09/09/2007 00:00:00
US: County issuing pot ID cards
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Compliance with mandate from passage of Prop. 215
The Monterey County Health Department quietly began taking applications
for state-issued medical marijuana identification cards last week.
"We're doing this without fanfare," said Len Foster, county director of
health. "It's not something that, from the public health perspective, we
want to promote but are required to do it by state law."
The identification cards are actually issued by the state Department of
Health under a 2003 law drafted to clarify voter-approved Proposition
215. The card identifies patients who have received a doctor's
recommendation to use pot to ease their ailments, but it does not
protect them from federal prosecution.
"Some patients are confused," said Aaron Smith, statewide coordinator
for Safe Access Now, an organization that pushes for legislation to help
patients get access to medicinal marijuana. "They say 'What's the point
to pay $116 per card?' It's a voluntary program. Patients are covered
under Proposition 215 whether they have a card, but that keeps them from
having to go to jail in the first place."
In Monterey County, one person has applied to get the identification
card, Foster said, and Safe Access Now estimates there could be about
1,000 patients locally who need access to cannabis for medical reasons.
Of those, only about 200 are likely to apply.
"Enrollment in the program is slow," Smith said. "I wouldn't be
surprised if nobody in the community knows about it in Monterey County."
Although the will of the voters favored letting the very ill use
marijuana, there are still few avenues for them to purchase it safely.
According to research by Salinas administrators, only 24 cities and
seven counties allow the dispensaries. Thirty-nine cities and two
counties ban them outright, and 80 cities and six counties have
moratoria in place.
Salinas has a one-year moratorium on medical marijuana dispensaries, but
last month failed to get the necessary votes to make the ban permanent.
City officials are expected to take another vote — when all council
members are present — in the next few weeks. The ban is likely to be
approved.
Although California's law doesn't shield medical marijuana users from
federal prosecution, Smith said that 99 percent of the pot arrests are
made by state and local law enforcement officials.
"Unfortunately, until federal laws change, the seriously ill are being
put at risk," Smith said.
In the last few weeks, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency has raided 13
pot dispensaries in San Mateo and Los Angeles. A lawsuit against the
federal government on behalf of a women's cooperative in Santa Cruz is
making its way to the U.S. Supreme Court.
Claudia Meléndez Salinas can be reached at 753-6755 or
cmelendez@montereyherald.com
http://www.montereyherald.com/local/ci_6859593
Source:
http://www.ukcia.org/news/shownewsarticle.php?articleid=12828
Author:
Monterey County Herald via UKCIA
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