CLINIC HELPS MEDICAL-POT SEEKERS

Gilbert's Green Cross Patient Center Assists Applicants With
Recommendations, Filing

Although the status of medical marijuana remains a bit hazy in
Arizona, facilities that help people apply for patient cards continue
to spring up, including in Gilbert.

The Green Cross Patient Center opened in town nearly two months ago in
a small strip mall on the southern side of Baseline Road, between
Gilbert and Lindsay roads.

Owner and Director Charles "Chuck" Hall made it clear that the
facility is not a dispensary and that there is no marijuana on site.

"We are here to help patients get a doctor's recommendation and to
help them with the paperwork," he said.

"This is a medical facility, and marijuana is a safe alternative to
some very bad medicines that hurt people."

According to Hall, the majority of their patients are people in their
40s and 50s who are seeking relief from chronic pain. Nearly all have
tried traditional remedies; many are wary of using potentially
addictive pills.

Casey Roberts, a mechanic and assistant manager at a nearby auto shop,
was one of Green Cross' first customers.

Roberts said he has medical conditions, including pain from an
extensive facial reconstruction he underwent after suffering a broken
jaw and crushed eye socket in the boxing ring.

"I hate taking pills," he said. "I just refused and put up with the
pain. But I found that marijuana helped."

Roberts said his doctors had no problem prescribing pain pills but
were reluctant to prescribe medical marijuana. After a couple of
run-ins with the law, he was prepared to move to a state where he
could get medical marijuana legally.

Then, he discovered Green Cross.

"I had heard about these places but never paid too much attention to
them," Roberts said. "But I thought if there was one in Gilbert, and
as tough as Gilbert police are on things like this, then it had to be
legit."

The 1,200-square-foot clinic has a reception area/waiting room, with a
couple of sparsely furnished offices and an examination room with a
sphygmomanometer (to measure blood pressure) and a tripod-mounted camera.

Patients meet with Dr. Jack Manning, who reviews their medical
history, conducts a short examination and discusses what treatments
the patient has tried and how medical marijuana may or may not help.

If Manning writes a recommendation, staffers at the clinic help the
patient fill out forms, take photos to go with the application and
file the request. Applications can be filed only online.

Green Cross charges $150 for its services. (In addition, the Arizona
Department of Health Services charges $150 for the cards, which must
be renewed annually.)

Patients can file their own forms, but Hall said a lot of doctors are
reluctant to make recommendations for medical marijuana.

"We can do two things here," Hall said. "We have a doctor who is
compassionate, and we also do the paperwork. And when bureaucracy goes
bad, we take care of it for you."

Currently, the clinic sees about 10 patients a week. The reason it's
so slow, Hall said, is that there's still so much uncertainty about
the law.

He hopes to raise awareness of the clinic, as well as increase its
patient load, by giving presentations at the center on some of the
legal issues surrounding medical marijuana, its proper use, which
strains are better for what afflictions, and other related topics.

One of the reasons they located in Gilbert, Hall said, was because of
its favorable demographics.

"(Medical marijuana) is for the soccer mom who doesn't want to take
Percocet," Hall said. "She can take a tincture in her tea instead of
hiding in the back room, smoking a fat doobie."

Although the main reasons people come in is because of chronic pain
and cancer, medical marijuana has been touted as helpful for those
with glaucoma, HIV/AIDS, hepatitisC, Crohn's disease, muscle spasms
and other afflictions.