The San Bernardino County Board of Supervisors will meet in closed session Tuesday for the second week in a row to discuss the county's plan of action in the issuance of identification cards to medical marijuana patients.
The U.S. Supreme Court on May 18 declined to hear an appeal from San Bernardino and San Diego counties arguing they shouldn't have to comply with California's medical marijuana law. They argued in their joint lawsuit that the federal law pre-empts the state law.
Now, the county must comply and start issuing identification cards to legitimate medical marijuana patients. The cards will enable patients to avert arrest or have their "medicine" seized if they are caught by police in possession of the drug.
The rank and file at the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department are already undergoing training and conducting research on how other counties have implemented such programs and which have been the most effective, Lt. Rick Ells said.
"It's all being put together right now," said Ells. He said establishing a set of guidelines that will ensure minimal problems with patients and at any dispensaries is key.
He said a dispensary in Yucca Valley has created problems where kids approach patients asking them if they could buy pot.
Dispensaries also have a tendency to get burglarized or robbed because of the "medicine" in which they distribute and the high volume of cash that rolls in, Ells said.
"We want to make sure they don't bring any problems into the communities where they're located," Ells said.
Lori Green, a member of the Inland Valley Drug Free Coalition and a Yucca Valley resident, has been pushing to close her town's dispensary, California Alternative Medical Solutions, which neighbors her three daughters' ballet studio.
She doesn't take issue with the intended purpose of the state law, but believes it needs to be better regulated and cater to the most seriously ill patients, such as cancer and AIDS patients.
"If you sit in proximity and you watch the people who are coming and going (from the dispensary), you can clearly see they are not the terminally ill," Green said. "The mainstreaming of it and making it so normalized is a real concern to me, having children."
She believes whatever program the county puts into place will sap funding from other health and human services programs, including drug rehabilitation and juvenile justice.
Ells said it will take a couple of weeks for deputies and narcotics officers to be trained and educated on the limits of the Compassionate Use Act, what the identification cards look like and what the boundaries are.
Fifth District Supervisor Josie Gonzales has been the most vocal on the issue. She's not opposed to the medicinal use of marijuana, but wants to proceed with caution and ensure that proper guidelines are set.
Lanny Swerdlow, director of the Marijuana Anti-Prohibition Project, said he was disappointed that the board took no action at last week's meeting, and is even more frustrated at the fact that both San Bernardino and San Diego counties fought the issue all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court.
"We're going to wait and see what happens," he said.
News Hawk- Ganjarden 420 MAGAZINE ® - Medical Marijuana Publication & Social Networking
Source: Inland Daily Bulletin
Author: Joe Nelson
Contact: Inland Daily Bulletin
Copyright: 2009 Los Angeles Newspaper group
Website: San Bernardino County Supervisors To Again Discuss Guidelines For Medical Marijuana ID Cards
The U.S. Supreme Court on May 18 declined to hear an appeal from San Bernardino and San Diego counties arguing they shouldn't have to comply with California's medical marijuana law. They argued in their joint lawsuit that the federal law pre-empts the state law.
Now, the county must comply and start issuing identification cards to legitimate medical marijuana patients. The cards will enable patients to avert arrest or have their "medicine" seized if they are caught by police in possession of the drug.
The rank and file at the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department are already undergoing training and conducting research on how other counties have implemented such programs and which have been the most effective, Lt. Rick Ells said.
"It's all being put together right now," said Ells. He said establishing a set of guidelines that will ensure minimal problems with patients and at any dispensaries is key.
He said a dispensary in Yucca Valley has created problems where kids approach patients asking them if they could buy pot.
Dispensaries also have a tendency to get burglarized or robbed because of the "medicine" in which they distribute and the high volume of cash that rolls in, Ells said.
"We want to make sure they don't bring any problems into the communities where they're located," Ells said.
Lori Green, a member of the Inland Valley Drug Free Coalition and a Yucca Valley resident, has been pushing to close her town's dispensary, California Alternative Medical Solutions, which neighbors her three daughters' ballet studio.
She doesn't take issue with the intended purpose of the state law, but believes it needs to be better regulated and cater to the most seriously ill patients, such as cancer and AIDS patients.
"If you sit in proximity and you watch the people who are coming and going (from the dispensary), you can clearly see they are not the terminally ill," Green said. "The mainstreaming of it and making it so normalized is a real concern to me, having children."
She believes whatever program the county puts into place will sap funding from other health and human services programs, including drug rehabilitation and juvenile justice.
Ells said it will take a couple of weeks for deputies and narcotics officers to be trained and educated on the limits of the Compassionate Use Act, what the identification cards look like and what the boundaries are.
Fifth District Supervisor Josie Gonzales has been the most vocal on the issue. She's not opposed to the medicinal use of marijuana, but wants to proceed with caution and ensure that proper guidelines are set.
Lanny Swerdlow, director of the Marijuana Anti-Prohibition Project, said he was disappointed that the board took no action at last week's meeting, and is even more frustrated at the fact that both San Bernardino and San Diego counties fought the issue all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court.
"We're going to wait and see what happens," he said.
News Hawk- Ganjarden 420 MAGAZINE ® - Medical Marijuana Publication & Social Networking
Source: Inland Daily Bulletin
Author: Joe Nelson
Contact: Inland Daily Bulletin
Copyright: 2009 Los Angeles Newspaper group
Website: San Bernardino County Supervisors To Again Discuss Guidelines For Medical Marijuana ID Cards
