High times: New law allows legal marijuana use
High times: New law allows legal marijuana use

High times: New law allows legal marijuana use
Mining Journal reporter Claire Abent investigates process to legally use the drug for medical purposes; her first-person account follows

By CLAIRE ABENT Journal Staff Writer
POSTED: February 4, 2010
MARQUETTE -My knowledge of medical marijuana used to come mostly from the TV show "Weeds" - the episode where Kevin Nealon feigns illness to get an ID card.

But somehow I always suspected it doesn't work like that.

When The Hemp and Cannabis Foundation, a non-profit organization, brought their traveling clinic to Marquette last week, I took the chance to see what it actually takes to get certified and registered for medical marijuana in the state of Michigan, since I apparently have a qualifying condition - migraine headaches.

I approached the clinic, held in one of the Ramada Inn conference rooms, not having any idea what to expect. I was pretty sure it wouldn't be a bunch of hippies sitting in a cloud of smoke listening to the Grateful Dead, but I wasn't sure what it would be. As a reporter, I'm used to not always knowing what kind of situation I'm going into, but this seemed different.

The clinic was just a room with some tables and chairs. It wasn't as intimidating as I thought it would be. A DVD about medical marijuana use and laws was playing for those who were waiting. Privacy areas were set up in two corners. I was greeted warmly at the table by the door and asked to fill the preliminary paperwork.Web Page

During the approximately two hours I spent at the clinic, a steady stream of people, mostly middle-aged, filtered through.

Everyone attending the clinic was required to bring medical records, with a doctor's signature, documenting their qualifying condition. The main purpose of the clinic is to get the physician's signature required for medical marijuana. If everything went well, at the end of the clinic I would walk out with everything needed to submit my paperwork to the state to get my "Michigan Marihuana Registry Identification Card."

I was greeted by clinic manager Rick G., who knew I was coming. We chatted and I sat down to fill out my forms.

One of the reasons people are denied medical marijuana is improperly filled out registration forms, and the people at the clinic helped me complete them correctly.

After I turned in my forms, Rick G. sat down with me and we went over the Michigan Patient Reference Guide. This is a packet put together by THCF for patients that contains all the information they need to know about medical marijuana, including ingestion methods and the full text of the law. He explained that they do not advocate smoking, and instead the use of vaporizers or ingestion, which could take a number of forms - through capsules, "canna-oil" or through cannabis flour or "pixie dust." The main chemical in marijuana is tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), which is the one that gets you high, he explained, but it also contains other chemicals with pain-killing powers, called cannabinoids and cannadidials - which produce less of a high, if any at all.

I next went to the cashier, who billed me for my clinic visit. The flat fee is $200, but there's a sliding scale based on income. I was then sent to see a nurse, who took more medical history and did a basic physical exam.

In between visits to different stations, I returned to the table to wait. I had a long conversation with Brad Forrester from the Michigan Medical Marijuana Association while waiting to see the doctor. He said most people who use medical marijuana, including him, are over 30. Forrester's story of how medical marijuana benefitted him was compelling - without it, he said, he would suffer constant pain, nausea and muscle spasms. When he needs relief, marijuana provides it within 15 minutes of use, he said.

We also talked about the law itself, some apparent gray areas and what his organization does. The law in Michigan only allows each patient or caregiver to possess 2.5 ounces total of dried usable medicine - including flowers and leaves - and a total of 12 plants. And the state's medical marijuana act doesn't protect you from the federal government. Federal law enforcement agents can still seize plants and prosecute in court.

Marquette Detective Capt. Gordie Warchock said police in the area are seeing an increase in the use of marijuana for medical purposes. He also said that although they haven't stopped looking for drug law violations, there are now just more steps they have to take in those invesitgations because someone may be a user or a caregiver.

Forrester was there to advise patients at the clinic on where they could find these caregivers - people who grow or provide marijuana for others - if they need one, although no caregivers could be present at the clinic.

After about an hour at the clinic I met with Dr. Paul Meyer, a specialist in holistic medicine from Saginaw who has been working with THCF for a few months. We talked about my medical history and why medical marijuana might help alleviate my symptoms.

I explained to him that I'd suffered from migraines since I was 9 and that no matter what medicine I used, it always stopped working and my headaches always got worse. Though I am able to manage my headaches to some degree through lifestyle changes, diet and preventive medication, they will never go away. He offered me no guarantees, but the doctor told me that medical marijuana does work for chronic pain sufferers like me and that it works well.

We talked about dosing - why capsules and even a tea that I could make myself would help me best. Because of the contents and preparation of the capsules, they don't contain much THC - and therefore would create little or no "high." It would give me the ability to use the product for pain relief in public setting should the need arise and I wouldn't be walking around stoned all the time. He also explained some of the history behind marijuana in America and suggested some additional reading for me, after understanding my concerns at the prospect of using a Schedule 1 drug - one that's still illegal at the federal level - to treat a medical problem.

If I'd brought the appropriate medical records to prove my condition - and been there as a patient, not as a reporter - I could have come away from the clinic with all the documentation necessary to register myself with the state for medical marijuana use.

I left feeling educated. No one knows much about medical marijuana in Michigan unless they need it, want it and take the time to learn about it. I found the persistent stereotypes about medical marijuana weren't true at all. The clinic wasn't a room full of teenagers pretending to be ill to get a legal dose of pot. It was a room full of people who were seeking relief, some of whom were visibly injured or in pain. You don't walk into some back alley and pay off some hooded figure to get an ID card. The people at the clinic were genuinely invested in educating and helping people - and doing it legally. My medical marijuana experience wasn't scary and from what I've seen and read so far, the drug can provide relief to people who really need it.

For more information on traveling clinics or the Hemp and Cannabis Foundation, visit www.hemp.org. To read the full text of the Michigan Medical Marihuana Act, visit www.michigan.gov/mdch.

Posted by MikeyZero Wednesday, March 10, 2010 (18:46:02)