MORE MEDICAL MARIJUANA USE LOWERS THE COST

The number of Oregonians using medical marijuana with state approval
continues to rise sharply -- enabling the state to reduce fees for
low-income applicants.

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About 4,650 Oregonians, from all 36 counties in the state, have cards
allowing them to grow and use marijuana for medical reasons. That is a jump
of 55 percent during the past year, and the pace has quickened in the past
few months.

Another 75 applications a day arrive by mail, said Mary Leverette, manager
of the medical marijuana program.

The program supports itself entirely through fees and receives no general
funds from the state budget, said Dr. Grant Higginson, state health officer.
Rising revenue from fees has allowed the state to cut the fee for some
applicants.

Fees will drop Starting July 1, the annual fee for a medical marijuana card
will drop from $150 to $50 for people covered by the Oregon Health Plan and
those receiving federal Supplemental Security Income for a disability. For
others, the initial fee remains $150, and the renewal fee drops to $100.

About 30 percent of medical marijuana cardholders in Oregon are either on
the Health Plan or receive federal disability income, officials said.

The new fee schedule will be reconsidered in two years, Leverette said,
depending on whether it provides enough revenue to meet the program's
expenses.

The backlog of applications reached 1,000 last year but has been reduced to
about 100, Higginson said. Under the law, applications are supposed to be
processed within 30 days.

Limits on marijuana Oregon is one of eight states in which medical marijuana
is legal. The state's Medical Marijuana Act, approved by voters in 1998,
took effect in May 1999.

Under the law, a doctor must verify that the patient has a "debilitating
medical condition" such as cancer, glaucoma, AIDS or severe pain. The
patient or a designated caregiver must grow the marijuana, which cannot be
purchased at a pharmacy.

About 1,000 doctors in Oregon have signed a patient's application for a
medical marijuana card. The vast majority of participating doctors have
vouched for fewer than five patients, Higginson said.

Medical marijuana cards must be renewed each year.

The other seven states with laws protecting residents from arrest and jail
for medical use of marijuana are Alaska, California, Colorado, Hawaii,
Maine, Nevada and Washington. Maryland's governor last month signed into law
a bill reducing the maximum marijuana possession penalty -- from possible
imprisonment to a fine -- for seriously ill patients.

"Our numbers haven't exploded like Oregon's," said Gail Kelsey, who runs
Colorado's 2-year-old medical marijuana registry. Colorado's registry,
modeled on Oregon's, includes about 440 users, about two-thirds of whom
joined during the past year.