The Compassionate Coalition

Dear Stanislaus County medical marijuana supporter-

On Thursday, the Modesto Bee ran an article on
Tuolumne County's approval of the medical marijuana ID
card program (see below).

Within the next 60 days, Merced and Tuolumne Counties
will have the card program in place.

Now it's time for Stanislaus County patients and
advocates to send letters to the editor, urging the
county to approve the program. Our medical marijuana
laws need to be applied uniformly, throughout the
state.

The Stanislaus County Public Health Department has
already developed the program, however in October
2006, the board voted to delay implementation until
after the lawsuit in San Diego is resolved. Since
then, the San Diego County Superior Court ruled that
the ID card program did not violate federal law and
the requirement that counties offer the card stands.
San Diego County is appealing the ruling in a futile
attempt to continue their attack on patients.

With significant public pressure, Stanislaus County
could finally move to implement the program.

Please send your letter to the editor to
letters@modbee.com or by clicking here.

Letters must be 200 word or less and should reference
the recent article about Tuolumne County. Please feel
free to use any of the talking points posted at the
bottom of this message to help you with your letter.

Thank you for taking action to protect central valley
patients.

Aaron Smith
Safe Access Now

Modesto Bee, March 15 2007
Medical marijuana cards OK'd

By JOHN HOLLAND
BEE STAFF WRITER

SONORA — Medical marijuana users in Tuolumne County
soon can get identification cards under a plan
narrowly approved Tuesday by the Board of Supervisors.

The board voted 3-2 to carry out a 2003 state law
requiring counties to offer the cards. They will be
available to people whose physicians recommend
marijuana under Proposition 215, passed by California
voters in 1996.

Patients could show the cards to police officers to
prove they are entitled to possess small amounts of
marijuana.

"What this does is ensure that patients will not be
arrested," said Aaron Smith, state coordinator for
Safe Access Now, a Santa Rosa-based group that
supports medical marijuana.

Supervisors Liz Bass, Paolo Maffei and Teri Murrison
voted in favor of issuing the cards. Dick Pland and
Mark Thornton dissented.

With Tuesday's vote, 31 of the state's 58 counties
have adopted plans for issuing the cards, Smith said.

Merced County did so in December, soon after it and
two Southern California counties lost a court
challenge to the 2003 law. Stanislaus and San Joaquin
counties have not acted.

Supporters of medical marijuana say it can help
relieve the pain of cancer, AIDS and several other
ailments. But some officials have been leery of
issuing the cards because federal law bars all uses of
the drug.

Thornton said Tuesday that he opposes the cards, in
part because they could be an invasion of patients'
privacy and, in part, because he is not convinced of
marijuana's medical value. If it does contain
beneficial sub-stances, he said, they can be extracted
rather than smoked.

The Tuolumne County Public Health Department plans to
start issuing the cards May 1, said Dr. Todd Stolp,
county health officer.

The cards will be good for one year at a time. The
$126 fee will be halved for low-income patients who
are on Medi-Cal or in the County Medical Service
Program.

The card system could ease growing marijuana mainly
for personal use, as many California cities have moved
to block dispensaries that sell the drug.

For more information on Tuolumne County's ID card
plan, call 533-7400.

[b]TALKING POINTS SUPPORTING THE MED. MARIJUANA ID
PROGRAM*:[/b]

Feel free to use some of the following "talking
points" in your letter*:

- Now that neighboring Merced and Tuolumne Counties
are both implementing the statewide medical marijuana
ID card program, it's time for Stanislaus County to
follow suit. It makes no sense that patients in
neighboring counties will be afforded more rights,
under state law, than patients living in here in
Stanislaus.

- The ID card protects patients and caregivers from
being falsely arrested and frees up valuable public
safety resources

- 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.

- Counties have 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.

- Voter support for safe and legal access to medical
marijuana has only grown stronger since the passage of
the Compassionate Use Act in 1996. Today, 3-out-of-4
Californians support implementation of our medical
marijuana laws.

*It is also a good idea to open your letter with a
brief narrative describing the reasons you use medical
cannabis, if you are comfortable doing so.

--
F. Aaron Smith
Safe Access Now
phone: (707) 575-9870
fax: (866) 204-1341
e-mail: safeaccessnow@gmail.com