MEDICAL MARIJUANA PROGRAM LESS POPULAR THAN ANTICIPATED

Fewer Coloradans have signed up for the state's medical-marijuana
program than expected but officials say the pace may increase in
coming months.

Ninety-nine Coloradans are legally smoking marijuana with their
doctor's approval under the state's seven-month-old Medical Marijuana
Registry program.

The figure is well behind its projected pace of 700 applicants in the
first 12 months, but registry administrator Gail Kelsey said a
similar program in Oregon picked up steam after the first six months.

In Oregon, 61 patients got approvals in the first six months, and 594
by the end of the first year, said Chris Campbell, spokesman for the
Oregon plan.

Kelsey said 61 percent of people on the registry say marijuana helps
relieve pain, 30 percent say they need it for muscle spasms and 23
percent want relief from nausea.

An analysis of the first seven months shows no single doctor has
recommended more than a few permits. Seventy-seven doctors signed
authorization forms for their patients. A half-dozen signed more than
one.

That's dramatically different from Oregon, where one doctor has
signed certificates for 1,704 of the 1,808 patients since May 1999.

Thirteen months ago, Colorado voters approved the medical use of
marijuana under tight rules. The law went into effect June 1.

Kelsey has rejected three applications. ``Not for fraud, but just for
incomplete applications,'' she said. ``There's no abuse I am aware
of.''

Patients tell her the marijuana is providing great relief, she said.

``Their main complaints are that there is no place to get it - and
the cost of the program,'' she said.

Patients must pay $140 a year for a permit.

Kelsey gives talks to physicians concerned about liability. She tells
them that Drug Enforcement Agency officials have told her informally
that doctors aren't breaking federal law by signing forms.

``They're merely recommending marijuana, not prescribing it,'' she said.

The law remains tricky, though, because it's still illegal for anyone
to sell the drug to patients.

An amendment to the law allows patients to grow six plants of marijuana.

``That way, they're getting a clean supply by growing their own, not
dealing with the corner drug dealer,'' she said.

However, Kelsey said she can't tell patients how to get the original
seeds without helping the provider break the law. ``They're on their
own on that one,'' she said.