MEDICAL MARIJUANA APPLICATIONS AVAILABLE FROM HEALTH DEPT.

Patients Who Qualify Will Receive a Registration Card Which Allows
Them to Possess 12 Plants and 2 1/2 Ounces of Marijuana.

People who want to obtain marijuana for medical purposes, such as
treating chronic pain or nausea, can start applying for registration
cards from the state Health Department. Cardholders will be protected
from prosecution by state authorities for growing or possessing small
quantities of the otherwise illegal drug.

An application form was posted online yesterday at
www.health.ri.gov/hsr/mmp/index.php . Forms are also available in
Room 104 at the Health Department, 3 Capitol Hill, Providence.

In response to complaints at a February hearing, the Health
Department lowered the annual registration fee for the card for
certain needy people. People who are enrolled in the state Medicaid
health plan for the poor or who receive disability benefits under the
federal SSI (Supplemental Security Income) program will pay $10.
Everyone else must pay $75.

Rhode Island became the 11th state to legalize marijuana for people
with certain medical conditions when the legislature in January
overrode the governor's veto.

The law gives the Health Department 30 days to process each
application, but Charles Alexandre, chief of health professions
regulation, said that verifying the information will probably take
about two weeks. Then applicants will be asked to come to the Health
Department to have a photo taken and get their cards.

The card will do nothing, however, to help people obtain the
marijuana. It is assumed that people will buy seeds illegally and
grow plants to meet their needs. The law specifies that each patient
can have no more than 12 plants and 2 1/2 ounces of marijuana.

The card also does not protect people from federal prosecution. The
U.S. Supreme Court ruled last year that federal drug-control laws
supersede state laws legalizing marijuana.

Two categories of people may apply for the card: patients whose
physicians certify that they have certain debilitating medical
conditions (including cancer, glaucoma, HIV infection, AIDS,
hepatitis C, muscle spasms, Alzheimer's disease and others), or a
caregiver who will supply marijuana to a patient with a qualifying
condition. Each caregiver can serve no more than five patients, and
can possess no more than 12 plants and 2 1/2 ounces of marijuana for
each patient.

Alexandre said the department mailed application forms to about two
dozen people who had requested them after the law was passed. He
couldn't predict how many more people would be interested. "It's kind
of new to all of us," Alexandre said.