KAISER TO ALLOW MEDICAL MARIJUANA

LONGMONT - A frustrated Denver man who has AIDS prompted Kaiser
Permanente to allow doctors to prescribe marijuana to patients they
believe will benefit from the drug.

"I am on about 12 medications daily," said Earl Thomas, a Kaiser patient
who was diagnosed with full-blown AIDS 15 years ago. "The medication
makes me extremely nauseous."

Thomas, who cannot work because of the disease, became frustrated while
waiting for his doctor to decide if he would sign the form allowing him
to legally obtain the drug.

"In principle, he had no problem signing the form," Thomas said. The
doctor was simply afraid of the possible legal repercussions.

After Thomas told his story to The Denver Post, a decision was quickly
made by the HMO.

"Our legal department simply wanted to double check to make sure that
the doctor doesn't have liability by signing the form," said Steve
Krizman, spokesman for Kaiser Permanente.

The major HMO has 375,000 patients in Colorado and 10,000 patients in
Longmont.

"It definitely would have been the same," Krizman said of the HMO's
decision had Thomas not gone public. "As with all medical decisions, we
leave that up to the doctor to decide what type of therapy is best for
the patient."

Colorado voters approved a medical marijuana program in November.

The program began June 1, and 38 applications for the program have been
received.

One applicant has been denied, and three applications are still pending.
The other 34 applicants have been mailed identification cards that allow
them to legally possess the drug.

"They have to use their own resources to get it," said Gail Kelsey,
administrator of Colorado's medical marijuana registry.

The program does not provide the drug to patients, and it is still
illegal to sell marijuana in Colorado.

Patients are allowed to have up to 2 ounces of marijuana and six plants
in their possession.

"The doctors themselves don't know what dosage we are talking about,"
Krizman said. After a medical provider signs the piece of paper granting
permission, the doctor no longer has any control over the substance.

Thomas said he will use the drug to help combat nausea, which is a side
effect of the medication that he takes. The 118-pound man said that
smoking the drug also helps give him an appetite.

"Frankly, there are a lot of other options," Krizman said. One of those
options, Marinol, which is derived from marijuana, has similar effects
to smoking a marijuana cigarette.

Some patients do not believe that Marinol works as well as smoking
marijuana, however.

"I do not possess nor will I possess marijuana until it is legal,"
Thomas said. "I am not that kind of person. I don't want my 87-year- old
neighbor thinking she smells marijuana and calling the police."

Thomas said he made the decision to go public in order to help other
people who need the drug.

"My goal is to help other people, that is all," he said. "Kaiser has a
lot of patients with AIDS. They have been dragging their feet, and I
wanted to put some fire under them."