Michigan: Medical marijuana ID card applications begin pouring in

By Jennie Miller, C & G Staff Writer

SOUTHFIELD — Hundreds of applications for medical marijuana identification cards flooded the Michigan Department of Community Health April 4, exactly five months after voters approved the statewide proposal to legalize the drug for medical purposes.

Many of those applications were from patients of The Hemp and Cannabis Foundation, which opened the state’s first medical marijuana clinic in Southfield in December.

Paul Stanford, founder of THCF, which has 18 clinics across the country in states that have legalized medical marijuana, personally accompanied 75 of his clinic’s patients to Lansing April 6 to hand-deliver the applications.

“It went very well — it was an ideal turn-in,” Stanford said. “It couldn’t have gone any better.”

Since it opened, the clinic has assisted some 400 patients in their endeavor to legally use marijuana to ease the symptoms of their debilitating diseases, Stanford said. But thousands more have sought information.

“We’re getting 1,400 calls a day, and 30-40 percent of those are from Michigan,” Stanford said.

No patient will be seen by THCF doctors without first having their primary doctor submit medical records documenting a valid condition that fits the bill, Stanford explained.

“Of the 300-400 calls a day (we get) from Michigan, one-fifth will actually fax us their medical records,” he said. “We have our nurses and doctors review them. Two-thirds of those we actually schedule appointments for. And once we schedule an appointment, the odds are about 99 percent that they’ll (be recommended for the program).”

THCF doctors review patients’ medical histories to determine whether they would likely receive from marijuana therapeutic or palliative benefit for their serious medical maladies and debilitating conditions. If that opinion is indeed made by the medical professional, the patient then submits an application to the MDCH, and the doctor submits his or her recommendation as well. The MDCH then reviews each application, and if a patient is approved for the program, an identification card is issued.

As the MDCH braced itself for the onslaught of applications last week, it was with a sense of calm. The controversy and the red tape, it seems, have died down.

“We think that we are ready,” said James McCurtis, spokesperson for the MDCH. “The law has been in effect since December. Now we can move forward, and hopefully, as this program grows in terms of longevity, hopefully people will be more informed in terms of what this program is here for. We’ve been trying to wipe out all kinds of misconceptions. Our job is to regulate — we want to maintain the integrity of the program.”

The MDCH has 15 days to look at an application, and five days beyond that to issue an identification card. McCurtis estimated that the first cards will be issued by the end of the month.

This process in other states has been a smooth one, reported Bruce Mirken, spokesperson for the Marijuana Policy Project, which was among the principal sponsors of the legislative initiative in Michigan.

“Human beings, being the imperfect creatures that we are, there will certainly be a glitch somewhere along the line, but there is nothing at this point to be alarmed by,” Mirken said of the process thus far, which he observed through his organization’s communication with the MDCH. “There really seems to be a trend building of greater understanding that marijuana can have medical benefits for some very sick people and a greater understanding of the need to protect folks. … I think we’re at the point where it’s ceased to be controversial, and I’ve got to say, it’s about time.”

For more information about THCF, visit www.thc-foundation.com/michigan or call (248) 351-1746.

For more information about the medical marijuana program, visit www.michigan.gov/mmp or call (517) 373-6873.

Source: http://www.candgnews.com/Homepage-Articles/2009/4-1-09/Medical-marijuana...