COLORADO DOCTORS ADVISE ON POT LAWS

Two doctors account for more than a third of the patients on
Colorado's medical-marijuana registry, and five doctors account for
more than 50 percent of the patients, according to statistics from
the state health department.

In all, of the 10,000 medical-marijuana patients on the state's
registry, 75 percent of those received their recommendations from one
of only 15 doctors.

The clustering of so many patients on the registry from so few
doctors has raised the suspicions of state officials.

"It's a cause for concern," said Jim Martin, executive director of
the state Department of Public Health and Environment. "At least in
any other area like this, we would want to be sure that the
physicians are meeting the standards of care."

State Attorney General John Suthers went a step further, suggesting
the state Board of Medical Examiners investigate the top pot-recommending docs.

"The Health Department can question whether it's proper medicine to
issue hundreds of certifications in one day and perhaps make some
referrals to the medical board," Suthers said, referencing a
statement by the state's chief medical officer during a recent
hearing that one doctor signed for 200 patients in a single day.

But cannabis advocates said the clustering is perfectly
understandable, the result of doctors who specialize in a particular
area. Medical-marijuana attorney Rob Corry said the doctors are
"compassionate professionals" whose specialty naturally attracts
patients seeking alternative forms of medicine.

"I'm very concerned about the climate of fear that the Colorado
attorney general has created in the minds of physicians who are just
trying to help people," Corry said.

Under state confidentiality laws, the names of the top
pot-recommending doctors are not released. But the doctors are almost
certainly affiliated with one of a handful of large medical-marijuana
referral clinics in the state.

The founder of one such clinic, The Hemp and Cannabis Foundation in
Wheat Ridge, said his doctors put patients through a rigorous
screening process and have turned away numerous patients who are not qualified.

"A lot of doctors don't know anything about medical marijuana," said
Paul Stanford, the Portland, Ore.-based founder of the clinic, which
has offices in eight states.

Under Colorado law, patients can receive medical marijuana only for a
"debilitating medical condition," such as cancer or severe nausea.
The greatest number of patients are on the registry for chronic pain.

Stanford said the recommendation process at his clinic starts by
pre-screening patients in phone calls and ensuring they have medical
documentation of their ailments. After that, an appointment is made
and the clinic's doctor or other staff members spend a couple hours
examining and counseling the patient.

But Stanford acknowledges other clinics might not hold as high a
standard. Several clinics that advertise in the local alternative
magazine Westword tout "no prior medical history needed" policies.
Others are connected to marijuana dispensaries, linking the diagnosis
of a problem with the sale of a cure.

Suthers said the legal language of Amendment 20 -- the voter-approved
initiative that legalized medical marijuana -- ultimately restricts
how much he or any other official can address the concerns.

"There's not much that can be done about it," he said. "And frankly I
think it's all by design."