SOME MARIJUANA USERS ARE THRILLED THEY NOW CAN SMOKE LEGALLY

BAY CITY -- A pungent and tangy odor fills the family room as Thomas
L. Higgins and his wife, Janet, casually puff on a hand-rolled joint,
medicating themselves with marijuana buds harvested just down the hall.

In their son's former bedroom, where it's brighter and noticeably
warmer than the rest of the house, white plastic covers the walls and
ceiling while 23 marijuana plants, from seedlings to maturing
females, grow beneath a cluster of 12 fluorescent, energy-saving light bulbs.

Higgins, 51, who has hepatitis C, a viral disease that attacks his
liver and causes pain and extreme nausea, said he's grown marijuana
for 38 years, 15 of those for medical reasons.

"Before that I was growing for pleasurable reasons," he said.

Higgins claims he contracted the virus at 16, when he ran away from
home and shared a needle while shooting heroin.

His 51-year-old wife smokes to relieve symptoms related to her
"arthritis and degenerative hip disease, among other stuff."

"I'm just so happy that it's legal," Higgins said. "I've been growing
illegally, and it's a big relief of stress for me."

The couple was arrested on a marijuana manufacturing charge in August
2002 when firefighters responded to an attic fire at their previous
home and discovered more than 20 marijuana plants growing under
high-powered lamps, which investigators believe caused the blaze.
Prosecutors dropped the charges with prejudice, contingent upon the
couple staying out of trouble for four years, which they did.

Today Saturday marks the deadline for the state to commence its
Medical Marijuana Program, and hundreds are expected to hand-deliver
applications and registration fees to the Bureau of Health
Professions Building, 611 Ottawa in Lansing, to assign caretakers and
register as medical marijuana patients.

The state posted the four-page application online Monday at
michigan.gov/mmp, along with the newly established administrative rules.

The law doesn't provide a legal way to procure marijuana, plants or seeds.

"We didn't write this law, said Doug R. Padgett, an assistant for the
Michigan Medical Marijuana Program. "This was written by the people,
voted in by the people. Realize that we didn't make it this way; it
is just the way it was given to us to do."

The Department of Community Health Web site says: "The federal
government classifies marijuana as a Schedule I drug, which means
licensed physicians cannot prescribe it," thereby leaving
less-sophisticated patients wondering how they'll get it.

Higgins recommends interested residents visit the Bay City/Saginaw
Compassion Club, a 40-member group that meets regularly to share
information necessary for patients and caretakers. Further
information is available by calling Higgins, a representative for the
group, at 686-5096 or by e-mail, woodchuckmi@hotmail.com.

A start-up grow operation costs up to $200, Higgins said, for lights,
growing containers, soil and nutrients, although it's more
complicated than just planting a seed.

Greg Francisco, executive director for the Michigan Medical Marijuana
Association, recommends using the resources on the organization's Web
site, michiganmedicalmarijuana.org, which has compassion club
information as well as data about medical marijuana-friendly
physicians, chat boards, seed procurement, caregivers and upcoming events.