O.C. supervisors to vote on plan for regulating medical marijuana

Orange County supervisors are poised to vote today on a plan to regulate medical marijuana use, wading into a controversial -- and emotionally charged -- area of unsettled law.

The proposal, if adopted, would create a system to issue identification cards to patients eligible to use marijuana, as well as validate prescriptions and monitor the qualifications of medical care providers that dispense the drug.

In 1996, California voters passed Proposition 215, which allowed doctors to recommend marijuana to patients to ease pain, nausea and other complications from ailments including cancer and HIV. But the state law conflicts with federal law, which still treats marijuana as a highly addictive controlled substance with no medical value, and the U.S. has resisted states’ efforts to make it more available.

Still, state and county authorities have continued to push forward to regulate its use.

A 2004 state law ordered counties to set parameters under which sick Californians could use the drug.

It is not clear how Orange County’s all-Republican Board of Supervisors will vote on the matter, but the chairman, at least, supports the plan.

“The war on drugs should not be a war on people,” said Chairman Chris Norby, “and certainly not a war on the weakest, sickest people.”

Norby agreed to introduce the measure after nearly two years of lobbying by medical marijuana policy advocates. Aaron Smith, state coordinator for Safe Access Now, said the issue came to a head in recent months, when the county was nearly sued because patients with legitimate marijuana needs fell under criminal scrutiny because the county had not put a plan in place.

The state’s Department of Health Services estimated in 2004 that there were about 16,000 patients in Orange County who would be eligible for the medical marijuana system.

Thirty-two counties have set up the system to regulate medical marijuana; Los Angeles County is expected to launch its version June 1.

San Diego County sued the state, contending it was being wrongly forced to violate federal law. A Superior Court judge upheld the law, but San Diego County is appealing.

christian.berthelsen@latimes.com