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| Medical Marijuana Network Sought |
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Posted by FoM on August 08, 2001 at 16:23:11 PT By Ed Vogel, Donrey Capital Bureau Source: Las Vegas Review-Journal 
Potential medical marijuana users said Tuesday they worry about finding doctors willing to let them use pot and obtain seeds to grow it. The handful of people who showed up at a workshop to discuss Nevada's medical marijuana program also said they want a way to communicate with other legal marijuana users. One Fallon woman, who declined to give her name, told Department of Agriculture representatives that there should be a medical marijuana newsletter or a group formed to let users share information. The Department of Agriculture is the state agency designated by the Legislature to carry out the medical marijuana program. Under a law passed in June, qualified patients suffering from AIDS, cancer, nausea and other illnesses may grow at many as seven marijuana plants with the permission of their doctors. The law goes into effect Oct. 1 and the Agriculture Department is gathering information from potential users that may become part of the program regulations. A similar workshop will be conducted at 1:30 p.m. Thursday in room 4401 of the Sawyer Building in Las Vegas. Cecile Crofoot, manger of the marijuana program, said the law does not allow her agency to reveal names of legal users of marijuana. But after hearing several potential users say they want to talk with each other and share information, Crofoot said she would try to accommodate them. She said legal users might sign written statements that their names could be given to other users. That way, a medical marijuana network could be created. "Networking will be the key to making this program a success," Agriculture Department Director Paul Iverson said. The 28-year-old Fallon woman said she needs marijuana to alleviate pain from spinal cord and nerve damage injuries she suffered when she fell 60 feet while rock climbing. "I am not currently using it," she said. "I have written off my doctor recommending marijuana. I just need to find a legitimate doctor willing to do it." Crofoot told her that doctors face no risk if they allow their patients to use marijuana. A signed statement by a physician is all that's needed for patient approval under the program. "Once doctors understand the program better I think they will be more willing," she said. Gary Brown, a 54-year-old Vietnam War veteran, said he wants to use marijuana to treat injuries he suffered in 1967 when he was shot during the war. "I am 70 percent disabled," he said. "The VA won't do anything with the medical marijuana program. I guess I will have to find another doctor." Brown and other potential users said they are concerned because the law provides them no legal way to acquire seeds. "Everything about getting started is illegal," he said. Numerous Web sites based in other countries offer seeds for sale, but purchasing them for shipment to the United States is illegal. Once they acquire seeds, marijuana is an easy plant to grow, according to Bob Gronowski, administrator of the Plant Industry Division of the Agriculture Department. Gronowski said the plant can be grown as a perennial and that one plant, properly treated, can supply all of a user's needs. Iverson said most people will grow plants indoors under grow lights. Note: Potential users go to workshop to find ways to acquire drug. Source: Las Vegas Review-Journal (NV) Related Articles & Web Site: Medicinal Cannabis Research Links Hearing Reveals Contradictions Surrounding Law Donation Boosts Medical Marijuana Program Medical Marijuana Program To Start Oct. 1 Home Comment Email Register Recent Comments Help |
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