[cannakid]

hot off of yesterdays press


Sacramento-Concerned that the state could be aiding a federal crim, the department oh Health Services on friday suspended a fledged program that issues identification card to medical marijuana users.
The cards are suposed to to help users avoid arrest after their doctors have prescribed marijuana for pain relief, wich is legal under California's Compassionat Use Act
But the U.S. Supream Court ruled last month that federal athorities can ignore state medical marijuana statutes and enforce federal drug laws against people who use marijuana to ease pain.
The state has issued only 123 indentifaction cards in Amador, Mendicino, and DEl Norte counties since begining the program in may. the statestarted issuing the cards becaus legislators in 2003 approved SB420, requiring the state to set up a medical marijuana identification registry system.
Ken August, a spokesman for the Department of Health Services, said the suspension of the identification card program does not affect madical marijuana users' ability to get a prescription for the drug from their physicians that is legal under state law.
Rather, he said, the department is conserned that issuing the cards could caus legal problems for state staff members and for holders of the cards. Director of Health Services Sandra Shewry has asked Atturny General Bill Lockyer for an option on the matter.
August sayed the court desision could embolden federal agents to go after card carriers.
"We're also concerned that whatever information is gathered from card holders could potentially be used by federal agents to identify medical marijuana users for prosecution" August said
Buth Nathan Sands, charmen of the board of the Compassionate Coalition, a nonprofit medical marijuana patents' rights group, declared the suspension as politically motivated.
"The atturney general has already put out several press releases saying the state law is not affected" Sands said "We're confident he (Lockyer) will come out in favor of the patients, but it is strange that the governor, in adition to attacking tachers and nurses, is not attacking medical marijuana patents"
California is one of 10 states with protections for medical marijuana use.
In the gonzales v. Raich decision last month, the U.S. supream Court ruled against two callifornia women who sought the right to grow their own marijuana for pain relief. The decision affermed that congress can prohibit local cultivation and use of the drug, and that federal authoritiess can prosecute medical users even in states that allow medical marijuana.
Teresa Schilling, a smokeswoman for Lockyer, said the atturney general is reviewing the Department of Health services' request.
Lockyer last month sent a memo to local law-enforcement agancies state wide saying that the court decision does not require California peace officers to start enforcing federal drug laws, she said.

what does this mean for the average MM patent in cali? well only time can tell... one things for sure though their gunns keep blazed whethor or not the feds butt in on state rights im just gunna sit back and watch this legal extravagnsa unfold

[Dr. D]

this thread has already been put up!!

[Babbabud]

yea this has a little diff interview info but we really should include the link on how to contact your reps to make sure they do the right thing ... so here is a link to hillbillies thread
https://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=13665

be sure to send a letter

CALIFORNIA
State resumes ID card program for medical pot
Despite top court ruling, Lockyer concludes such certification doesn't violate federal law
Sabin Russell, Chronicle Medical Writer

Tuesday, July 19, 2005

State health officials Monday reinstated a program to issue identity cards to patients who have been prescribed medical marijuana, after receiving advice from the state attorney general that they could do so without violating federal law.

The quick decision to restart the program comes after Attorney General Bill Lockyer's office also warned that failure to implement the program mandated by a state law would violate the state Constitution.

The nascent program was put on hold July 8 after having issued only 123 ID cards, which were meant to help qualified patients prove to law enforcement personnel that marijuana found in their possession was for medical purposes.

State Health Director Sandra Shewry said at the time that the program was being suspended, pending a review by Lockyer, in the wake of the June 6 U.S. Supreme Court decision that permitted federal prosecution of marijuana users even in states such as California that allow its use for medical purposes.

On Friday, Lockyer deputy Jonathan Renner sent the Department of Health Services a letter advising it to suspend its suspension and issue the ID cards.

"We believe the federal government cannot enforce federal criminal laws against state officials who merely implement valid state law,'' Renner wrote in an eight-page letter to Shewry's legal office.

Among the legal arguments weighing against federal prosecution of the state for its ID card program was a 3-year-old decision by the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco, holding that doctors could not be prosecuted for recommending medical marijuana.

The letter also advised that failure to implement the law out of concern that it might violate federal statutes would go against the California Constitution.

"A unilateral decision not to comply with state law, on the grounds that it may be prohibited by federal criminal law, without first receiving the guidance of an appellate court, is barred by the California Constitution,'' Renner wrote.

Shewry had also raised a concern that the information gathered by the state from medical marijuana card applicants might be subpoenaed by federal prosecutors and used against those patients. Here, Renner concluded that there was such a risk -- and he agreed with a state suggestion that applicants be notified that the information on their forms might be used against them, should the federal government decide to go after them.

Department of Health Services spokesman Ken August said the program will restart immediately in three counties -- Amador, Del Norte and Mendocino -- that were part of a pilot project and that applicants will be advised of the federal risk. Plans call for the program to be rolled out statewide next month.

Federal authorities have repeatedly said they do not intend to prosecute individual medical marijuana users, and August indicated there has been no demand for the state to supply information from the ID card program. "Not so far,'' he said.

Valerie Corral, executive director of Wo/Men's Alliance for Medical Marijuana, praised the decision to restart the program. "It is extremely important that the state support the efforts of our task force that worked for three years to set up these regulations,'' she said.

WAMM, as the Santa Cruz organization is called, had threatened with the American Civil Liberties Union to challenge the suspension of the program in court. "Political pressure always helps,'' she said.

Advocates for medical marijuana say as many as 100,000 Californians use pot to treat their illnesses.

The program is modeled after similar ID card systems set up in many California counties, including San Francisco. Although the state ID card offers no legal advantage over a county one, Corral said her organization is urging patients to get the state card to show strength in numbers.

"As a political statement, it is most important,'' she said.