OTHER STATES ALSO CONFRONTING PROLIFERATION OF MEDICAL MARIJUANA DOCTORS

Allegations of profiteering pot doctors aren't unique to California.

Lawmakers in Montana are looking at changing the state's medical
marijuana laws in response to "cannabis caravans" in which doctors
and marijuana advocates travel around the state giving out medicinal
marijuana cards.

The caravans have helped swell the number of medical marijuana
cardholders in Montana in one year from about 3,000 to 15,000,
according to The Associated Press.

Facing similar complaints in Colorado, the state's legislature late
last month passed laws geared at reining in prolific pot physicians.

One doctor reportedly gave out 3,500 recommendations in a two-day
period, said Dr. Christian Thurstone, a child psychiatrist and
addiction specialist at Denver Health Medical Center. He said five
doctors in Colorado account for half of all of the recommendations
given to the state's medical marijuana patients.

Thurstone said he lobbied for the new restrictions after seeing a
spike in the number of teens coming to his addiction practice saying
they'd gotten marijuana from those legally able to possess it.

Among other requirements, the laws in Colorado now mandate that a
doctor issuing medical marijuana must have an unrestricted medical
board license, they can't have a financial stake in a medical
marijuana dispensary and they can't hold clinics inside a marijuana dispensary.

In California, there are no such laws, although the state's medical
association advises doctors to abide by similar rules.

Unlike some other states that have legalized medical cannabis,
officials in California don't have any way of accurately tracking how
many medical marijuana patients there are or the identities of the
doctors who are giving the recommendations.

Although patients are encouraged to obtain county-issued medical
marijuana user identification cards, it's not required.

Just 215 people in Shasta County have asked for one of the cards
since voters approved Proposition 215 in 1996, said David Reiten,
deputy director of the Shasta County Health and Human Service
Agency's adult services branch.

Under the law, doctors are allowed to recommend medical marijuana to
their patients, but they can't legally prescribe the drug.

Doctors may face sanctions from the Medical Board of California if it
is found that a doctor went against what a "reasonable and prudent
physician would follow when recommending or approving any other medication."

According to the medical board's website, that includes:

Having a patient's history and providing a good-faith examination.

Development of a treatment plan with objectives.

Provision of informed consent, including discussion of side effects.

Periodic review of the treatment's effectiveness.

Proper consultation.

Proper record keeping that supports the decision to recommend the use
of medical marijuana.

"If a physician complies with these six requirements, it's highly
unlikely he or she will be disciplined by our board," said Candis
Cohen, a medical board spokeswoman.

Cohen said that just 11 doctors in California have been disciplined
by the medical board for medical marijuana-related issues.

Even the most ardent supporters of legalized marijuana say that
doctors looking to make huge profits by exploiting loopholes in
medical marijuana laws hurt their own cause.

"When there are stories like this, it threatens the legitimacy of
these laws," said Mike Meno, the communications director for the
Marijuana Policy Project, which advocates nationally for marijuana legalization.