Pubdate: Wed, 14 Feb 2007
Source: San Jose Mercury News (CA)
Copyright: 2007 San Jose Mercury News
Contact:  http://www.mercurynews.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/390
Author: Truong Phuoc Khanh
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mmj.htm (Cannabis - Medicinal)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?232 (Chronic Pain)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/decrim.htm (Decrim/Legalization)

FEES FOR MEDICAL-POT CARDS TO SPIKE

Program Finds Few Takers Statewide

So few people signed up for California's medical marijuana cards that 
the state is now being forced to raise fees tenfold to cover the cost 
of running the program.

The Medical Marijuana ID Card Program was meant to make life easier 
for the thousands who smoke marijuana for medicinal purposes, which 
is legal under California law. The state-issued photo ID cards, which 
are more likely than a doctor's note to be accepted by skeptical law 
enforcement officials, were designed to keep patients from being 
hassled or arrested.

But the program faced several challenges during its roll-out during 
the past year: Only 24 of the state's 58 counties have signed up to 
issue the cards; there is competition from private cannibis clubs 
with their own ID cards; and some folks simply don't want to tell the 
government they're smoking marijuana.

The state has informed counties that March 1, its portion of the fees 
collected will increase from $13 to $142 a card. Medi-Cal patients 
would pay half of that. Each county charges a fee on top of that to 
process applications and verify physicians' prescriptions.

Counties that participate -- including Santa Clara, Alameda and San 
Mateo -- will be meeting in coming weeks to consider the increases. A 
card that costs about $50 or $60 now is estimated to increase to 
about $200. Under one proposal to be considered by the Santa Clara 
County Health and Hospital Committee today, the fee could rise to 
$600 a card a year.

"I think it will kill the program," said Dale Gieringer, the 
California executive director for the National Organization for the 
Reform of Marijuana Laws. "I can't see many patients putting out $200 
a year for those cards."

State health officials had predicted 150,000 cards would be issued 
annually and set fees at $13 a card to cover the costs of the 
program. Medi-Cal patients paid half-price. Eighteen months later, 
however, the state has issued only 9,076 cards, leaving it far short 
of its revenue projections.

By law, the program has to be fully funded by user fees.

"The numbers don't add up," said Michelle Mussuto, spokeswoman with 
the state Department of Health Services. "The original estimates 
weren't what we thought they were going to be. We're trying to remedy 
the situation."

The numbers didn't add up in Santa Clara County, either.

The state had estimated Santa Clara County would have 6,900 patients 
and caregivers signing up for the card; in reality, the county has 
averaged just 24 clients a month since starting its program in March 2006.

San Mateo County, originally estimated to enroll 3,000 patients a 
year, issued 510 cards in 2006. Alameda County has issued 945.

The fee increase is worrisome, said Pam Willow, management analyst 
with the Alameda County Public Health Department. "We're very 
concerned about what happens March 1. It's going to have a very 
negative effect on the program."

Angel Raich of Oakland, who was the first person to sign up for the 
state card when it became available in Alameda County, called the fee 
increase "shameful."

"I see a boycott," said Raich, noting that patients already pay about 
$200 a year for a doctor's consultation to obtain the cannabis 
prescription, which is not covered by health insurance. "If the state 
wants to make the system work, they need to make it affordable."

Voters in 1996 made California the first state to legalize the use of 
medical marijuana with a doctor's recommendation. However, the U.S. 
Supreme Court in 2005 ruled that medical marijuana patients can be 
prosecuted by the federal government, even in California.

Raich, 41, who suffers from a life-threatening wasting syndrome, 
chronic pain and a seizure disorder, uses marijuana on her doctor's 
advice to ease her pain. She is the plaintiff in a landmark medicinal 
marijuana case that probably will reach the U.S. Supreme Court. At 
issue is whether Reich and others have a fundamental right to pain relief.
- ---
MAP posted-by: Beth Wehrman