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Learn the Business of I-28 Portlandsterdam University

Pubdate: Wed, 1 Apr 2009
Source: Detroit News (MI)
Webpage: http://drugsense.org/url/eJ832CYs
Copyright: 2009 The Detroit News
Contact: letters@detnews.com
Website: http://detnews.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/126
Author: Christina Rogers, The Detroit News
Cited: The Hemp and Cannabis Foundation http://thc-foundation.com/michigan/
Cited: Michigan Medical Marijuana Association
http://www.michiganmedicalmarijuana.org
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/topic/Michigan+Medical+Marijuana

MARIJUANA CLINICS COULD SPUR NICHE INDUSTRY

Helping Patients Get Approved May Be Lucrative

Southfield -- A new medical clinic here specializes in helping
patients qualify with the state to treat their health problems with
medical marijuana.

The nonprofit The Hemp and Cannabis Foundation opened the clinic, its
first in Michigan, in December. That's the same month a
voter-approved law went into effect legalizing medical marijuana to
ease the pain of certain illnesses specified by the state, such as
cancer, glaucoma, Alzheimer's disease and HIV/AIDS.

State regulators will begin accepting applications on Saturday from
patients who want state authorization to acquire, grow, transport or
possess marijuana for therapeutic use.

"If a patient has a qualifying condition, then our doctors will help
them get a permit," said chief executive Paul Stanford, adding the
clinic pre-screens patients to ensure they've already been diagnosed
with an illness approved for treatment with medical marijuana. The
clinic doesn't sell or dispense marijuana, because that's against the law.

The Portland, Ore.-based organization is taking roots in what could
soon become a budding niche industry in Michigan.

"You're looking at a $10 million annual industry that physicians
aren't going to turn their backs on for too long," said Brad
Forrester, a communications director for the Michigan Medical
Marijuana Association, which began organizing last year and is
applying for nonprofit status with the state.

Stanford said he sees the clinic's role as simple: to provide
patients with access to doctors willing to write the state-required
certifications qualifying them for a medical marijuana permit card.

Despite the drug's legalization in more than a dozen states for
medicinal use, many doctors won't recommend it -- either because they
fear legal reprisal or don't see it as the best therapeutic option.

New Revenue for Michigan

The clinic, the first of its kind in Michigan, charges about $200 for
patients looking to get a year-long medical marijuana permit.
Multiply that by the estimated 50,000 patients that supporters say
the law will help, and medical professionals are looking at a
significant new revenue stream.

"That's a nice chunk of change," Forrester said.

For the THCF clinic, the new law is already paying off. It has
logged more than 380 patient visits since its opening in temporary
space on the 19th floor of a Southfield office tower.

On a recent day, patients were seated in a boardroom-style conference
room, where the foundation's staffers educated them about medicinal
marijuana, how it can be taken -- by smoking or ingestion -- and
about its potential hazards. Attendees, for instance, were advised
not to operate a motor vehicle after using the drug.

For patients like Dave Rice, a 30-year-old Brighton resident who
suffers from arthritis pain brought on by a severe knee injury, the
clinic is providing a more natural alternative to narcotic
pain-relievers to soothe his symptoms.

"This might be something that can relieve my pain and help," Rice
said, noting he was interested in taking the marijuana in pill form,
rather than smoking it -- an option Stanford said many patients
choose to avoid a cannabis-induced high.

The foundation also expects to see competition arise in Michigan from
other medical clinics or doctors' offices setting up shop to meet the
growing demand for medical permits. That's been the case in other states.

While the foundation has not set daily hours here -- only opening a
couple days a month -- Stanford said he hopes to have a permanent
medical center by May and is hiring staff, including a doctor. Right
now, the foundation is using a doctor from its Denver location.

Michigan could see other industry outgrowth, such as stores selling
pot-growing equipment.

Use Will Be Well-Regulated

The new law could seed another line of business: a caregiver, a
person designated to help the ill cultivate or obtain medical
marijuana, Forrester said.

"Caregivers are going to be an industry here in Michigan, as well,"
he said, noting the association's Web site,
www.michiganmedicalmarijuana.org, will make space available to
caregivers who want to advertise their services.

Under the new law, caregivers also must register with the state, be
older than 21 and have no felony drug convictions. Caregivers can ask
patients to compensate them for the costs of their service -- such as
money spent on growing equipment or buying seeds -- but can't legally
sell the product.

The Michigan Department of Community Health will closely regulate
doctors and medical clinics that certify patients for clinical
cannabis use, watching for abuse, said Melanie Brim, a department
director. The department will monitor doctors who appear to churn
out high volumes of prescriptions, checking to ensure they're not
certifying patients without an in-person exam and a careful look at
their medical records, Brim said.

The Michigan State Medical Society, which opposed the original ballot
initiative, doesn't have an official position on clinics specializing
in medical marijuana, but shares some of the health department's
concerns, said David Fox, a medical society spokesman.

Fox said the society advocates communication between specialty
doctors and primary care physicians to safeguard against possible
drug interactions and to ensure the medical care isn't fragmented.

"You'd want to have a bona fide doctor-patient relationship,
including the transfer of medical records," Fox added.
 

Newshawk: Herb
Pubdate: Wed, 1 Apr 2009
Source: Detroit News (MI)
Webpage: http://drugsense.org/url/EjCUBiIP
Copyright: 2009 The Detroit News
Contact: letters@detnews.com
Website: http://detnews.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/126
Author: Charlie Cain, Detroit News Lansing Bureau
Cited: Michigan Medical Marijuana Association
http://www.michiganmedicalmarijuana.org
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/topic/Michigan+Medical+Marijuana

MICHIGAN READIES FOR MEDICAL POT USE

Up to 50,000 May Qualify for Legal Smoking

Lynn Allen is busy squirreling away marijuana seeds - at $5 a shot -
as he prepares to take advantage of a new state law that will allow
seriously or terminally ill patients to legally smoke pot to ease
their pain and suffering.

The 52-year-old married father of two from Williamston is confined to
a wheelchair and unable to work because of a lack of stamina. He is
one of an estimated 50,000 Michigan residents who may qualify for
medical marijuana use once the state begins accepting applications on Saturday.

A hemophiliac who contracted HIV/AIDS from blood work, he lives in
pain and battles to keep from losing weight because of a lack of appetite.

"I've decided I'm going to grow my own marijuana in my house," said
Allen, who was forced to declare bankruptcy last year. "I can't
afford to buy marijuana" - which can cost from $200 to $900 an ounce,
according to police.

"But I have bought 10 seeds and now I'm waiting for the game to begin."

Michigan voters in November approved medical marijuana use by a 63
percent to 37 percent margin, joining a dozen other states that allow it.

State health officials are finalizing rules and regulations for the
Michigan Medical Marijuana Program.

Step one: issuing picture ID cards for those on the marijuana
registry; they should begin arriving by the end of April. The cards
cost $100 each and will allow patients to legally possess 2.5 ounces
of marijuana or grow 12 marijuana plants in a locked, enclosed area.

Caregivers, who can supply marijuana to a maximum of five patients,
will also have to pay $100 for ID cards under a program the state
hopes will be self-supporting and require no taxpayer dollars.

One thing the state won't do is provide the marijuana or even tell
patients how to acquire it on their own.

And possession of marijuana remains a federal crime, although the
Obama administration has said that it likely won't prosecute users in
states where the drug's use for medicinal purposes has been approved by voters.

Some Doctors Reluctant

To get on the confidential marijuana registry, patients must get a
letter - not a prescription - from a Michigan-licensed physician
certifying that pot could benefit their medical condition.

The law covers people with "debilitating" medical conditions,
including cancer, glaucoma, HIV/AIDS, hepatitis C, amyotrophic
lateral sclerosis, Crohn's disease, Alzheimer's disease, and chronic
diseases, or their treatments that produce wasting syndrome, severe
pain, severe nausea, seizures or severe muscle spasms, such as those
caused by multiple sclerosis.

Greg Francisco, executive director of the nonprofit patient advocacy
group Michigan Medical Marijuana Association, said some doctors are
refusing to go along with the new law.

"Many doctors are skeptical and reluctant to get involved in this,"
said Francisco, whose wife mixes marijuana into brownies that she
bakes to ease his back pain from atrophied muscles, the result of
childhood polio.

"The larger, mega corporation health clinics associated with
hospitals are refusing, based on corporate policy," said Francisco,
whose group is based in Paw Paw, in southwest Michigan. "The
certifications are coming mostly from family physicians who have a
history with the patients."

The Michigan State Medical Society, which opposed the ballot
proposal, has sent out a "legal alert" to its 16,000 physician
members advising them that "a physician should use his or her best
judgment whether they want to recommend that a patient get a registry
card," said David Fox, spokesman for the group.

The new law shelters participating doctors from arrest, prosecution
or any professional penalties for recommending marijuana use. The
U.S. Supreme Court has upheld that protection in other states.

Doctors cannot write prescriptions for marijuana since the U.S. Food
and Drug Administration classifies it as an illegal, controlled
substance like heroin and LSD, with no medical use and a high
potential for abuse.

The Michigan doctors' group does favor more research to establish
what, if any, medical use marijuana may hold.

Legal Issues Remain Unclear

More problematic is the question of legality.

The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration regards marijuana users,
even in states that have medical marijuana statutes, as lawbreakers.
In addition, the U.S. Supreme Court has held that a state medical
marijuana law is trumped by federal law.

But as a practical matter, the feds have not gone after medical
marijuana users in states with those laws.

Francisco said that when he was a federal law enforcement officer
with the U.S. Coast Guard, "we didn't bother with nickel-and-dime
drug use by recreational boaters.

"Sheriffs and prosecutors are telling us that like it or not, they
will go along with the new law," he said. "It's like the speed
limit. It used to be 55, but now it's 70 on highways. Police might
not like the higher limit, but they don't write tickets until you
exceed 70 miles an hour."

Shanon Akans, spokeswoman for the Michigan State Police, agreed.

"It's not going to have a huge effect on us," she said. "As long as
medical marijuana patients comply with the law (limits on amounts and
not giving or selling marijuana to people not on the state registry),
they won't have an issue with law enforcement."

Despite the law, it's up to employers to decide whether to prohibit
medical marijuana users from smoking in the workplace.

The new law bans pot use in public places. And it will remain illegal
for patients to use marijuana while operating a motor vehicle,
aircraft or motorboat.

Unlike a constitutional amendment that can only be undone by a vote
of the people, the medical marijuana law is a citizen initiative.

That means the Legislature is free to modify or outright repeal the
law after two years.

Meanwhile, Francisco said his group is planning an application rally
at the Michigan Department of Community Health on Monday.

"We're asking patients to come to Lansing and caravan to hand-deliver
the applications," he said. "We're planning on a mass turnout so we
can turn this into a media event."

 

 

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