OREGON, ALASKA IDENTIFY LEGAL MARIJUANA USERS ON STATE-ISSUED CARDS

Jeanelle Bluhm of Portland, Ore., smokes marijuana to ease the spasms that
come with multiple sclerosis, and now she has a new state ID card to verify
that her doctor recommends it.

Friday, Oregon became the first state to issue ID cards for patients to
prove they are complying with a state law that allows marijuana use by
certain seriously ill patients.

The federal government also announced plans Friday to boost the prospects
of more research on medical marijuana.

"I'm very psyched," says Bluhm, a 47-year-old nurse who worked for passage
of the medical marijuana law enacted by Oregon voters last fall. The Oregon
Health Division issued her ID card No. 00001 on Friday. Her caregiver has
card No. 00002.

"It's been a long time coming," she says. "A lot of my friends said this
would never happen."

Under the state law, patients with cancer, AIDS and HIV, glaucoma,
seizures, spasms, nausea and severe pain may use small amounts of marijuana
with a doctor's recommendation. Oregon is one of five states that have
enacted such measures. The others: California, Alaska, Arizona and
Washington state.

The laminated cards are valid for a year and are intended to make it easier
for state and local law enforcement officials to know who is qualified to
use marijuana under the law.

Possession and sale of marijuana remain federal crimes, although they are
rarely enforced for medical users. And it is illegal for doctors to
prescribe marijuana. That's why the state laws generally say patients must
have a doctor's "recommendation," rather than a prescription.

"This is a great day for patients," says Geoff Sugerman, spokesman for
Oregonians for Medical Rights, the group that pushed the medical marijuana
initiative. "Finally, at least in the state of Oregon, patients can use
marijuana as a medicine without fear of arrest and prosecution."

Of the five states with medical marijuana laws, only Oregon and Alaska have
provisions for ID cards. In Oregon, state officials have processed 35
applications for cards at a fee of $150 apiece. Another 135 are pending
review. Alaska is expected to begin processing ID cards in June at a cost
of $25 per patient, Sugerman says.

Dave Fratello, spokesman for Americans for Medical Rights, based in Santa
Monica, Calif., says the Oregon ID card is evidence that "federal law is
becoming irrelevant on this subject."

"Patients and physicians in states with these new laws have adequate
protection to use marijuana as a medicine if they need to. After all their
bluster, federal officials have proved powerless to stop medical marijuana
from taking root," Fratello says.

Marijuana's effectiveness as medicine remains the topic of considerable
scientific debate.

In March, a report from the highly respected Institute of Medicine, an arm
of the private National Academy of Sciences, found marijuana may be
effective in treating chronic pain, nausea, and AIDS-related weight loss.

The report, commissioned by the White House, was the strongest endorsement
yet of medical marijuana, but the report was less than effusive.
Marijuana's biggest drawback, the report said, was that it must be smoked,
and the report called for more research.

Friday, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services announced new
regulations to make it easier for researchers to get marijuana from the
National Institute on Drug Abuse for use in medical research.

Critics contended that the federal government had deliberately made the
approval process for grants so difficult that no substantial research ever
took place.

Following the report from the Institute of Medicine, White House drug czar
Barry McCaffrey issued a statement saying that his office endorses the
"decision to facilitate further research into the potential medical uses of
marijuana and its constituent cannabinoids."

Groups favoring the legalization of medical marijuana were cautiously
optimistic. "This will not help patients who are currently risking arrest
because they need marijuana right now," says Chuck Thomas of the Marijuana
Policy Project in Washington, D.C.

John Benson, co-director of the Institute of Medicine study, had a lukewarm
response. Although his report recommended more research, "it's hard to
discern that these guidelines have streamlined existing procedures."