It is the policy of the City and County of San Francisco that California Health & Safety Code Section 11362.5 shall be implemented with consideration for qualified users of medical cannabis, physicians, responsible and accountable providers of medical cannabis, and the police. The City and County recognizes that individuals who qualify to use medical cannabis may require the support of numerous caregivers to meet their needs for housing, health, or safety under California Health & Safety Code Section 11362.5(e). Voluntary primary caregiver cards and medical cannabis user identification cards will help peace officers identify individuals whose possession of medical cannabis is permissible under Health & Safety Code Section 11362.5. Such cards can promote cooperation between the Department of Public Health and law enforcement to protect the public welfare and medical cannabis users' rights. To further these goals, the Department of Public Health shall heed the vision, expertise, and voluntary counsel of private citizens in order to discover valuable information about the identification cards program. It also shall be the policy of the City and County of San Francisco to enable the Director of Health to take whatever steps are deemed necessary to protect the privacy of the physician-patient relationship by ensuring the confidentiality of patients' identities. Although this voluntary identification card program has no relation to any research studies, the City and County of San Francisco supports additional research on the benefits of medical cannabis and recognizes that such research must respect the confidentiality of patients and promote safeguards governing research on human subjects.
(Added by Ord. 11-00, File No. 992079, App. 2/11/2000)