Internet Explorer 11 is not supported

For optimal browsing, we recommend Chrome, Firefox or Safari browsers.

High And Mighty: Medicinal Marijuana Gets Carded

California is taking its approach to marijuana-as-medicine one step further: Patients will be able to whip out a piece of plastic proving that they're entitled to inhale for medicinal purposes.

California is taking its approach to marijuana-as-medicine one step further: Patients will be able to whip out a piece of plastic proving that they're entitled to inhale for medicinal purposes.

A law that takes effect in January will require counties to set up a voluntary identification card program for qualified patients who may use marijuana for medical purposes. Physicians have recommended that ill people use it to fight AIDS wasting, nausea from chemotherapy and glaucoma.

California voters approved marijuana use for such purposes in 1996, but there were problems that made it difficult for police officers to enforce it the way voters intended. The new law, signed by Governor Gray Davis in October, offers some additional protections and sets limits for possession and use. A qualified patient or primary caregiver may possess no more than eight ounces of dried marijuana and can maintain no more than six mature or 12 immature marijuana plants.

The state Department of Health has to act first to set up the program and has been sorting out how to do that. Although a person who uses marijuana as medicine will not be required to have a card to claim the protections in the new law, it could help someone avoid unnecessary arrest and prosecution.

The cards are good for a year at a time. Then the holder has to update the information and renew the card.

Special Projects