminal prosecution 
or sanction."

But even with the law, the process was murky as to who could use the 
medical marijuana and how to get it. In an attempt to clarify the 
Compassionate Use Act, in 2003 the state legislature passed SB420, 
which established the state medical marijuana ID card program.

The federal government, however, does not recognize the laws of 
California and 10 other states, maintaining that marijuana has no 
legitimate medicinal value and that its use is illegal under all 
circumstances. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in June 2005 that the 
federal Controlled Substances Act trumps state medical marijuana 
laws, but did not declare such laws invalid.

California has gone ahead with the ID card program.

San Francisco District 5 Supervisor Ross Mirkarimi said the fee hike 
would have an adverse effect to the ID card program's original goal.

"This fee increase is completely defeating its purpose," said 
Mirkarimi, an advocate for medical marijuana. He said the city is 
looking into returning to the local, and less expensive, ID card system.

Kevin Reed, president and founder of the Green Cross, called the fee 
hike outrageous.

"This has gone far beyond preposterous," said Reed. "Where are the 
patients' rights? How can patients afford to keep fighting bad policy?"

The Green Cross is a unique online dispensary and delivery service. 
The decision to become an online delivery service came after the 
Green Cross outgrew its former location in the residential Fair Oaks 
neighborhood. Reed complied with the conditions imposed by the local 
Medical Cannabis Act and combed the city for a location within the 
narrow "green zones" not within 1,000 feet of a school but was unable 
to find a suitable site and moved his operation online.

Reed says the fee hike will be horrible for patients who are just 
getting by right now.

"Most patients just won't be able to afford it," Reed told the Bay 
Area Reporter.

There will be a patient protest regarding the fee increase on 
February 14 at noon at San Francisco General Hospital. The protest is 
being organized by Axis of Love San Francisco. 
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MAP posted-by: Richard Lake