PRESCRIPTION POT HAS NOT LIVED UP TO ITS PROMISE

Medical marijuana's recent debut on the Big Island has met with mixed
reviews among those who have applied for permits.

Patients with certain medical ailments can buy a $25 state permit that
allows them to smoke the otherwise illegal plant in Hawaii if they get a
doctor's prescription for it.

Gov. Ben Cayetano signed the state's medical marijuana bill into law June
14, but patients were unable to smoke marijuana for medical relief legally
until late December when the state Department of Public Safety issued rules
governing how the law is applied.

As of last week, 20 Big Island permits have been issued with six physicians
participating in the program, said state Narcotics Enforcement Officer
Keith Kamita. "The only surprise is that Kauai has more (permits issued)
than the Big Island," he said. Twenty-seven of the 66 statewide have been
to residents of the Garden Isle.

Under the rules, patients with permits may possess up to three ounces of
marijuana and grow up to seven plants - three mature and four immature - to
alleviate suffering. Otherwise, the cultivation or possession of marijuana
remains illegal under state law, and illegal even for medical purposes
under federal law. With medical marijuana now legal in nine states, the
U.S. Supreme Court agreed in November to review the conflict between the
state and federal laws.

Meanwhile, several patients told the Tribune-Herald their experiences under
Hawaii's medical marijuana law.

"It opens a whole new avenue of frustration," said Jerry Hunt, 74, a U.S.
Marine veteran of World War II. Hunt, a former charter boat captain who
moved to Hilo from San Francisco four years ago, suffers "phantom pain"
from the loss of his leg in a boating accident. Hunt described the pain as
"like electricity going through my body. I bite so hard I get a mouthful of
blood."

But the side effects from a regimen of prescription painkillers chewed up
his gut, Hunt said, so he cut the dosage of his $1-a-pill prescription drug
from eight to two per day and substituted marijuana. It worked.

When the state's new rules took effect, Hunt applied for a permit. Then he
set up his legal garden on the lanai of his Bayshore Towers condominium,
which he's owned for 30 years.

Hunt would rather see a cannabis club opened with the governments' Green
Harvest haul, like the one he used to frequent in San Francisco. "They knew
what we were doing but they left us alone," said Hunt, who actively
promotes marijuana issues. "(Marijuana) is medicine for a lot of people who
have given up. It gives them some hope."

"We're talking about spending money on helicopters (for marijuana
eradication) and there's not one dime considered for providing it to sick
people," Hunt complained.

Hunt also has donated a couple of acres of land he owns in Hawaiian
Paradise Park for permit holders to grow medical marijuana. "I want to feel
like I can do more than slip a (marijuana) roach to a guy in a VA
hospital," he said. "What about the poor sick people? Make them a priority.
The government should be in the forefront. We're old sick people ...
support us."

The Rev. Dennis Shields, 53, is an ordained minister in the
California-based Religion of Jesus Church, which considers the act of
smoking marijuana a sacrament. But the 25-year Kona resident was arrested
in 1994 and convicted on marijuana charges two years later despite the
religious claim. "That cost me $25,000," he said.

Shields said he lost the case because he did not establish that the
sacrament was required by the church. "The whole case made against me was
that it was optional." The sacrament is now a requirement of the church to
heal the spirit as well as the body, he said, and authorities have for the
most part left his Captain Cook ministry alone since the case was resolved.
But Shields wanted the additional protection of the medical marijuana card,
which he obtained for a painful disability he says he suffered in 1990. "I
want as much of my rights from the government as I can get," he said.

Shields, who declined to discuss how he became disabled, joined his church
in 1973. "We have hundreds of members in many states," he said, and
estimated several hundred members in Hawaii.

The difference between now and 1994, he said, is that with a medical
marijuana permit he no longer has to worry about being arrested. But
Shields doesn't grow marijuana on his property because he fears thieves
more than police. He buys marijuana on the black market, which he said
costs about $300 an ounce on the Big Island and up to $700 on Oahu.

Shields could get a caretaker to grow his marijuana, which is also legal
under the new law, but a caretaker could not grow enough legally to meet
his needs. "The current law is very weak," he said. "The person who put in
the seven plant limit never even grew a tomato."

"I'm being cautious." Shields said. "If you grow a whole lot it's like
painting a big bull's-eye on your chest. I feel very persecuted. It's
insanity, it really is."

Another of Hawaii County's more vocal advocates of marijuana has been
denied a medical permit. Jonathan Adler of Hawaiian Paradise Park smokes
marijuana in part to treat his asthma, which is not among the allowable
conditions written into the law.

Volcano physician William Wenner, who has been Adler's doctor for four
years, said marijuana is a legitimate treatment for asthma because it opens
blocked bronchial tubes that make it difficult for asthma sufferers to
breathe. Wenner, who has been an outspoken proponent of marijuana for
years, said "it's a burden" being the most prominent doctor who will
certify patients for medical marijuana use. Wenner said last week that he
has certified 16 patients on the Big Island and he knows of no other
doctors certifying medical marijuana patients. "There might be some," he
said. But most doctors do not speak publicly about the issue. "The Honolulu
doctors are very quiet. And somebody must be doing it on Kauai."

Wenner said the law is flawed but accepts the regulations as something you
can live with.

"Most people I certify have discovered their ailment is improved," he said.
But most of them discovered that before going to Wenner and seeking legal
approval.

"With some exceptions, they are not your professional dope smokers," said
Wenner. "They have legitimate, catastrophic diseases."

Wenner said he's turned away only one patient. "One person clearly had
vague symptoms," said Wenner. "I referred him to his family physician for a
diagnosis."

Adler, meanwhile, has appealed to the Department of Health for an
exemption. Adler objects to the Department of Public Safety, essentially
law enforcement officials, making a determination of his medical condition.
"They overruled my doctor's request."

Adler's marijuana habits haven't changed despite the absence of a permit,
which he claims he doesn't need because Hawaii law already makes medicinal
or religious use of marijuana a criminal defense against prosecution.
Criminal charges pending against Adler for growing marijuana on his
property on that basis, however, are currently on appeal to the state
Supreme Court, which is expected to issue a ruling on his legal defense.

He applied for the medical permit anyway to "show everyone I'm sincere. I
want to expose the system by going through the motions."

Adler estimates the vast majority of medical marijuana users are afraid to
apply for a permit.

"People are scared of being roped into a Big Brother situation," he said,
and he continues to supply many of them with marijuana that he grows. "I
distribute to people with medical needs and healing purposes," he said.

Eligible debilitating medical conditions in the bill include cancer,
glaucoma, positive HIV status, AIDS, or a disease or condition causing
weakness, severe pain or nausea, seizures, or severe muscle spasms
characteristic of multiple sclerosis or Crohn's disease.

"The procedure is very simple," said Wenner, who spends an average of 45
minutes with each patient and keeps accurate records. But it is still
difficult for the "marijuana-naive people," he said.

Nevertheless there are enough people publicly promoting marijuana in Hawaii
now that anyone who wants to can get the help they need.