VOTES MAKE POT ID CARDS FREE IN BUTTE

OROVILLE - Medical marijuana ID cards will be free in Butte County, and the
process could cost the county thousands of dollars.

Tuesday the Board of Supervisors turned down a request by the county
Department of Public Health to establish a $56 fee for people applying for
the pot cards.

However, turning down the fee request didn't mean the cards wouldn't be
issued. It means the county - and by reference the taxpayers - will be
picking up the bill.

Under a state law that became effective in 2004, the county is mandated to
accept and process applications from people seeking a state-issued medical
marijuana identification card.

Prior to Tuesday's meeting, Phyllis Murdock, director of the Department of
Public Health, told the Enterprise-Record the ID applicant would bring in
the required physician's "recommendation" for medical marijuana, and the
county would certify the document was legitimate. The information would
then be forwarded to the state, which would also certify the recommendation.

If the document is certified, the county is required to issue the card.

"We don't expect an inordinate number of cards out on the street. We expect
100 to 120 (applications a year)," Murdock told the board.

The department estimated the processing of 100 applications would cost the
county $4,383. On top of that, a $13 fee has to go to the state. That made
the expected total expense $5,683 a year, according to figures produced by
the Health Department.

Murdock said the $56 fee was designed to just cover the expense.

Representatives for the District Attorney's Office and the Sheriff's Office
told the supervisors they supported the cards.

Chief deputy district attorney Poncho Zarate and sheriff's Capt. Jerry
Smith said the cards will save officers time.

They explained that standardized tamper-proof identification cards will
allow law enforcement officers to rapidly determine if someone in
possession of marijuana has it legitimately.

However, the lone voice to speak negatively about the proposal objected to
the cost.

Tom Horchler, who described himself as a medical marijuana user and "100
percent disabled veteran" from Cherokee, claimed the card fee will strike
at the poor and disabled.

"This fee, I've got to point out to you, is going to pull more than $20 a
month out of disabled veterans who by our own government's definition are
low-income people. It will cost us $21 a month just to qualify to now find
our medicine," he said.

While the proposed county fee was to be $56 a year, the state law requires
a medical marijuana user to get a new recommendation each year as well.

"I have to come back every year to my doctor and pay him $200 a year to
prove that I haven't had a miracle in my life and been cured, as do all
other disabled veterans.

"Before you go jacking the price up on this, think about that, what it is
costing the people that really, really need the medicine," he said.

The fee for the marijuana cards was part of a larger package of Health
Department fee increases for a whole range of services.

Chico Supervisor Jane Dolan made a motion asking the board to approve the
entire package of fees, including the marijuana ID cards. However, that
motion died for lack of a second.

Apparently feeling the motion failed because of the marijuana card item,
Paul McIntosh, the county's administrative officer, pointed out the lack of
a fee would not block the cards.

"We are going to be issuing cards. That's the state law. This is simply the
ability to recoup our costs of doing that, complying with the law," said
McIntosh.

Murdock tried to underscore that point. "The Public Health Department will
be absorbing the costs of issuing the cards."

Beyond the county's actual costs, without a fee, the $13 required by the
state would also come from the county coffers.

Oroville Supervisor Bill Connelly offered a motion approving all of the fee
increases, with the exclusion of the marijuana ID card item.

On a 3-2 vote, his proposal was approved. Connelly was joined by Dolan and
Supervisor Mary Anne Houx, also of Chico, in support of the action.

Supervisor Curt Josiassen, who represents the southwest part of the county,
and board Chairman Kim Yamaguchi of Paradise voted against the measure.

BACKGROUND: State law requires that the county accept, review and approve
or reject applications for medical marijuana identification cards.

WHAT'S NEW: Tuesday the Board of Supervisors rejected a proposed $56 fee to
cover the cost of the process.

THE RESULT: Regardless of the vote, the county is required to issue the
cards. Without the fee, Butte County will have to eat the expense.