DOZENS REGISTER FOR MEDICAL MARIJUANA

Crowd Gathers in Lansing on First Day to Apply for Legal Use

Lansing -- They laughed and hugged, posed for group photos and
celebrated that they were finally going to be allowed to legally use
marijuana to treat their medical problems.

No one wore a bigger smile when dropping off an application Monday to
join the Michigan Medical Marijuana Registry than Renee Wolfe, a
48-year-old mother of four sons who has been illegally using pot for 30 years.

"Marijuana allows me to eat, allows me to live a fairly normal life,"
said Wolfe, an Ann Arbor resident who used a wheelchair to roll into
the Michigan Department of Community Health building to apply. She
has battled multiple sclerosis since 1979.

"I'm able to walk better when I smoke," she said.

Monday was the first day the state accepted applications for the
program to allow people with "debilitating" medical conditions to use
marijuana.

A group of 55 people chartered a bus to take them from a Lansing cafe
to a nearby state office building to pay $100 and file paperwork,
including a certificate from a Michigan-licensed physician that they
have a medical condition that could be helped through the use of
marijuana. Under the Michigan Medical Marijuana Program, the state
will issue picture ID registration cards to those who qualify. The
cards should be in the hands of patients by the end of the month.

Backers of the law estimate that as many as 50,000 Michiganians will
register. By the close of business Monday, 101 had applied.

Medical conditions that qualify for the new program 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.

In November, nearly two-thirds of voters decided Michigan should join
a dozen other states to allow medical marijuana use.

Gov. Jennifer Granholm, who opposed the measure, said the state will
work to make sure things go smoothly. She remains cautious, however.

"It's a gateway drug, and it's got to be done very carefully," she
said, referring to the distribution of medicinal pot.

Under the law, a registered user can possess up to 2.5 ounces of pot.
The law is silent on where they are to get the marijuana. But the law
makes clear the state will play no role in making the drug available.