On Monday, June 2, Senate Bill 420, introduced by John Vasconcellos (D-San Jose), passed the State Senate by a bipartisan 23-11 vote. The bill will allow medical marijuana patients and caregivers who so desire to get identification cards from their local public health department in order to prevent police harassment. The patient registry and identification card program is voluntary, and it is the belief of the Drug Policy Alliance that patients, police, and taxpayers will benefit in that cruel, costly, and unnecessary prosecution of patients and caregivers should diminish.

Senate Bill 420 also mandates the state Health and Human Services agency to develop guidelines for the safe cultivation and distribution of medical marijuana. Proposition 215, passed six years ago by popular vote, requires the state to implement medical marijuana - this legal mandate has been ignored by two governors, Pete Wilson and Gray Davis. Davis’s office has not indicated whether the Governor is inclined to support or oppose the bill.

Senate Bill 420 is the product of a task force convened by Senator Vasconcellos and Attorney General Bill Lockyer, which brought law enforcement, patients, and advocates to the table to create a workable compromise.

Republicans Bruce McPherson of Santa Cruz and Tom McClintock of Thousand Oaks joined the majority of Senate Democrats in passing the bill today. Two good votes were absent at the time of the roll call: Senate President John Burton of San Francisco and Senator Joseph Dunn of Garden Grove.

The bill now goes to the Assembly Public Safety Committee. To send a letter of support to Chairman Mark Leno, please visit our SB 420 Fax Campaign at the Drug Policy Alliance Action Center.