Nikos Leverenz, director of the Drug Policy Alliance in Sacramento, testified in favor of the cards.  He says they will help medical marijuana users identify themselves to law enforcement:
 
From both the potential arrestee’s standpoint and for the arresting officer’s standpoint, it provides some sort of certification that the person is, in fact, a medical marijuana patient.
 
Some supervisors who voted to approve the cards made clear their action did not mean they approved the use of medical marijuana.
Information presented to the board of supervisors indicates El Dorado County is the 27^th  in the state and the third in the Sacramento area to okay the cards. Yolo County begins its program in mid-July.  Amador County has already started its i.d. program.