131 NOW HAVE MARIJUANA CARDS

In addition to those patients, 129 "caregivers" have obtained state
cards that allow them to supply up to five patients each with
marijuana for medical purposes.

When Rhonda O'Donnell took her first puff of marijuana -- her first,
that is, since her teen years -- the effect was immediate.

"I'm a nurse," said O'Donnell, 43, of Warwick. "I was
shocked."

Her legs often burn with pain from multiple sclerosis, an illness that
also forced her out of her beloved job at Rhode Island Hospital. But
when she took that first hit of marijuana, she felt a cooling
sensation moving up her legs. In seconds, her legs "felt like normal
legs just sitting there."

She was still disabled by MS, of course, but for a time, the pain was
gone.

O'Donnell waited a long time for that relief -- because she didn't
want to break the law. She was among the people who fought to make
Rhode Island the 11th state to legalize marijuana for medical
purposes, with a law that took effect Jan. 3.

In April, she was the first person to apply to the Health Department
for the card that will protect her from prosecution by state and local
authorities, as long as she doesn't have more than 2.5 ounces or 12
plants.

And today, nearly seven months later, she is one of 131 people who
have obtained such cards. Applicants had to get written certification
from their doctor saying they have one of the illnesses specified in
the law (including cancer, glaucoma, hepatitis C, chronic pain or
AIDS) and that the potential benefits of marijuana outweigh the risks.
Eighty-nine different doctors have signed such certificates, putting
to rest fears that patients would flock to one or two "pot docs."

The 131 patients are a much lower number than health officials
expected, but then they didn't know what to expect. The $75 fee for
the card was based on an estimate -- a wild guess, really -- that
1,500 people would sign up. "We had no idea, to be perfectly honest
with you," said Charles Alexandre, chief of health professions
regulation. "We were shooting in the dark."

But Karen O'Keefe, assistant director of state policies with the
Marijuana Policy Project, a California-based group that is working to
legalize medical marijuana around the country, said that the 131
sounded about right to her. It's similar to the number in Montana,
where more than 100 signed up in the first year and 238 now have
cards, she said.

In addition to the 131 patients, 129 "caregivers" have obtained Rhode
Island marijuana cards. Under the law, these caregivers provide
marijuana to registered patients who can't or don't want to grow it on
their own. They're allowed to supply up to five patients each, and to
possess up 12 plants and 2.5 ounces per patient.

Where do patients and caregivers get the plants? The law's sponsors
and advocates assumed that the seeds would be purchased from illegal
sources. Additionally, possessing marijuana remains illegal under
federal law; federal drug agents could prosecute growers and users,
regardless of their state marijuana cards.

It's emblematic of the situation's ambiguity that, despite her strong
desire to be law-abiding, O'Donnell did end up breaking the law for a
little while. Shortly before the medical marijuana law passed, she
accepted a gift of a small amount of marijuana. She kept it in her
possession, but says that she didn't touch it till she had her card.
She's using marijuana so infrequently, and needs so little, that her
initial supply has not yet been depleted.

O'Donnell says she's very active with her family and her MS support
group, so she's going out often; she won't smoke unless she plans to
stay home -- and her legs are hurting at the time. "I didn't want the
high effect," she said. "Two hits and I'm done."

O'Donnell says people come to her for referrals to doctors who will
sign the marijuana certificate. She advises them to simply ask their
own doctors. The Rhode Island Medical Society supported the
legalization of medical marijuana, and many doctors are willing to
help their patients in this way, O'Donnell said.

She tells the story of a friend, also with MS, who hesitated to ask
her neurologist about medical marijuana. When the friend finally
raised the issue, the doctor didn't bat an eye -- he had the necessary
forms right in his drawer.

O'Donnell also encourages people not to be intimidated by the Health
Department application. "It's so simple," she says. "It's just one
sheet." The law requires the Health Department to protect the
confidentiality of those who apply for or receive marijuana cards.

Additionally, although the standard fee is $75, people who are on
Medicaid, SSI or SSDI pay only $10. (The Health Department's Alexandre
said that half the people who obtained cards qualified for the
discounted rate.)

As for procuring the drug, O'Donnell says that marijuana has been
"around" for so long that people can find it. She advises her friends
to ask people in their support groups.

Some people ask at the Health Department. They don't get answers, says
Alexandre, nor do they get questions about where they plan to obtain
the drug.

"I don't ask," Alexandre says. "They frequently ask me where to get
it. We have to do a bit of explaining."

Warren Dolbashian, 35, of Cranston, another advocate for the medical
marijuana law, says he'd been smoking marijuana illegally for many
years to treat his chronic pain from injuries in motorcycle accidents
and his Tourette's syndrome. He even was arrested for possession in
2000.

He prefers marijuana to narcotic painkillers, which can be sedating or
addictive. The pill form of marijuana worked inconsistently. By
smoking a joint, he can choose the exact dosage he needs. "I'm not
looking to get high," Dolbashian says. "I just want to be
comfortable."

He gets his marijuana from the same young man who has always supplied
him -- only this person now has a state marijuana caregiver card.

Now, Dolbashian says, "I don't have to be afraid. I don't have a fear
of the police busting down my door."