INSURANCE COVERS HILO WOMAN'S MARIJUANA

A Hilo grandmother whose medical marijuana plants were stolen received
$2,000 from her insurance company for loss of four plants.

Tammy VanBuskirk, 57, who smokes marijuana to treat glaucoma, has a Hawaii
state permit to grow a limited amount of marijuana at her Sunrise Ridge
home, and to use it with a doctor's approval.

VanBuskirk said the plants were stolen from her yard on May 5.

"They jumped my fence and grabbed what they could," she said. The burglar
fled when her groundskeeper's son spotted him in the yard, she said. The boy
ran to get his dad, but by then the burglar was gone, leaving a trail of
plant debris in his wake.

Early that evening, someone came back and made off with the remaining plants
while VanBuskirk was inside her house, she said.

She filed a police report but no arrests were made. She then filed a claim
with American Reliable Insurance Company, based in Scottsdale, Ariz.

VanBuskirk bought the homeowners policy when she moved into her home about
18 months ago. Nine months after she bought the house she received her
permit to grow and to use marijuana to treat glaucoma. This was her first
crop in Hawaii. "Prior to this I'd never grown outside."

The former Washington state resident also was permitted to use marijuana for
glaucoma in Washington. "They were legal long before Hawaii," she said. "I
moved to Hawaii when it was not legal (here)."

Hawaii is one of eight states and the District of Columbia with medical
marijuana laws, and the state Narcotics Enforcement Division reports that
about 920 medical marijuana permits are currently in effect statewide.

According to Hawaii's law, adopted in 2000, patients with permits who are
under a doctor's care may possess up to 3 ounces of marijuana and grow up to
seven plants at a time to alleviate suffering.

The largest plant in VanBuskirk's yard had grown 6 feet tall and 8 feet
wide, she said. It was visible from the street despite a 6 - foot rock wall
that the thief had to scale to get into her yard. "I grew it in front of God
and everybody. The police were well aware of the plant."

She has a only a small amount of marijuana remaining and must either wait
until her next crop matures or attempt to obtain what she needs illicitly,
VanBuskirk said.

She's considering a 6 - by - 6 - foot fenced dog - kennel - like enclosure
with a car alarm to thwart future burglaries. She could go back to growing
indoors but the electricity cost for the lights is prohibitive. "I'm still
working on ideas," she said.

She said her local insurance agent, whom she declined to name, was reluctant
to report her claim.

A spokesperson for American Reliable Insurance in Arizona, who did not want
to be identified, said the company has paid two similar claims in
California. VanBuskirk's is the first the company has paid in Hawaii.

VanBuskirk said the case is significant because the mainland insurance
company recognized the Hawaii law over the federal prohibition of all uses
of marijuana.

The federal government continues to oppose states' medical marijuana laws,
and in March a federal judge in California refused to block the U.S.
government from potentially prosecuting two women whose doctors say
marijuana is the only medical relief for their ailments. Federal law does
not recognize marijuana as a lawful drug, the judge ruled.

But as long as the medical marijuana is sanctioned by the state in which a
permitted user makes the claim, the insurance company considers pot plants
like any other plant or shrub, the company spokesperson said.

VanBuskirk received $500 for each of the four plants stolen. She filed the
claim for more than $500 per plant - she declined to say how much more - but
her policy carries a limit on the amount per plant.

The insurance company applied the policy's $1,000 deductible to the excess
amount of the claim, however, and sent VanBuskirk a check for $2,040.31,
which includes small amounts for damage to a money tree and vegetable plants
in her yard.

The largest plant likely would be worth more than $500 if processed and sold
on the street, but medical marijuana permit holders are prohibited from
selling their crops. The plant also was so big that it might have yielded
more than the legal amount VanBuskirk may possess.

"I would have to give some away," she said. "But I have to be careful about
that. There are a lot of gray areas in the law.

"I go strictly by the law and the rules," she said, and considered giving
her excess pot to the police. "I want to see this program work. I don't want
to go blind. I'm just growing what I need."

VanBuskirk believes in religious use of marijuana and uses it for spiritual
reasons as well as medicinal. She describes herself as a "born - again
baptized believer in Jesus Christ," but is not affiliated with any church
that considers marijuana a required sacrament.

She first started using medical marijuana after being diagnosed with
glaucoma in the 1990s in Washington. Her doctor was unfamiliar with the
treatment, but after a year of using it he told her it was unusual to find
no deterioration of her condition.

"It doesn't take away the pain, it prevents it from happening," she said, by
reducing the pressure inside the eyeball that glaucoma causes. Marijuana
also relieves a debilitating pain in her back. "It helps with many things.
It brought my blood pressure down and relaxes my muscles."

VanBuskirk, who has four adult children, 10 grandchildren and an 11th on the
way, continues to be active despite her ailments. "I have business to take
care of. I'm not a down - and - outer," she said. "Under a controlled
situation I find marijuana to be a miracle drug for me. It makes my life a
lot easier to live. I value my eyesight and it works."