Pubdate: Mon, 07 Nov 2005
Source: Chico Enterprise-Record (CA)
Copyright: 2005 The Media News Group
Contact:  http://www.chicoer.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/861
Note: Does not print letters from outside circulation area
Author: Roger H. Aylworth, Staff Writer
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?115 (Cannabis - California)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mmj.htm (Cannabis - Medicinal)

SUPERVISORS GET PLAN TO ISSUE POT ID CARDS

OROVILLE - In response to a 2004 state law, it looks like Butte 
County is about to get into the business of issuing medical marijuana 
identification cards.

Tuesday, the Board of Supervisors will conduct a public hearing on a 
wide range of fee "adjustments" sought for services provided by the 
county Department of Public Health.

Among the fee adjustments is a request that public health be allowed 
to start taking applications for the pot ID cards.

The proposal says applicants for the cards will be charged $56 to apply.

"Senate Bill 420 (effective Jan. 1, 2004) requires county public 
health departments to implement a process for accepting, approving or 
denying applications, and issuing state-produced medical marijuana 
identification cards," according to a Health Department document.

The same document predicts the county will get 100 applications a year.

Phyllis Murdock, director of the county Health Department, explained 
an applicant will bring in a physician's recommendation to get the ID card.

The county and the state will verify the authenticity of the 
physician's document.

"If we can't verify it, we will turn it down," said Murdock, but she 
went on to say the process is mandated for the county. "This is a 
state of California program, and we are implementing the California 
rules," she said.

The fee, according to the director, reflects what the county 
anticipates will be the actual cost of doing the work, and includes a 
$13 state fee in the total. The cards are good for one year and at 
the end of that time the individual must apply again.

Assuming the supervisors approve the package of health fee 
adjustments, one group will be getting a break on the pot ID card fees.

"Medi-Cal beneficiaries shall receive a 50 percent reduction in the 
application fee upon verification of Medi-Cal eligibility," says the 
paperwork that goes to the supervisors.

Murdock said the reduced fee is also a state mandate.

"The state has encouraged reduced fees for this program. It is just 
the direction we are getting from the state," she explained.

Also included in the package are new fees related to school food services.

Semi-annual inspections for "box lunches or prepackaged foods" will 
cost $131 for each school in a district where uch meals are prepared. 
In so-called "limited preparation" operations, the inspection fee is 
$284, and in "full preparation or central kitchen" facilities, the 
inspect will cost $324.

"The reason that we are implementing the regulations at the time we 
are now, is the schools themselves have received a new set of 
guidelines that they must comply with if they participate in the 
national school lunch program," said Murdock.

She said the schools will be required to have two inspections a year.

"We are charging them a flat fee and that covers both inspections for 
us," she said.

Other fees that will go up if the package is approved cover such 
things as TB tests that go from $10 to $22. Polio and other 
immunizations will go from $10 to $14.

Murdock explained her department doesn't have a routine schedule for 
reviewing fees, and the fees are not meant to generate revenue for 
the department.

"We are in a cost-recovery mode," and in recent years, "We haven't 
been recovering our costs as we need to."

When cost reviews happen, they usually come up in response to 
"significant adjustments" because of new mandates or sharply higher expenses.

This round of fee hikes and new fees was prompted because the county 
was mandated to set up a process for the marijuana ID cards, and that 
provided an opportunity to recalculate a collection of fees.

"This is a prime example of when we try to get things in line," she said.

Working on the expectation the supervisors will approve the fees, 
Murdock said the county would start accepting applications for the ID 
cards 30 days after the vote, and would expect to begin issuing the 
cards 30 days after that.

The supervisors will meet at 9 a.m. Tuesday in the Administration 
Building on County Center Drive in Oroville. 
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MAP posted-by: Richard Lake