KALAMAZOO'S FIRST MEDICAL MARIJUANA CLINIC HAS BUSY FIRST WEEK

KALAMAZOO -- In its first week of operation, business as been potent
at Michigan Holistic Health.

Southwest Michigan's first full-time medical marijuana clinic, which
opened Monday at 500 W. Crosstown Parkway in Kalamazoo, saw about 100
people come through the doors this week, said Annette Crocker, wife of
Dr. David Crocker, the physician who runs the clinic.

More than 90 percent of those who came through the doors hoping to
receive a medical marijuana recommendation were OK'd by David Crocker
to use marijuana to treat a debilitating physical condition, Annette
Crocker said.

"It's been a great week," Annette Crocker said. "We've been very
busy." The clinic had to add another phone line to keep up with a
barrage of phone calls this past week, she said.

Michigan's medical marijuana law allows those with a recommendation
from a doctor to use marijuana to treat conditions ranging from
chronic pain to symptoms associated with HIV/AIDS and cancer, among
several other conditions.

Under the law, a registered patient can possess up to 2.5 ounces of
usable marijuana and up to 12 marijuana plants. The clinic does not
furnish patients with marijuana.

A consultation at Michigan Holistic Health costs $200, but if a
patient is denied a recommendation, the fee is waived. After a patient
is given the recommendation, the state of Michigan charges a $100 fee
to register him or her as a medical marijuana patient, with the fee
dropped to $25 for low-income applicants.

Patients traveled to the clinic from Muskegon, Grand Rapids and
Detroit, Annette Crocker said. One patient even came from as far as
Illinois, a state that doesn't have a medical marijuana law on its
books.

Most of the patients who were turned down were those who needed
additional medical documentation describing their debilitating
condition, Annette Crocker said. Only two patients were turned down
because they simply didn't have a qualifying condition.

"Will they (the number of patients) level off? I don't know," Annette
Crocker said. "All we know is whatever the need is, we'll be here."

To keep up with what David Crocker believes will be continued demand,
he has interviewed a doctor from Nevada -- where he worked as an
interventional radiologist in Reno -- who is interested in joining the
clinic. Other health care professionals from the area have also
stepped forward to express interest in being affiliated with the
clinic, he said.

David Crocker said he is thrilled with the response so
far.

"Thank you to the community," he said. "Everyone has been very
supportive of us." A community policing officer from the Kalamazoo
Department of Public Safety entered the clinic last week to introduce
himself, Crocker said.

"He just said, 'If there's anything we can help you with, just let us
know,'" he said.