cannabisnews.com: Medical Marijuana Card System Still Has Barriers Medical Marijuana Card System Still Has Barriers Posted by FoM on February 03, 2002 at 17:07:36 PT By Steve Law Source: Statesman Journal Allen Giesbrecht of Salem has a state-issued card to use marijuana legally and help ease the pain of multiple sclerosis. But he doesn’t want to grow the herb at home around his 17-year-old son and feels compelled to buy it on the street.Craig Campbell of Silverton, who has fibro myalgia, thinks marijuana works far better than the narcotic medicines his doctors prescribe. But he’s having trouble finding a local physician to sign his medical marijuana card application. They brought their frustrations to a public forum in Salem on Saturday. The event revealed plenty of kinks in applying Oregon’s 1998 medical marijuana initiative.“Information about our great law has been extremely hard to come by,” said Stormy Ray, who led the initiative drive and created a nonprofit organization to assist medical marijuana users. The Stormy Ray Foundation, which opened a Salem office last fall, hosted the forum to bring together users and health and law enforcement professionals carrying out the law.The program has had its ups and downs, admitted Mary Leverette of the Oregon Health Division, who said she was brought in to help restore credibility to the state’s regulatory effort.Questions were raised after Molalla doctor Phillip Leveque signed 1,718 applications for medical marijuana cards — nearly half the statewide applications since the law went into effect in May 1999. He’s under investigation by the state board of medical examiners, and the health department decided last month to deny 319 of those applications.Lost was the fact that 777 different doctors have signed applications, Leverette said. “We think that’s a remarkable number.”Though some predicted the law would create havoc with drug law enforcement in Oregon, that doesn’t seem to have occurred — at least so far.“We haven’t had an issue with it in this area, which is a good thing,” said Lt. Ed Boyd of Salem Police Department.“We have almost no real experience with people being out of compliance,” concurred Kevin Neely, spokesman for the Oregon Department of Justice.Yet there’s still simmering resentment by patients about the rules for growing or obtaining the drug.“It’s very, very difficult to stay in compliance with the law and still have enough medication to medicate correctly,” said Jerry Wade, spokesman for the foundation.Still, it beats the alternative for many users.“I live in agonizing pain,” said Campbell, 37. “But the toxicities that the doctors have me on now will kill me in six to eight years.” By contrast, he said, marijuana “works wonderfully,” if he could only find a doctor to help him get some legally.Note: Patients have to search for the drug and a doctor to authorize it.Source: Statesman Journal (OR)Author: Steve LawPublished: February 03, 2002Copyright: 2002 Statesman JournalContact: letters statesmanjournal.comWebsite: http://www.statesmanjournal.com/Related Articles & Web Sites:Stormy Ray Foundationhttp://www.stormyray.org/Medicinal Cannabis Research Linkshttp://freedomtoexhale.com/research.htm300 Applicants Denied Medical Marijuana Cards http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread11852.shtmlMolalla Doctor Facing Disciplinehttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread11802.shtml Home Comment Email Register Recent Comments Help Post Comment