The Compassionate Coalition

Urge Yuba County supervisors to stand up for medical marijuana patients

Dear medical marijuana supporter,

Next Tuesday, December 4, the Yuba County Board of Supervisors will be conducting a hearing and voting on whether or not to move forward with local implementation of California's medical marijuana ID card program.

Once the voluntary program is made available, local patients will have the opportunity to obtain the ID cards through the county's health department. The program provides further protection from detainment, arrest, or the seizure of property for those who choose to become
cardholders.

If you live in Yuba County, please take a few minutes today to contact the Board of Supervisors to express your support for this important program.

Please e-mail or call the Board of Supervisors, tell them you are a voter in Yuba County, and politely urge them to direct staff to begin accepting applications for the ID cards. Feel free to use the talking points posted at the bottom of this message in your correspondence.

Board phone: (530) 749-7510
Board e-mail: bcomments@co.yuba.ca.us

The hearing will take place on Tuesday, December 4 at 6:00 p.m. in Marysville. Please attend this important meeting to express your support for California's medical marijuana ID program and patients' rights in Yuba County.

Yuba County Board of Supervisors
Tuesday, December 4 -- 6:00 p.m.
915 8th Street Suite 109, Marysville, CA 95901
Map: http://snipurl.com/yuba
(This is a professional meeting, please dress and act accordingly.)

Thank you for taking action to protect Yuba County's medical marijuana patients.

For more information, contact Aaron Smith at safeaccessnow@gmail.com.

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Talking Points:

• The ID card program will greatly assist law enforcement because itoffers a quick and easy way for officers to identify patients who arequalified to use medical marijuana under state law.

• The majority of California's counties have already implemented theprogram, including El Dorado and Yolo counties. There is no reason forSacramento to enforce state law any differently than its neighborsdo.

• The ID card protects patients and caregivers from lengthydetainment, arrest, seizure of property, or unnecessary courtproceedings. While cases involving legal medical marijuana patientsare ultimately dismissed, this causes an undue burden on our judicialsystem and most importantly, the seriously ill.

• The county will not incur any financial loss by implementing the IDcard program because the county is allowed to set its own fees torecoup the start-up and operating costs.

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

• Voters' support of safe and legal access to medical marijuana hasonly grown stronger since the passage of the Compassionate Use Act.Three out of four Californians now support implementation of thestate's medical marijuana laws — including 63% of Republicans.