The Compassionate Coalition

Subject: Please send LTEs to Sacramento Bee
From: "F. Aaron Smith" -safeaccessnow@gmail.com

Dear patients and friends in Sacramento--

It was a pleasure meeting you all at the recent Sac'to ASA meeting. It is encouraging that all of you are so committed to taking action in your county to help fellow patients.

As you may know, the El Dorado County Board of Supervisors unanimously approved the local implementation of the medical marijuana ID program this week. An article on the subject ran in today's Sacramento Bee (see below).

Please write a letter to the editor calling on the Sacramento County Board of Supervisors to also moving forward with the program. It makes
no sense that patients living in Yolo and El Dorado counties will have more legal protections than those living in the capitol.

Letters must be no more than 200 words and should make reference to today's article. To submit a letter, use this link:
http://sacbee.com/326/story/19629.html

Thanks you for your continued support for California's medical marijuana patients. Please stay tuned for more updates for Sacramento County.

Sincerely,
Aaron Smith

P.S. For talking points supporting the medical marijuana ID card program, visit: http://ca.mpp.org/talkingpoints.html

--
Aaron Smith, Statewide Coordinator
Safe Access Now
Ph: (866) 287-6792
Fx: (866) 204-1341
safeaccessnow@gmail.com
www.safeaccessnow.com

http://www.sacbee.com/101/story/209170.html

Medical pot ID program gets El Dorado OK
By Cathy Locke - Bee Staff Writer

Published 12:00 am PDT Thursday, June 7, 2007
Story appeared in METRO section, Page B3

The El Dorado County Board of Supervisors agreed
Tuesday to implement an identification card program to
allow patients who have a physician's recommendation
to use marijuana for medical purposes to easily
identify themselves to law enforcement officials.

El Dorado is the 33rd California county to approve the
program, said Aaron Smith, statewide coordinator for
the medical marijuana advocacy group Safe Access Now.

The program is required under a state law passed in
2003 to clarify Proposition 215, the 1996 initiative
approved by California voters allowing medical
marijuana use.

Implementation had been stalled by lawsuits brought by
some counties concerned about the conflict with
federal law.

Gayle Erbe-Hamlin, county public health director, said
the program would be available on a voluntary basis to
patients and caregivers, who would apply annually for
the cards. She said the county would maintain the
minimum amount of information required by the state
and at the end of each year, the information would be
destroyed.

Erbe-Hamlin said she would return with a resolution
setting the fee for the card.

On top of the $66 the state charges, she recommended a
$59 fee to cover the county's administrative costs,
for a total fee of $125. Fifty percent of the cost
would be waived for MediCal patients, she said.

Nikos Leverenz, director of Drug Policy Alliance in
Sacramento, urged the board to approve the program,
calling it a "win-win-win situation" benefiting the
patient, law enforcement, and state and local health
departments.

The program, he said, would provide health officials
with more information about the number of patients
using medical marijuana and the conditions for which
they use it.

Undersheriff Fred Kollar said the Sheriff's Department
has worked with various groups regarding medical
marijuana issues.

"We support what's being proposed today," he said. "It
should make our lives easier."

Board members stressed that their votes to implement
the identification card program was not an endorsement
of medical marijuana use.

"I'm supporting the program only to support the
Sheriff's Department," Supervisor Rusty Dupray said.

The board agreed to evaluate the program's cost and
effectiveness at the end of its first year.

In the area, Amador County has implemented the
identification card program, and Yolo County will
begin issuing cards July 13, said Smith of Safe Access Now.