STATE STARTS TAKING MEDICAL MARIJUANA APPLICATIONS

But Patients Will Have to Wait Weeks for Needed State ID

Lansing -- Five months after voters approved a ballot measure to
allow people with "debilitating" illnesses and diseases to use
marijuana, the state today begins taking applications for the
Michigan Medical Marijuana Program.

But it will take weeks before patients can legally use marijuana.

Once state health officials receive an application for approval they
have 15 days to review it. If approved, the state will mail out a
picture ID card within five days.

"We should be issuing the cards probably by the end of April," said
James McCurtis of the Michigan Department of Community Health, which
will oversee the program. Michigan is the 13th state to legalize
medical marijuana.

A rally is scheduled for 10 a.m. today at Lansing's Gone Wired Cafe.
Organizers expect as many as 200 people to attend. Buses will then
take participants to the state's Ottawa Building in downtown Lansing
to turn in their paperwork. It must include a form from a
Michigan-licensed physician certifying that the patient suffers from
a medical problem covered under the new law. The registry card costs $100.

The doctor will have to vouch that a patient's pain and suffering
could be eased with marijuana. Conditions include cancer, glaucoma,
HIV/AIDS, Hepatitis C and Crohn's disease. It also covers those with
wasting syndrome, severe and chronic pain or nausea, seizures and
persistent muscle spasms. It's unknown how many will qualify. Those
who backed the successful petition drive placing the question before
voters said it could be as many as 50,000.

"Some police departments are still resisting the law," said Brad
Forrester, communications director for the Michigan Medical Marijuana
Association, which is helping patients get marijuana.

"But judges are throwing these things our way," he said, adding that
in at least three recent cases, judges have dismissed marijuana
charges against people who will likely qualify under the law.