cannabisnews.com: Cloud Hangs Over Debut of Medical Marijuana





Cloud Hangs Over Debut of Medical Marijuana
Posted by FoM on June 02, 2001 at 07:18:44 PT
By Karen Auge, Denver Post Medical Writer
Source: Denver Post
Doreen Bishop may soon be able to legally smoke marijuana in Colorado. The 52-year-old was first in line when the state health department opened its doors Friday, the first day of Colorado's new medical-marijuana law. After submitting her paperwork and $140 application fee, Bishop should get her medical marijuana ID card in the mail in about a week. But Bishop, who says smoking eases the lingering pain from colon cancer surgery, won't be the first on the state's new medical-pot registry. 
Brooks Kelly, a 39-year-old scientist who says he suffers from tumors that cause chronic pain, lays claim to that honor. Kelly, like seven other Coloradans, had mailed in his application before Friday. Amendment 20 allows people who suffer from certain debilitating illnesses and have a doctor's recommendation to possess and use small amounts of marijuana - 2 ounces or six plants - to relieve their symptoms. But the amendment does not establish a mechanism for them to buy the marijuana, and physicians cannot prescribe it. Colorado is the ninth state to allow marijuana possession for medical purposes. But advocates fear the state's laws were jeopardized by a May 14 U.S. Supreme Court decision that concluded there is no exception in federal anti-drug laws for medical marijuana. Colorado Attorney Ken Salazar said the ruling does not invalidate Colorado's law. But he warned doctors Thursday that they could risk federal prosecution if they advise patients to use marijuana. Health department officials were prepared for the law to take effect Friday, and were ready for lines of applicants or mobs of protesters or both. Neither materialized. Only four applicants, including Bishop, showed up in person. And two of those came by to check on the status of applications they had mailed in days earlier. Health department official Gail Kelsey also fielded about two dozen phone inquiries about the program Friday, and mailed out 19 information packets. About 75 more packets had been sent out before Friday, according to the health department. The state expects about 800 applications over the next year. Kelsey spent the morning answering calls about the program and reviewing some of the eight applications she had gotten in the mail. "No," she told one caller, "we can't help you with the acquisition of the marijuana. You just have to kind of use your own resources for that." Kelsey also rejected one application Friday. Although Jerry Ives brought along copies of his medical records, he didn't have a doctor's signature on his application. Ives, who has debilitating headaches and seizures triggered by a brain injury he suffered while in the Army, is treated by doctors at the Veterans Affairs Medical Center. He hasn't asked his doctors to sign the application, Ives said, because they are federal employees, and he is afraid doing so would put them in jeopardy. Even though his application was rejected Friday, Ives said he still won't ask. "I"m not going to do anything against my doctor," Ives said. "I find it bizarre that the state government and the federal government are going head to head, and I'm stuck in the middle." Ives said he plans to look for a private-practice doctor willing to sign his application.Source: Denver Post (CO)Author: Karen Auge, Denver Post Medical WriterPublished: Saturday, June 02, 2001 Copyright: 2001 The Denver PostContact: letters denverpost.com Website: http://www.denverpost.com/Related Articles & Web Site:Coloradans For Medical Rights http://www.medicalmarijuana.com/A Ludicrous Protest http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread9937.shtmlMarijuana Program Begins Todayhttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread9928.shtmlPot Law Passes Muster, But Doctors Risk All http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread9925.shtmlOwens Warns Doctors Against Pot Prescriptionshttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread9920.shtml 
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Comment #1 posted by joy on June 02, 2001 at 16:51:22 PT:
CONGRATULATIONS!
It brought a tear to my eye when I read this story. I can only wait til' California will let us smoke legaly!
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