HEY, MAN, GOT ANY ID?

Why The Legislature Shouldn't Extend The City's Medical Marijuana
Identification System Statewide

Imagine a health care system in a republic we'll call Doobieland, where
public health is overseen by frightened, distracted bureaucrats who don't
really believe in the medicine they're supposed to administer, and are
fearful that administering it will send them to prison. They'd rather do
anything than deal with this situation, so that is exactly what they do. As
the bureaucrats go about ignoring, or otherwise distancing themselves from,
the task of running a health care program they feel uncomfortable with, that
program careens, unsupervised, out of control. Before long, phones go
unanswered, medical files lie strewn where they oughtn't be.

"Medical records were spread everywhere, where everyone could see them,
including AIDS information, where people could see the documents," says Hank
Schulz, who until five weeks ago was a clerk in the Doobieland medical
world, otherwise known as the San Francisco Department of Public Health,
where he helped provide medical marijuana users with identification cards
designed to protect them from arrest. Then Schulz was fired, he says,
because he complained about problems in the pot-ID program, which was
overseen by senior managers.

The California Legislature is now considering whether to expand such an ID
program statewide. Schulz is, to put it mildly, skeptical. "That's why I
laugh when they say they're taking the program statewide," Schulz says.
"Because here, it's a joke."

San Francisco's pot-ID program exists in the trippy new world of Proposition
215, a ballot measure, passed six years ago, that requires the state to
implement the legalization of medical uses of marijuana in defiance of
federal anti-drug laws. Prop. 215, of course, didn't provide any real
guidance on addressing the minor problem of federal law, which prohibits
almost all uses of marijuana. Last Monday, the California Senate took a stab
at addressing the conflict, passing a bill modeled on San Francisco's
marijuana-ID program, instituted three years ago to provide law enforcement
officers with an efficient way to sort medical pot-holders from people who
possess bud for mere personal gratification. The bill is set to go to the
state Assembly. But perhaps it shouldn't.

Problems with the San Francisco pot-ID program, as detailed by Schulz,
suggest that other cities and counties may also run into difficulties when
they issue medical marijuana identification cards. The cards are based on
letters from doctors who say their patients have a legitimate use for
medical marijuana. But in San Francisco, Schulz says, a handful of
prescription-mill doctors have issued thousands of recommendations that
people get medical marijuana ID cards -- at a fee of $250 per
recommendation. As these questionable recommendations rolled in, Schulz
says, senior Health Department officials appeared to distance themselves
from the pot-ID program, apparently fearful of legal ramifications.

"The DPH was paranoid about it the whole time. The two direct supervisors
who were supposed to be in charge of this program never talked to me, ever.
They never responded to our phone calls. We helped six other counties set up
programs. I found out later [DPH officials] were angry I had done all this,"
Schulz says, adding that his nominal supervisor, Josh Bamberger, seemed
anything but interested. "He never talked to me about it. It's indicative of
the department's attitude. It's such a low priority. Their attitude seems to
be, "We kind of want to do this, but we don't want to do it.'"

Bamberger, medical director for the department's division of housing and
urban health, says that the marijuana-ID program is humming along quite
well, and that he knows nothing of Schulz's complaints. "I can't be
responsible if a particular employee has made certain claims," he says,
contending that the department has complied with federal laws guaranteeing
medical privacy.

San Francisco Assemblyman Mark Leno, who sponsored the city ordinance
enabling the pot-ID program, says he doesn't believe alleged difficulties in
San Francisco will hamper the prospect of a statewide ID program. "All I can
say is, the program we designed is not that complex, and it can be easily
implemented. If there are problems in implementation, I don't think it has
to do with the program. I think the program is fairly straightforward and
implementable," Leno says.

The program may sound simple, on its face.

But through the haze, some questions loom: Which communities in California
have health departments staffed by medical professionals who are unafraid of
DEA agents? Which county or city has a health department staffed by doctors
who believe marijuana represents an important area of medical practice?


Pubdate: Wed, 11 Jun 2003
Source: SF Weekly (CA)
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Copyright: 2003 New Times Inc
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