DOCTOR OFFERING HELP WITH MEDICAL MARIJUANA

A doctor's office specializing in medical marijuana evaluations is
set to expand into Calhoun County.

Michigan Holistic Health, the practice of Dr. Dave Crocker, already
has offices in Kalamazoo, Grand Rapids and Muskegon.

On Thursday, Crocker will start a one-day-a-week clinic in Emmett
Township for people interested in applying for the state's medical
marijuana card.

Michigan voters approved the state's medical marijuana law in 2008,
and since then local and state officials have grappled with how to
regulate the drug, which remains illegal under federal law.

Since marijuana isn't grown, dispensed or used at Crocker's offices,
local regulations for medical marijuana don't apply.

Crocker said his patients are evenly split between those who grow
marijuana themselves, get it from caregivers or get it through other
means such as dispensaries.

He said that since his first office opened in Kalamazoo in February
2010, all his interactions with police have been positive and that
local officials have been happy to see the practice open.

"We want to be the ones who do it right," Crocker said Friday during
a busy morning of seeing patients at his Kalamazoo office.

He said he now sees about 200 patients every week, double what he was
seeing about a year ago.

Medical opinions are split on medical marijuana, and many doctors in
the Battle Creek area won't help patients get certified to use the
drug. Other doctors called to comment for this story either declined
or were unavailable.

Crocker said some doctors refuse to believe that marijuana has health
benefits, while others fear legal problems if they start recommending it.

He said centuries of anecdotal evidence have proven marijuana's
usefulness, and that if the federal government would relax
marijuana's drug classification more research on its medical uses
could be done.

The clinics, to be held every Thursday at the Robin's Nest, 16181 10
Mile Road, came in response to the large number of patients Corker
said he was getting from Calhoun and Branch counties. A more
permanent location could mean more frequent hours.