San diego to add ID program!

San Diego County has received 260 applications for medical marijuana ID
cards since it launched the program in July, according to county health
officials.

Nearly half the applications were from people ages 31-50, according to
data provided by the county. A quarter of the applicants lived in North
County, most of them in Carlsbad.

All of the applicants paid $166 for the card, which identifies them as
legitimate medical marijuana patients entitled to carry up to 8 ounces
of pot.

The county implemented the program this past summer after it lost a long
legal struggle challenging the state law that required counties to
provide the ID cards. The law does not require medical marijuana
patients to have a card.

While acknowledging the program has only been in place for six months,
medical marijuana advocates say the 260 applicants do not come close to
the number of people they believe are legally allowed to use the drug.
They say patients may be reluctant to apply for the card, fearing the
information on the applications will be used by authorities.

"The problem here in San Diego County is that nobody trusts (the
county)," said Rudy Reyes, a medical marijuana patient and activist.

The county says those fears are unfounded. The information on the
applications is protected under federal privacy laws. And the county's
top prosecutor said people should use the card because it quickly
identifies them as legitimate users of the drug.

In recent years, law enforcement agencies in the county have repeatedly
cracked down on medical marijuana dispensaries, including a Sept. 9
sweep that shut down 14 of the shops, two of them in North County.

The number of cards issued in San Diego County in the program's first
six months appears to be on par with the number issued by neighboring
counties in their first year, according to state figures.

For example, Riverside County issued 265 medical marijuana cards its
first year, Los Angeles County issued 401 cards and Orange County issued
114 cards. But advocates cite other places, such as Oakland in Alameda
County, which issued 1,475 cards in its first year.

Unfounded fears?

There are potentially thousands of eligible patients in San Diego County
based on discussions with doctors who recommend pot as medicine, said
Eugene Davidovich, a medical marijuana advocate with the group Americans
for Safe Access.

"People are afraid," Davidovich said.

County officials said legitimate patients have nothing to fear.

The county does not provide personal information from the applications
to anyone, including law enforcement, because it is protected by federal
privacy laws, said Adrienne Yancey, assistant deputy director at the
county's Health and Human Services Agency.

"We do not," Yancey said. "If we were subpoenaed, I can't say what would
happen then ... (but) we have not been subpoenaed."

District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis said her office has not asked for the
information. She said people should use the ID cards because they help
law enforcement identify legitimate patients.

"No one should feel intimidated," Dumanis said. "The county program is
totally separate from us."

Of the 260 applications the county received this year through November,
255 were approved. Five were rejected because the county could not get
the doctor to confirm the recommendation, Yancey said.

Other statistical information provided to the North County Times by the
county includes patients' age range and city of residency. The newspaper
also asked for, but did not receive, information on the types of
illnesses reported by patients and information about their medical
providers.

That information was not provided due to privacy rules, county officials
said.

More data

Most of the people who requested a medical marijuana ID are between the
ages of 31 and 50, a total of 114 patients, according to the data. Of
the 260 applicants, only 14 were between the ages of 18 and 21.

Nearly half of the applicants, 120 people, said they lived in San Diego.
Sixty applicants said they lived in North County cities, according to
the data. Carlsbad had the highest number of applicants in North County,
14, followed by Vista with 11 and Oceanside with 10, according to the
county's data.

Patients' distrust coupled with the $166 price tag for the card may have
discouraged people from applying, said James Stacy, a Vista resident who
operated one of the medical marijuana dispensaries raided by authorities
in September.

The state requires a $66 fee and the county charges $100 to cover staff
time and other administrative costs. San Diego County's $166 fee is $13
higher than neighboring Riverside and Los Angeles counties, which charge
$153 for the cards.

"Why would I pay $166 to be harassed and be put on a potential arrest
list?" Stacy asked.

Stacy faces federal charges of selling marijuana to an undercover
officer who posed as a patient at Movement in Action. He has said he did
nothing wrong and operated his dispensary according to state guidelines.

In 1996, voters in the state approved the Compassionate Use Act, which
legalized marijuana for medical use. The Legislature later passed Senate
Bill 420 in 2003, which required counties to participate in the state's
medical marijuana ID program.

The county fought the state's medical marijuana law until the case hit a
legal dead end earlier this year, when the U.S. Supreme Court declined
to hear an appeal from San Diego and San Bernardino counties.

'Additional protection'

After losing that case, the Board of Supervisors agreed to implement the
medical marijuana ID card program.

Officials estimated that they would receive about 100 applications a
month based on other counties' experience.

Yancey said the county processed about 100 applications the first month,
but the number quickly dropped off in following months.

Since the state began the program in 2004, more than 37,000 medical
marijuana ID cards have been issued. The county with the largest number
of cards is San Francisco, with more than 13,000, according to the
state's Department of Public Health.

Riverside County has 2,180 ID cards and Orange County has 622, according
to state figures.

Davidovich said the county could do more to publicize the card and calm
people's fears about privacy protection. Davidovich said he has a card
and encourages others to get it because it offers an "additional layer
of protection" for legitimate patients.

"We go out of our way to tell people to sign up for the program,"
Davidovich said.

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Call staff writer Edward Sifuentes at 760-740-3511.

San Diego County medical marijuana ID program

Patients by age

Ages 18-21: 14

Ages 22-30: 47

Ages 31-50: 114

Ages 50-over: 85

Total: 260

Applications by city

Carlsbad: 14

Chula Vista: 9

Del Mar: 5

El Cajon: 18

Encinitas: 3

Escondido: 7

Imperial Beach: 3

La Mesa: 12

Lemon Grove: 2

National City: 3

Oceanside: 10

Poway: 1

San Diego: 120

San Marcos: 7

Santee: 6

Solana Beach: 2

Vista: 11

Unincorporated: 27

Total: 260

Source: San Diego County Health and Human Service Agency

Cards issued by county

San Diego: 255

Riverside: 2,180

Orange : 622

Los Angeles: 1,579

Imperial: 15

San Bernardino: 200

Source: California Department of Public Health