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Medical Marijuana News Update
The Coalition
for Medical Marijuana includes:
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California Suspends Medical Marijuana Patient ID Card ProgramThe state of California has suspended its new ID card program for medical marijuana patients. The suspension has no impact on the overall program. The Associated Press reported on July 8, 2005 ( "California Suspends Medical Pot Card Program") that "Citing uncertainty prompted by a recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling, California health officials suspended a program on Friday that had begun providing patients who smoke marijuana for medicinal reasons with state-issued identification cards. State Health Director Sandra Shewry has asked the state Attorney General's office to review the court ruling to determine whether the ID program would put patients and state employees at risk of federal prosecution. 'I am concerned about unintended potential consequences of issuing medical marijuana ID cards that could affect medical marijuana users, their families and staff of the California Department of Health Services,' Shewry said. A spokeswoman for Attorney General Bill Lockyer did not immediately return a call seeking comment." The program's suspension does not change the overall program or local ID card programs. AP noted that "The state health department in May launched a pilot pot card program in three Northern California counties - Amador, Del Norte and Mendocino. One purpose of the cards is to give medical pot users a way to show they have a legitimate reason for possessing pot if they are stopped by law enforcement. So far, cards have been issued to 123 people under the pilot program, which was due to expand statewide by the end of the summer. Following Friday's move, officials in the three counties already issuing the cards were told not to process any more applications. The health department also has postponed processing requests from other counties that wanted to start issuing the cards. Other counties and cities that issue their own cards, such as San Francisco, are unaffected by the state's action." The move by California stands in stark contrast to the decision by Oregon to keep its state-run medical marijuana program in full operation. As the reported in the Salem, OR Statesman-Journal on June 18, 2005 ( "Oregon Again Issuing Cannabis Cards"), "Oregon's state health agency resumed issuing medical-marijuana cards Friday, deciding that the program could continue despite a U.S. Supreme Court ruling allowing federal prosecution for possessing the drug. State Attorney General Hardy Myers said that the ruling did not overturn Oregon's voter-passed program. Still, his written opinion also warned that registration in the state program won't protect patients or caregivers from federal prosecution for drug possession if the federal government chooses to take action against them." For more about this, check out California NORML or Americans for Safe Access. Also, the responsible agency, the California Dept. of Health Services, is located at www.dhs.ca.gov.
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