Senate Bill 420 established a statewide medical marijuana ID card program for the state Department of Health Services (DHS) and all of the County Departments of Public Health to administer. The legislation mandated that the state implement the program, but it is designed to be voluntary for patients and caregivers. The implementation of the ID card program has experienced numerous roadblocks, such as: suspension and reimplementation of the program after the U.S. Supreme Court decision in Gonzales v. Raich, enactment of record retention protocols that endanger patients, and slow speed of implementation by counties. ASA is working to establish an ID card program that both protects patients and is implemented fairly and expeditiously.

Refer here for a complete listing of participating counties, location of ID card program sites, and hours of operation.

If your county has implemented the state ID card program, you can download the state's application/renewal form here.

On February 1, 2006, the County of San Diego filed a lawsuit against DHS to challenge the requirement that all counties implement the statewide ID card program. ASA has joined with the ACLU Drug Law Reform Project (DLRP) and Drug Policy Alliance (DPA) to intervene in the lawsuit on behalf of patients and physicians in California. Read more about the case here.

Read further for background information and ways to take action: