Pubdate: Sat, 15 Jul 2000 Source: Associated Press Copyright: 2000 Associated Press Source: Orange County Register (CA) Copyright: 2000 The Orange County Register Contact: P.O. Box 11626, Santa Ana, CA 92711 Fax: (714) 565-3657 Website: http://www.ocregister.com/ Author: Jessie Seyfer - The Associated Press IDS ISSUED FOR MEDICAL MARIJUANA USERS HEALTH: San Francisco Gives Cards To Patients Who Have A Doctor's Note, $25. SAN FRANCISCO - With $25 and a doctor's note, sick people can get an official city ID card entitling them to use 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 caught possessing the drug. It's modeled on programs in Mendocino County and Arcata that also pose a direct challenge to federal law. 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." "When Proposition 215 passed, many prosecutors said they wouldn't enforce it," department of public health director Dr. Mitch Katz said. "But things are different in San Francisco." As a prosecutor, Hallinan has refused to carry out the War on Drugs, choosing instead to send minor drug offenders to diversion programs. Hallinan's stance on pot is shared, however, by a growing number of law enforcement officials elsewhere in Northern California, where attitudes toward marijuana have a decidedly mellow tone. 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. Doctors sign a form agreeing to monitor the patient's medical condition. The cards are good for up to two years. Teen-agers can get them with parental approval. U.S. District Judge Charles R. Breyer of San Francisco said he would rule Monday in the complex case, which deals with the conflict between California's medical marijuana initiative and federal drug regulations. The White House's drug-control agency has said more scientific evidence is needed. They received some Thursday at the International AIDS Conference. Researchers from the University of California, San Francisco, found pot use did not interfere with the action of protease inhibitors, the anti-viral drugs that keep HIV in check. Voters have approved initiatives legalizing medicinal marijuana use in California, Alaska, Arizona, Hawaii, Maine, Nevada, Oregon and Washington state. The San Francisco program has been in operation for a week. - --- MAP posted-by: Doc-Hawk