SAN FRANCISCO: Medical Marijuana ID Card Plan Awaits Mayor’s Signature

      The San Francisco Board of Supervisors Monday "put its stamp of approval" on a plan to issue identification cards to medical marijuana users, the AP/San Diego Union-Tribune reports. As they did last Monday, the board voted yesterday 10-1 in favor of adopting a city ordinance designed to allow qualified residents to receive "high grade pot from several San Francisco dispensaries and dispel their fear of being arrested for possession of drugs." Deputy City Attorney Marc Slavin, whose office helped draft the measure, said, "What the card does is to certify that the holder fits the requirements of the California medical marijuana statute." Slavin added, "It's a card that will not contain a name or photo for confidentiality purpose. It will only display a unique serial number." Mayor Willie Brown (D) has 10 days to sign the ordinance. If approved, the measure would be only the third such program enacted in the state since the 1996 passage of Proposition 215, a statute that allows for possession, cultivation and use of marijuana for medicinal purposes. San Francisco's identification program will not be funded by the city, leaving it up to health officials and sponsors of the plan to determine a reasonable user fee that could finance its administration (Harris, 2/1).