STATE'S FIRST MEDICAL MARIJUANA CLINIC OPENS IN SOUTHFIELD

SOUTHFIELD -- The first medical marijuana clinic in the state of
Michigan opened Dec. 4 in Southfield, following the controversial
proposal voters approved last month making the drug legal in the state
for medical purposes.

Run by The Hemp and Cannabis Foundation, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit
organization based in Portland, Ore., the clinic currently has two
licensed physicians on staff.

The Southfield clinic joins 17 others in the country run by THCF: four
in Oregon, four in Washington state, three in Colorado, three in
Hawaii, one in Nevada, one in California and one in Montana. Thirteen
states in the U.S. have legalized marijuana for medical purposes.

"We've helped over 45,000 patients in eight states now, including
Michigan since we opened up there last Thursday," said Paul Stanford,
president, founder and CEO of THCF. "We plan on expanding to other
cities in Michigan."

Prospective patients are advised to contact the clinic by phone and
have their primary care physician provide medical records.

"We require they have medical records from another doctor and be under
another doctor's treatment," Stanford explained. "All of our patients
have to have another current relationship with either an M.D. or a
D.O. to meet their medical needs."

After the medical records have been reviewed, the patient meets with a
nurse or doctor at the clinic for a non-invasive physical
examination.

If it is determined that the patient meets the criteria and could
benefit from the use of medical marijuana, a prescription will be
provided, as well as an identification card that registers the patient
in the program and the appropriate documentation needed to submit to
the state.

Twenty-five patients were seen by a physician on the first day of the
clinic's operation in the Southfield Town Center. Two additional
patient days will be held in December, and another two are scheduled
in January.

"As those days fill up, we'll add more days," Stanford
said.

But marijuana is not provided by the clinic.

"We explicitly do not distribute marijuana itself," Stanford said. "We
don't have anything to do with the procurement. We cannot assist in
the procurement in any way."

According to the new law, a patient who has been prescribed medical
marijuana by a licensed physician can purchase, possess and/or
cultivate up to 2 1/2 ounces of marijuana or 12 plants.

"For a patient who is authorized to have medical marijuana, they can
purchase it on the black market," Sanford said. "The people who are
selling it are breaking the law. It can be dangerous. But there are a
number of organizations out there that are currently being set up to
help patients. We cannot directly provide them or help them obtain
cannabis, but there are a number of resources in the community that
they can pursue."

Sixty percent of THCF's patients across the country suffer from some
sort of chronic pain, said Stanford, adding that in 30-40 percent of
the chronic pain cases, the patients also have severe muscle spasms,
seizures, cancer, AIDS, glaucoma or severe nausea.

"Cannabis is a very safe and effective medicine for a variety of
ailments," Sanford said. "What we find overwhelming is that our
chronic pain patients are able to get off of large quantities of
debilitating narcotics that they're on and improve their quality of
life through the use of cannabis. And they don't have to be subjected
to the high associated with marijuana to get the relief, through the
use of the leaf instead of the flower."

But not everyone feels so positive about the passage of the proposal
in Michigan.

"I am not happy the (proposal) passed," said Southfield City
Councilman Myron Frasier. "But the vote passed and that's the law now
and I expect that they will follow the law. ... That's the one thing
about voting: The majority wins and the losers have to understand that
they did their best but they came out the losers. But I'm also not
happy that we happen to be the first place in the state they opened up
one of these clinics."

City Council President Don Fracassi had a lot of questions with regard
to the operation of the clinic and others like it.

"I opposed the issue to begin with," Fracassi said. "But it was
approved, and I don't know how they're going to regulate it. I don't
know how they're going to tell who's got pain and who doesn't. Is it
people who have no hope and are just suffering from pain? Or is it
people who are hurt and are doing this instead of taking an aspirin?
Is it the medical profession seeking other ways to make more money? I
don't know. I'm just against the whole thing. There is enough
medication out there to serve the purpose. I think it's going to be
misused. I don't see there's enough controls."

The city is going to conduct research to learn how to handle the
operation of the clinic.

"We can go to other states that have passed the marijuana law and find
out how they deal with it so we aren't trying to invent the wheel all
over again," Frasier said. "We'll take advantage of what's already out
there and find out the good things they've done to help control it and
that will get us years ahead rather than try to find out on our own."

Fracassi has every confidence that the Southfield Police Department
has the situation covered.

"I expect the Police Department to follow all the regulations, rules
and laws, and they will do that to the utmost," Fracassi said. "Any
violations to the law the Police Department will take care of it."

For more information about the clinic, visit www.thc-foundation.com/michigan