FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE   
DECEMBER 16, 2008

CONTACT: Aaron Smith, MPP California policy director, 707-291-0076

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — The Sacramento County Board of Supervisors decided today to adopt a medical marijuana identification card system, 4 to 1, making it the 48th county to adopt plans to comply with a requirement of a 2003 state law.

    By giving patients the option of obtaining cards identifying them as qualified medical marijuana patients, law enforcement officers will be able to quickly discern whether they are operating within the law, sparing taxpayers the burden of costly, time-consuming false arrests, advocates said.

    The only counties larger than Sacramento that have yet to obey the law requiring a medical marijuana I.D. card program are San Diego and San Bernardino. Those two counties have challenged the program in court three times, all of which have failed. The San Diego County Board of Supervisors has announced its intention to make a final appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court.

    Meanwhile, Ventura County became the last in Southern California – other than San Diego and San Bernardino – to implement a medical marijuana I.D. card program Monday.

    "The decision today signals the beginning of a new an era for California's medical marijuana law,” said Aaron Smith, California policy director for the Marijuana Policy Project. "It should now be crystal clear to all state and local officials that it's their duty to carry out state law and the will of the voters – regardless of their personal opinion on this issue."

    Patients hailed the Sacramento board's vote as a boon for medical marijuana patients and law enforcement alike.

    "By choosing to offer medical marijuana I.D. cards, the supervisors aren't just demonstrating their respect for the law and the will of the voters," said Candice Works, a Sacramento medical marijuana patient and former substance abuse counselor with Kienböck's disease, a rare and painful bone condition. "They're also showing they care about protecting patients from false arrest and saving our police from wasting time investigating law abiding patients. It's in everybody's interest to ensure our medical marijuana program functions as smoothly as possible, and that's what the I.D. card program does."

    With more than 26,000 members and 100,000 e-mail subscribers nationwide, the Marijuana Policy Project is the largest marijuana policy reform organization in the United States. MPP believes that the best way to minimize the harm associated with marijuana is to regulate marijuana in a manner similar to alcohol. For more information, please visit www.MarijuanaPolicy.org.