POT RX DOC LOSES DEA RECOGNITION

Marion Fry, MD, can no longer help patients obtain medical marijuana and
might be out of business completely after the Drug Enforcement
Administration recently revoked her privileges.

Fry, 42, and husband Dale Schafer, an attorney, run the California Medical
Research Center in Cool, founded to foster medical marijuana research. Fry
wrote recommendations for medical marijuana and Schafer advised clients of
the legal aspects of medical marijuana.

Proposition 215, the Compassionate Use Act, allows patients to use
marijuana with a recommendation from a doctor.

Last year the DEA investigated Fry for writing recommendations under
"questionable circumstances" and issued an order to show cause -- Fry's
opportunity to explain in court why her privileges should not be revoked.

Fry did not respond to the government order or request a hearing, and in
December the DEA revoked her DEA registration, rendering her unable to
write recommendations.

A DEA report said Fry's prescription-writing privileges were "inconsistent
with public interest," and CMRC showed "no resemblance to a legitimate
medical practice."

Fry and Schafer advertised as a "medical/legal consult team that helps
certify people who qualify under Prop. 215 to medically use marijuana." The
couple charged $150 per visit for a medical/legal consultation and had as
many as 100 clients per week, according to the report. The DEA alleges that
Fry's required medical examinations sometimes lasted only 20 minutes, and
often she did not review client medical records before writing
recommendations. Many clients said most of their examination was spent with
Schafer, who advised them of proper conduct if arrested, and how to avoid
law enforcement entanglements.

The DEA alleges that despite the abbreviated examinations, Dr. Fry
routinely issued medical marijuana recommendations for ailments such as
anxiety, insomnia, asthma, pre-menstrual syndrome and restless leg syndrome.

Without her registration, Fry might not be able to practice medicine at all.

"(The revocation) is like the atomic weapon at the federal level," said
Keith Stoup, executive director of NORML, a company that works to reform
marijuana laws.

"When the DEA revokes prescription privileges, the doctors is effectively
out of business. Without it they can't prescribe drugs and they can't
practice medically," he said. Stroup, a friend of Dr. Fry, has been
involved with her case since 2001.

Fry is a breast cancer survivor and acknowledges using marijuana to treat
chemotherapy-induced nausea, depression, post traumatic stress disorder,
and insomnia.

Additionally, Schafer, 42, is accused of selling marijuana. The DEA alleges
that on more than 100 occasions Schafer offered to sell marijuana "growing
kits" to clients, each of which contained marijuana plants, a growing tub,
and growing lights.

Neither returned phone calls by press time yesterday.

On one occasion, said the report, Schafer purchased 3 pounds of marijuana
and asked another individual to sell it for him.

In 2001 the DEA raided Fry and Schafer's practice and seized 32 marijuana
plans and nearly 5,000 patient records. Fry and Schafer were not arrested
in the raid.

The bust marked the first time federal agents targeted a state marijuana
medical facility since Prop. 215 legalized medical marijuana in 1996.

The DEA then raided the couple's home, and found grocery bags filled with
marijuana and drug paraphernalia, said the report.

Soon after, a federal judge ruled that the files remain in police hands and
were not protected by attorney-client privilege.