Urge Sacramento County to protect medical marijuana patients

Dear medical marijuana supporter:

I am contacting you today because Sacramento County's lawmakers need to hear from you in order to move to protect local medical marijuana patients. Over a year ago, the county's department of public health developed plans to implement the state medical marijuana ID card program. The Board of Supervisors, however, has not yet conducted a hearing on the issue, thereby stalling implementation of the program.

Please take a few minutes today to contact your county supervisor and ask that they order the department of public health to implement the medical marijuana ID card program.

Call (916) 874-5411, tell the operator where you live, and ask to be directed to your county supervisor. Feel free to use the talking points listed at the end of this message in order to help guide you through your call.

For more information about the Board of Supervisors, visit http://www.bos.saccounty.net.

Participation in the ID card program would be entirely voluntary for qualified medical marijuana patients and caregivers, but the county is legally obligated to make the program available. Once implemented, the program will serve to protect cardholders from unnecessary detainment, arrest, or seizure of property by state and local law enforcement.

On another topic, a bill has been introduced that would prevent dispensaries from having to pay a staggering amount of sales taxes on medical marijuana that was sold years ago. The back taxes would almost certainly raise the cost of medical marijuana. Please e-mail karen@mpp.org if you are a patient or collective member who might be interested in testifying in support of SB 529, which is sponsored by Sen. Carole Migden. The hearing is Monday, July 2 at 1:30 p.m..

Thank you for taking action to protect Sacramento County's patients. For more information on the ID card program or other opportunities in Sacramento, please feel free contact Aaron Smith at fa_smith@yahoo.com or (707) 575-9870 anytime.

Sincerely,

Aaron Smith
Safe Access Now

• Most California counties (including neighboring Yolo, El Dorado, and Amador) have already approved local implementation of the ID card program. In order to provide for uniform application of the law, Sacramento County should follow its neighbors and begin program implementation without further delay.

• The ID card program will greatly assist law enforcement in distinguishing patients with legitimate medical marijuana recommendations from those who are using false or counterfeit documentation. The county-administered ID program clarifies the current patchwork of patient documentation and frees our law enforcement and judicial system to focus on genuine criminal activity.

• The ID card protects patients and caregivers from lengthy detainment, arrest, seizure of property, or unnecessary court proceedings. While patients are not required to participate in the ID card program, many choose to because they cannot afford the personal risk of wrongful prosecution that those without ID cards face.

• The county has a legal responsibility to implement the program, as a requirement of Senate Bill 420, passed into law in 2003 and upheld by a San Diego Superior Court ruling in December 2006.

• The county will not incur any additional costs by implementing the ID card program because the county is allowed to set its own fees to recoup the start-up and operating costs.

• Voters' support of safe and legal access to medical marijuana has only grown stronger since the passage of the Compassionate Use Act (Prop. 215) in 1996. According to an independent field poll conducted in 2006, three out of four Californians support implementation of the state's medical marijuana laws.