Sacramento County Action Alert

Dear medical marijuana supporter-

I am contacting you today because Sacramento County's lawmakers need
to hear from you in order to move to protect local medical marijuana
patients. Over a year ago, the county's Department of Public Health
developed plans to implement the state medical marijuana ID card
program. The Board of Supervisors, however, has not yet conducted a
hearing on the issue, thereby stalling implementation of the program.

If you live in Sacramento County, please take a few minutes today to
contact your county supervisor and ask that they order the Department
of Public Health to implement the medical marijuana ID card program.

Call (916) 874-5411, tell the operator where you live and ask to be
directed to your county supervisor. Feel free to use the talking
points listed at the end of this message to help guide you
through your call.

For more information about the Board of Supervisors, visit:
http://www.bos.saccounty.net/

Participation in the ID card program would be entirely voluntary for
qualified medical marijuana patients and caregivers but the county is
legally obligated to make the program available. Once implemented, the
program will serve to protect cardholders from unnecessary detainment,
arrest or seizure of property by state and local law enforcement.

Thank you for taking action to protect Sacramento County's patients.
For more information on the ID card program or other opportunities in
Sacramento, please feel free contact me anytime.

Sincerely,

Aaron Smith
Safe Access Now

Talking points supporting the medical marijuana program in Sacramento County:

- Most California counties (including neighboring Yolo and El Dorado)
have already approved local implementation of the ID card program. In
order to provide for uniform application of the law, Sacramento County
should follow its neighbors and begin program implementation without
further delay.

- The ID card program will greatly assist law-enforcement in
distinguishing patients with legitimate medical marijuana
recommendations from those who are using false or counterfeit
documentation. The county-administered ID program clarifies the
current patchwork of patient documentation and frees our law
enforcement and judicial system to focus on genuine criminal activity.

- The ID card protects patients and caregivers from lengthy
detainment, arrest, seizure of property or unnecessary court
proceedings. While patients are not required to participate in the ID
card program, many choose to because they cannot afford the personal
risk of wrongful prosecution that those without ID cards face.

- The county has a legal responsibility to implement the program, as a
requirement of Senate Bill 420, passed into law in 2003 and upheld by
a San Diego Superior Court ruling in December 2006.

- The county will not incur any additional costs by implementing the
ID card program because the county is allowed to set its own fees to
recoup the start-up and operating costs.

- Voters' support of safe and legal access to medical marijuana has
only grown stronger since the passage of the Compassionate Use Act
(Prop. 215) in 1996. According to an independent field poll conducted
in 2006, three out of four Californians support implementation of the
state's medical marijuana laws.



F. Aaron Smith
Safe Access Now
phone: (707) 575-9870
fax: (866) 204-1341
e-mail: fa_smith [at] yahoo.com