STATE NOW ACCEPTING APPLICATIONS FOR MEDICINAL MARIJUANA

Michigan residents can now begin applying for identification cards
that give them the right to use marijuana as medicine through the
Michigan Medicinal Marihuana Program.

Those wishing to seek the treatment must mail an official
recommendation from a doctor to the Michigan Department of Community
Health, complete an application form and submit a $100 application fee.

Applications should be mailed to Michigan Department of Community
Health, Medical Marihuana Registry P.O. Box 30083 Lansing, Mich. 48909.

The state agency is expecting an influx of applications and has only
15-days to turn accepted applications into identification cards.

Those with cancer, glaucoma, HIV/AIDS, Hepatitis C, amyotrophic
lateral sclerosis, Crohn's disease, agitation of Alzheimer's disease,
nail patella are eligible to apply for the right to use marijuana. So
is anyone with debilitating conditions that produce wasting syndrome,
severe nausea, severe and chronic pain, seizures and spasms.

The proposal, which passed with 63 percent of support from Michigan
voters on Nov. 4, 2008, allows patients and caregivers to possess up
to 2-and-half ounces of useable marijuana in addition to owning up to
12 plants. According to the proposal, those plants must be in an
"enclosed, locked facility." Patients with serious medical conditions
can raise a medical defense in court.

Although the law prohibits doctors from being prosecuted or arrested
for signing certified recommendations for the marijuana, until
federal law is changed they cannot prescribe the drug. Under current
law medicinal users still may not smoke marijuana in public, nor can
they drive while under the influence of marijuana.

For more official information on the program,
http://www.michigan.gov/mdch/0,1607,7-132-27417_51869---,00.html

Those without Internet access can also call the Michigan Medical
Marihuana Registry at (517) 373-0395.