What ever happened to personal Responsibility? You don't endanger others by driving under the influence of anything.

Not being from CA I don't understand the whole concept of issuing ID cards for illegal substances in the first place. Since the state allows it then in my eyes issuing county as well as the state is responsible for the actions of the card holder. If they are tested and found to be DUI or DWI then. It's no different than someone that takes a legally prescribed narcotic pain medication,gets in a vehicle, has an accident maiming or killing someone. I don't know if there laws defining what the "legal limits" for the levels of either prescribed drugs or the marijuana. Further more how would those acceptable limits be set? It would seem to be an insurmountable task simply because each person reacts differently to medicine and I would assume the same is true for marijuana. I believe that there are valid reasons for prescribing marijuana for certain medical conditions since testing shows that it does help relieve symptoms of illnesses that do not respond to other medications there should be laws in place determine what is considered DUI or DWI not just for marijuana but for prescription drugs as well. Card holders should be allowed to grow enough to meet their own personal needs in accordance to their prescription and should not be allowed free reign to grow or distribute. I hesitate to restrict the amount that they smoke as only they can judge what relieves their symptoms.

I do not understand why driver's licenses are issued to aliens in the first place since it's a privilege not a right and either way they shouldn't be issued. It's a fact that they don't respect the laws otherwise they wouldn't be here in the first place. What motivation do they have to follow the laws pertaining to vehicles, safety, and licensing? It doesn't matter if they are required to carry additional insurance simply because they are here illegally and once the limits of the insurance have been exhausted they simply go back where they came from and there is no legal recourse to the injured parties. The bureaucracy is ridiculous and if the different branches of government would collaborate with each other using a nationwide data-base the issue of aliens and the problems they bring with them would become much more manageable. Not to mention the expense created by duplication of information gathering by the different agencies would drastically be cut,which looking at the state of the nation is something that we could all certainly stand as taxpayers.

The appeals court has ruled in Garden Grove v. Superior Court that the federal government does NOT trump state laws in regards to medical marijuana because the Controlled Substances Act is intended to combat recreational use of drugs, not interfere in States' medical practices. If a State has a legal medical marijuana program, it would violate The Separation of Powers clause of the Constitution which gives the power to regulate practice of medicine to the States for the federal government to interfere in their medical programs.

And the Food and Drug Administration has licensed NIDA to produce and distribute medical marijuana to patients for the last 30 years in their Investigational New Drug Program. There are still 5 patients in the program. They had to approve it to issue licensure and distribute it.

And the DEA was ordered to Reschedule marijuana 20 years ago by their own judge, DEA Law Judge Francis Young in 1988. They chose to disregard his order, because they liked their big fat bureaucratic budget to much to give it up.

Your DUII arguement doesn't hold water. If DUII were an excuse to make something illegal, most cold and allergy medicines would be illegal (not to mention Ambien), and we certaily wouldn't have that 21st Amendment to the Constitution of the US, would we?

When you get vicodan from your pharmacist, neither he nor the State takes on any responsibility for your actions: you are personally respopnsible for any damages you do. It is no different with marijuana, except that marijuana smokers are not impaiered to nearly the extent that pharmaceutical drug users are. Many studies have shown that marijuana smokers are aware of their impairment, and are more careful to compensate for it. They are, in fact, safer drivers because they are more careful.

Your impression that the county could be held responsible for people's legal use of marijuana is indeed way off base.

Driving behavior underground does not stop the behavior, and makes it more difficult to control. Allowing patients to be more open about their medicine will allow more of them to use it when it is appropriate.

Oregon has been issueing ID cards for over 10 years. We have not seen many negative repercussions.

There have been 0 accidents involving medical marijuana patients driving under the influence.

There have been 0 documented workplace accidents.

Teen marijuana use has been dropping for the last 9 years.

Patients report using less prescription drugs. This reduces catastrophic drug reactions and interactions, and the catastrophic costs involved with treating stroke and heart attack that are often induced by pharmaceutical drugs.

Keep in mind that 103,000 Americans die from properly prescribed and administered drugs every year, but that marijuana has never killed anyone in over 5,000 years of documented medical use.

Patients report reducing doctor and ER visits.

Patients report better health outcomes.

Cannabis does not cause loss of inhibition. There can be a slight impairment, but people are usually able to choose not to drive during the first 20-30 minutes after dosing. People who use medical cannabis are much more careful about driving because of this.
Alcohol, which kills every 90 seconds, causes a loss of inhibition, making its users "think" they can drive when they aren't able to. Cannabis users know when they cannot drive... and usually don't. If this was not true our DUI programs would have more than just alcoholics in them. (By the way, I was one of the first counselors in this state to implement a DUI program. I also co-authored the second Drug Court in the nation)
I am more afraid of the millions of prescription drug users who are allowed to drive on our streets with little to no regulation. Benzodiazaphines, opiates, and sleeping medications are being prescribed to people with no thought of it being harmful). These have silently addicted millions. And I mean addicted. The withdrawal off of many of these medications can kill a person. I watched it first hand in inpatient treatment. I watched a guy bite through his tongue during the DT's and then argue with us whether it happened or not. Even when he saw the stitches, he had strong feelings to try to convince us it was not the alcohol or valium. These are the same people who think they can drive when they cannot. Marijuana does not cause people to act this way. Being a 15 year veteran drug and alcohol counselor, I can say that in the entire time I worked with people (over 5000), I never treated anyone exclusively for cannabis problems. There was never one who was in any of the the DUI programs for cannabis exclusively either. In fact, I believe now that anyone who has major addiction problems would have a much better chance of recovering if cannabis could be used freely to combat cravings and to provide a chance for the body to relax and heal. Cannabis is a healing plant not an obnoxious danger to society.
If you really want to meet the father of all cannabis prejudice.... see Harry Anslinger, this man single handedly did an advertising scam that outlawed this sacred herb and secured the paper industry from ever having hemp paper be a competitor for his cronies. Before this, cannabis was in a good percentage of our medicines... it's only been considered harmful for the last 40 or 50 years or so.
To me this whole thing is fear stemming from this mans work... the truth shall set us free.

My personal experience has been quite compelling. I was diagnosed with advanced cancer at age 25, and given a 50% chance of living 6 months. I opted for experimental treatments and was left ravaged by radiation poisoning and the loss of my parathyroid glands. I saw Teams of Specialists nearly every month, saw my primary doctor most months and was still fighting for my life in the ER 10 times a year. I was taking 25-35 pills a day and I weighed 92 pounds. It went on for nearly 7 years.

And then in 1999, I joined the Oregon Medical Marijuana Program. Within 6 months, I was off of all pharmaceutical drugs, I now take 2 pills a day- hormone replacements. I have not been to the ER in 9 years. I see one Specialists every other year, and mostly only see my doctor to renew my medical marijuana license. And at 118 pounds, I'm practically a roly-poly fat girl.

I'm now a 40 year old grandmother. Medical marijuana made it possible for me to live long enough to see my grandson.

Thank you so much for all your information. I understand a lot better now. When you think about it, it is ridiculous to think the state or county would take responsibility. I don't know what I was thinking!

I must confess, I was under the impression that cannabis had a much harsher effect on people. I guess I bought into Mr. Anslinger's campaign. I have never smoked marijuana and have been told all my life "it's a gateway drug." And other terrible things about it. I've seen my friends on it and they are lazy and slow and I would be afraid of them driving, but now that I think about it, they never even considered going anywhere.

The Oregon Medical Marijuana Program is very interesting. It's success has quelled many of my fears.

Thank you so much for your comments. Especially, gro4me, your story is very uplifting and I wish you the best.