San Bernardino is finally in the loop.  I am so Glad......

San Bernardino County could begin providing identification cards to medical marijuana patients by August, but dispensaries will have to wait for guidelines before they can set up shop.

The Board of Supervisors approved a plan Tuesday to screen applicants and issue cards to patients. The program takes effect 30 days after the formal adoption of the ordinance, set for July 14.

The board also approved a 45-day moratorium on the establishment of dispensaries -- retail outlets that sell medical marijuana -- to give county officials time to establish zoning and licensing rules.

The decision comes a little over a month after the U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear San Bernardino County's legal challenge of the state's medical marijuana program, which has been upheld by lower court rulings. For more than three years, San Bernardino and San Diego counties challenged the law on the grounds that it conflicts with federal drug laws.

With the legal battle lost, San Bernardino will be one of the state's last counties to provide cards for patients. Forty-eight other counties, including Riverside, offer them.

Once the program begins, patients and their caregivers will be able to contact the county's public health department for appointments. Patients who have been prescribed marijuana by their physicians will be entered into a state database and screened before receiving the card, which identifies the patient as a legitimate user of medical marijuana, said Jim Lindley, county public health director.

The county plans to charge an annual fee of $166 to non-Medi-Cal patients and $83 for Medi-Cal patients to cover the costs of running the program. About 250 to 300 patients are expected to apply for cards, a staff report to the board said.

With the card program approved, medical marijuana advocates and county officials have turned their attention toward the dispensary permits.

During the moratorium, county officials will study zoning and permit rules in use in other jurisdictions, said Julie Rynerson Rock, land use services director.

By about Aug. 4, they will return to the board with a status report, she said. An ordinance enacting the rules would then go before the Planning Commission for approval.

Rynerson Rock said she could not provide a timeline for how long the process will take and said she expects the moratorium will last longer than 45 days. But she said they intend to introduce rules "as quickly as we can.

"We have no intention of dragging it out forever," she said.

Although any county resident can apply for the card program, the dispensary ordinance would only apply to unincorporated areas. Cities are responsible for establishing their own regulations.

County officials said they do not know of any city in the county that has a dispensary.

Medical marijuana advocates questioned the need for the moratorium and said they should be allowed to help set up rules for dispensaries.

"I urge you to have input from the patients in this process," said Scott Bledsoe, a Crestline resident who sued the county over its refusal to issue identification cards.

County spokeswoman Lynn Fischer said the state program allows an alternative to dispensaries. Patients who have been issued cards are allowed to grow a small amount of marijuana for their own personal use, she said.

Several Inland cities have banned or enacted moratoriums against dispensaries, including Beaumont, Perris, Moreno Valley, Colton, Yucaipa, Highland and Hemet.

In Riverside County, only Palm Springs has zoning to allow medical marijuana collectives and co-ops.

Last summer, state Attorney General Jerry Brown released guidelines allowing marijuana collectives and co-ops to exist so long as they don't operate for profit. The groups must not purchase marijuana from illegal sources and must have detailed records proving users are legitimate patients.

Information on What the actual law here in California says:

SHOUSE Law Group  http://www.shouselaw.com/medical-marijuana.html