cannabisnews.com: California Stops Issuing Drug ID Cards










  California Stops Issuing Drug ID Cards

Posted by CN Staff on July 08, 2005 at 21:17:42 PT
By Dean E. Murphy 
Source: New York Times 

San Francisco -- Concerned that state workers might be charged with abetting federal crimes, California health officials announced Friday that they would no longer issue identification cards to medical marijuana patients.Sandra Shewry, the state health director, said the decision came in response to a United States Supreme Court ruling last month. In a 6-to-3 vote, the court upheld the power of the federal authorities to prosecute the possession and use of marijuana for medical purposes, even in states like California that allow such use under state law.
"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," Ms. Shewry said in a statement.The cards were intended to make it easier for patients to obtain medical marijuana after getting a doctor's recommendation, but they are voluntary under the state's medical marijuana law. Some cities, including San Francisco, Oakland and Santa Cruz, provide cards of their own, but the state program, created by legislation in 2003, was meant to replace them. The city programs are not affected by Friday's announcement.The state identification card program, which was launched on a pilot basis in May, includes three rural counties in Northern California, where 123 cards have been issued. The program had been scheduled to expand statewide in August. The Drug Policy Alliance, a group that supports the use of medical marijuana, estimates there are 100,000 people in California who use the drug for medicinal purposes.Ms. Shewry said the program could be reinstated on the advice of the state attorney general, Bill Lockyer, who has been asked to issue a legal opinion on the matter. A spokeswoman for Mr. Lockyer, Teresa Schilling, said lawyers could issue the opinion as early as next week.The state's largest identification card program for medical marijuana patients is run by the county health department in San Francisco, which issues about 4,000 cards a year. A spokeswoman, Eileen Shields, said the program would continue.Matt Dorsey, a spokesman for the San Francisco city attorney's office, said, "It's our opinion that our program does not violate federal law."Source: New York Times (NY)Author: Dean E. MurphyPublished: July 9, 2005Copyright: 2005 The New York Times Company Contact: letters nytimes.com Website: http://www.nytimes.com/ Related Article & Web Site:Drug Policy Alliancehttp://www.drugpolicy.org/California Suspends Medical Pot Card Program http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread20938.shtmlCannabisNews Medical Marijuana Archiveshttp://cannabisnews.com/news/list/medical.shtml 

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Comment #9 posted by FoM on July 09, 2005 at 18:05:55 PT
Just a Comment
As the hurricane gets closer to shore I just want to wish everyone the best. It looks like it is increasing in strength and that's not good. Good luck to all those who are in it's path. 
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Comment #8 posted by FoM on July 09, 2005 at 09:34:25 PT
afterburner
I don't know if you can get this but it is from your concert and with Neil Young.I bought Broken Arrow and Are You Passionate and I have a new favorite song called Music Arcade.http://forum.neilyoungfanclub.nl/cpg/displayimage.php?pos=-731
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Comment #7 posted by afterburner on July 09, 2005 at 09:27:55 PT
Prayer of Healing of Grief and Peace-Making
"Woy-a, Natty Congo:
A Dreadlock Congo I!
Woy-a, Natty Congo:
A Blackman Redemption! Woy-yo, yo-oo-wo-oo!
A Blackman Redemption! Woy-yo, wo-oo-wo-oo!"No need - no need to get jumpy;
No need and-a no need to get bumpy,
And-a no need - and-a no need to get bumpy;
No nee-nee-nee-nee-nee-nee-nee-need to get jumpy!"Youth and youth agree to:
Cool runnings; can you dig it?
Cool runnings; yeah, one more time! A-beg ya:
Cool runnings; can you stop it?
Cool runnings:
Spread out, spread out,
Spread out, spread out."
-- Blackman redemption Lyrics
Artist(Band):Bob Marley more... http://tinyurl.com/cffyy
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Comment #6 posted by ekim on July 09, 2005 at 07:54:55 PT

Mayan com # 3 on South Dakota making people pay
Mayan I guess the S.D. people will soon have to spend their own money to spray Cannabis Hemp as the State \ has run out of spray money spending it on enforcement and jails. One can see that other States that are allowing the growing of Hemp will be the winners for jobs and saving the family farms. 
Here in MI a sorry lawmaker is calling for all Hemp Candy to be banned from MI.Representing farming interests at the event was North Dakota Agriculture Commissioner Roger Johnson. "Industrial hemp is used in a tremendous variety of products, including food products, soap, cosmetics, fertilizer, textiles, paper, paints and plastics," Johnson said. "Once the crop is legalized in this country, I believe science will find even more uses for industrial hemp, uses that will make industrial hemp a popular and profitable crop." North Dakota State Rep. David Monson, (R-Osnabrock), a farmer who successfully sponsored several bills in the North Dakota Legislature regulating the production and research of industrial hemp said, "Industrial hemp production is on hold in North Dakota and the entire U.S., due to roadblocks in Washington D.C.," Monson said. "We have had tremendous bipartisan support for legislation we’ve introduced in North Dakota." U.S. companies that manufacture or sell products made with hemp include Dr. Bronner’s Magic Soaps, the number-one-selling natural soap, Interface, the world’s largest manufacturer of commercial carpet and carpet tiles, FlexForm Technologies, an Indiana company whose natural fiber materials are found in 1.5 million cars, Alterna, a professional hair care company whose hemp products are beloved by Julia Roberts, California based Nutiva Hemp Foods and adidas USA which has been selling hemp sneakers since 1995. Although hemp grows wild across the US, a vestige of centuries of hemp farming, the hemp for these products must be imported. There is widespread support among national organizations for a change in the federal government’s position on hemp. The National Association of State Departments of Agriculture "supports revisions to the federal rules and regulations authorizing commercial production of industrial hemp." The National Grange "supports research, production, processing and marketing of industrial hemp as a viable agricultural activity." 
http://votehemp.com 
http://www.votehemp.com
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Comment #5 posted by FoM on July 09, 2005 at 07:48:08 PT

mayan
I also hope everyone will be ok too. I'm watching the weather channel and it seems it will not hit heavily populated areas but more near Alabama or western Florida. We've lived thru a couple horrible hurricanes when we lived back east. We don't get hurricanes here. We have too many mountains and they protect us from Tornadoes and Hurricanes. I helped rescue people and animals from a storm back around in 72 but I can't remember which hurricane it was. It was bad. It lifted oil up out of a place they allowed it to be kept near the Schuylkill river and covered houses, trees etc. with oil all they way from near Reading, Pa to Philadelphia with a oil slick up at least 10 feet. A horse got loose from a farm and it got covered with oil. It was a palamino ( blond ) and she was black when we found her. It was horrible. 
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Comment #4 posted by mayan on July 09, 2005 at 06:58:12 PT

Dennis
If anyone wants to view the hurricane...National Hurricane Center - Latest Satellite Imagery:
http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/satellite.shtmlHope everyone makes it through!
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Comment #3 posted by mayan on July 09, 2005 at 06:17:49 PT

unrelated...
The plant that can heal the earth and it's peoples must be eradicated...County wants marijuana placed on state weed and pest list:
http://tinyurl.com/d4oboBetter ban prescription drugs...Study Cites Drug Abuse 'Epidemic' Among Teens:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/07/07/AR2005070701180_pf.htmlJust like 9/11...What's Behind the London Attacks?
http://www.thesimon.com/magazine/articles/canon_fodder/0889_what_behind_london_attacks.htmlLondon Calling:
http://www.faulkingtruth.com/Articles/Commentary/1039.htmlTerrorism expert says at least one person tipped off to London attacks:
http://www.wtvq.com/servlet/Satellite?c=MGArticle&cid=1031783713979&pagename=WTVQ/MGArticle/TVQ_BasicArticleSee No Evil: Spinning Netanyahu's London Terror Tip-off: 
http://www.antiwar.com/blog/index.php?id=P2205
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Comment #2 posted by WolfgangWylde on July 09, 2005 at 04:24:36 PT

A State ID card...
...isn't required to receive medical marijuana now, nor should it be. Putting your name on a list likely to be turned over to the Feds is just plain stupid anyway.
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Comment #1 posted by FoM on July 08, 2005 at 21:20:46 PT

Related Article from The Washington Post
California to Stop Issuing ID Cards for Medical Marijuana UseReutersSaturday, July 9, 2005; Page A02SAN FRANCISCO, July 8 -- California officials said Friday they will stop issuing identification cards to state residents who smoke marijuana to treat medical conditions, after last month's U.S. Supreme Court decision that said Congress may bar the cultivation and use of marijuana.Because the court affirmed that possessing marijuana is a federal crime, the health department is concerned its medical marijuana ID card program "potentially aids and abets individuals in committing a federal crime," and that staff could face prosecution, state Health Director Sandra Shewry said in a statement. 
Shewry said she had asked California Attorney General Bill Lockyer to review whether the program violated federal law.Copyright: 2005 The Washington Post Companyhttp://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/07/08/AR2005070801713.html
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