Since 1996, medicinal use of marijuana for certain medical cases has been legal in California. In 2003, the state decided that ID cards should be issued on the county level to identify patients who are allowed to posses and use marijuana. Like a Drivers License, only a Users License.
Many people comment on articles like this and if they take the time to do that, they obviously feel very strongly about the subject. On one hand I understand that it is California law that allows this use, but on the other hand, it is still illegal under Federal law.
This issue confused me when California was voting on whether or not to give illegal aliens Drivers Licenses. I asked my grandfather, “If we know they are illegal, aren’t we supposed to deport them?” He then explained to me that the INS is a federal agency and the DMV is run by the state. Bureaucracy at it’s best. The state is not required to deport illegal aliens, nor or they required to talk to the federal government and tell them who they are. Fair enough.
But what if those illegal aliens got in a collision and injured somebody, are they required to carry insurance as well? Well what if a person legally using marijuana for medicinal purposes gets in a collision and injures somebody? Should they be required to carry extra insurance? The fact is, smoking marijuana impairs your senses. Are these people going to be given leniency because they were driver under the influence legally? I think not. Will they be punished more harshly because they were under the influence of drugs and not alcohol? Probably. Is that fair? Heck, no!
Where does the liability end? If the state takes control of medicinal marijuana and requires pharmacies to hand it out, does the pharmacy take on liabilty? Does the state? If the worst should happen, what happens to these patients? If we issue these ID cards, does it give these people free reign to grow, distribute, and smoke marijuana?
It is a very controversial issue and I would like your opinion on it. At this point I really feel that if Sacramento County issued this ID cards, they are giving permission for these patients to be more open with their treatment and the county could be held responsible. It is known that marijuana impairs judgement, it is foreseeable that a patient may drive after receiving a treatment, it is probable that the impaired patient will cause a collision. And it could be argued that it was done with the county’s permission.
What do you think? Am I way off base here? Has anyone else thought about possible repercussions?
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