San Francisco Cards Allow Marijuana Use
With $25 and a doctor’s note, a sick person can get an official city ID card permitting use of medicinal marijuana, San Francisco’s maverick district attorney proudly announced Friday.
“This represents another stone in the foundation we’re building to make people recognize that cannabis is a legitimate medicinal agent,” Terence Hallinan said. “I’m not really worried we won’t be able to work things out with the federal government.”
The program allows patients to avoid local prosecution if they are caught possessing the drug. It’s modeled on programs in Mendocino County and the city of Arcata, which also directly challenge federal law against marijuana.
Californians legalized medical marijuana by approving Proposition 215 in 1996, but the measure has been entangled in legal disputes ever since.
Health department officials said their ID card program would not have been possible without the influence of Hallinan, who calls himself “America’s most progressive district attorney.”
The ID program announced Friday doesn’t address how those in need will obtain the drug; it merely shields them from arrest by certifying that cardholders have a medical reason to use it.
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