Pubdate: Thu, 07 Jun 2007
Source: Sacramento Bee (CA)
Page: B3
Copyright: 2007 The Sacramento Bee
Contact:  http://www.sacbee.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/376
Note: Does not publish letters from outside its circulation area.
Author: Cathy Locke, Bee Staff Writer
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mmj.htm (Marijuana - Medicinal)

MEDICAL POT ID PROGRAM GETS EL DORADO OK

The El Dorado County Board of Supervisors agreed Tuesday to implement 
an identification card program to allow patients who have a 
physician's recommendation to use marijuana for medical purposes to 
easily identify themselves to law enforcement officials.

El Dorado is the 33rd California county to approve the program, said 
Aaron Smith, statewide coordinator for the medical marijuana advocacy 
group Safe Access Now.

The program is required under a state law passed in 2003 to clarify 
Proposition 215, the 1996 initiative approved by California voters 
allowing medical marijuana use.

Implementation had been stalled by lawsuits brought by some counties 
concerned about the conflict with federal law.

Gayle Erbe-Hamlin, county public health director, said the program 
would be available on a voluntary basis to patients and caregivers, 
who would apply annually for the cards. She said the county would 
maintain the minimum amount of information required by the state and 
at the end of each year, the information would be destroyed.

Erbe-Hamlin said she would return with a resolution setting the fee 
for the card.

On top of the $66 the state charges, she recommended a $59 fee to 
cover the county's administrative costs, for a total fee of $125. 
Fifty percent of the cost would be waived for MediCal patients, she said.

Nikos Leverenz, director of Drug Policy Alliance in Sacramento, urged 
the board to approve the program, calling it a "win-win-win 
situation" benefiting the patient, law enforcement, and state and 
local health departments.

The program, he said, would provide health officials with more 
information about the number of patients using medical marijuana and 
the conditions for which they use it.

Undersheriff Fred Kollar said the Sheriff's Department has worked 
with various groups regarding medical marijuana issues.

"We support what's being proposed today," he said. "It should make 
our lives easier."

Board members stressed that their votes to implement the 
identification card program was not an endorsement of medical marijuana use.

"I'm supporting the program only to support the Sheriff's 
Department," Supervisor Rusty Dupray said.

The board agreed to evaluate the program's cost and effectiveness at 
the end of its first year.

In the area, Amador County has implemented the identification card 
program, and Yolo County will begin issuing cards July 13, said Smith 
of Safe Access Now. 
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MAP posted-by: Richard Lake