FRESNO, Calif. — The Fresno County Board of Supervisors will conduct a public hearing on the local implementation of the statewide Medical Marijuana Identification Card Program, 9 a.m., July 8, in the County Board Chambers in the Hall of Records at 2281 Tulare St.
Although 40 California counties have implemented the program – including Merced, Tulare, Inyo and San Benito as well as Los Angeles, Orange and Kern – Fresno has yet to act.
Aaron Smith, California organizer for the Marijuana Policy Project, noted that the program – mandated by a state law that went into effect in 2004 – benefits law enforcement by removing the burden of verifying patient documentation from officers on the street. The ID card provides a means for local peace officers to easily identify bona fide medical marijuana patients during enforcement stops.
“We are merely calling on the Board of Supervisors to follow existing state law so that suffering patients like Diana do not have to live in fear of false arrest at the expense of local taxpayers,” Smith said. “It is the duty of the county’s leaders to protect their most vulnerable citizens and to make the jobs of local law enforcement easier by providing them with all the tools available. This program is a major step in the right direction.”
To help educate the community about this and other medical marijuana issues facing Fresno, MPP will host a free screening of the award-winning medical marijuana documentary “Waiting to Inhale,” followed by a panel discussion, July 7, at 7 p.m. at the Unitarian Universalist Church at 2672 E. Alluvial Ave., in Clovis.
I’m coming at you from Oregon, where our medical marijuana law requires an ID card for all patients, caregivers (I’m one), and growers. California has mandated that all counties offer an ID card program, but participation in the program is optional.
I guess I don’t understand why Californians would not want a mandatory, statewide ID card system. I hear the complaint, “I don’t want to be on some government list!” Well, do you have a Social Security Number? Then you’re already on a government list!
I can’t tell you how much of a relief it was the first time my caregiver card meant something to me. I was transporting two fairly-bushy four-foot plants to one of our cardholder meetings. They were covered with thin white plastic garbage bags, but with the light streaming through you could make out the silhouette of some fine Oregon cannabis.
I looked into my rearview and there was one of Portland’s finest tailing me. I got that initial adrenaline rush all us stoners get when there is suddenly a cop driving behind you, especially when you’re carrying ounces of ganja. Then I remembered, “Hey, I’ve got a caregiver card. If he pulls be over, I just show him my license, registration, insurance, and caregiver card and I’m driving away scot-free!” The panic subsided. The cop never pulled me over. But that feeling of relief definitely trumps any sort of paranoid thought I ever had about being on some “gub’mint list”.
Topics:
California,
caregiver,
Fresno,
ID Card,
Oregon,
Waiting to Inhale
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