COLORADO'S MARIJUANA PROGRAM STARTS SLOWLY

DENVER - 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 7-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 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 doctor has recommended
more than a few permits. Seventy-seven doctors signed authorization
forms for 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.