The other two centers will be in Sunnyvale and further south in San Martin.

The card distribution program located at the West Valley Public Health offices, 577 Salmar Ave., should begin March 1. The county program will provide identification cards to those eligible to use medical marijuana.

"Essentially, it's to help local law enforcement identify folks who would qualify for the exemption of use, particularly because the law says a person can have a particular amount on their person," said Teresa Chagoya, a spokesperson for the Santa Clara County Public Health Department.

The county board of supervisors unanimously approved the medical marijuana identification card program, as mandated by the state, on Jan. 24.

Chagoya said the three sites were chosen to make the program accessible to people throughout the county. The Campbell site was selected because it is demographically central.

The identification cards will be provided by the state department of health services and administered by the county. The county will provide only the cards identifying medical marijuana users, not the marijuana itself.

Medical marijuana users must set up an appointment at the facility to obtain a card and must provide written documentation from their physicians confirming that the use of medical marijuana is appropriate.

Chagoya said the application process offers a certain amount of privacy to patients, since doctors do not need to indicate the specific condition for which the drug is being used. Instead, there is a form asking if the patient suffers from one or more conditions listed.

There is an annual $60 fee for the identification cards per client or per caregiver. The cost is reduced to $30 for Medi-Cal beneficiaries. The county estimates that 2,600 patients and caregivers will apply for cards this year.

The medical use of marijuana was made legal in California in 1996, when voters passed Proposition 215, the Compassionate Use Act. The legislature approved SB420 in 2003 to clarify the scope of the act and help law enforcement identify patients.

SB420 allows each qualified patient to possess 8 ounces of dried-mature processed flowers of the female cannabis plant and to be in possession of no more than six mature or 12 immature plants.

The identification cards do not provide protection from possible criminal prosecution under federal law.