cannabisnews.com: Pot as Medical Expense Disputed





Pot as Medical Expense Disputed
Posted by CN Staff on May 25, 2003 at 07:53:59 PT
By Michael Coit, Staff Writer
Source: Press Democrat
Sylvia Price hoped to open the door for other Californians with chronic ailments by tapping disability payments to buy medicinal marijuana. But Lake County social services officials are moving to shut the door, with a hearing set before a judge Friday."We're looking forward to it. We're all set for whatever takes place," said Price, of Clearlake, who will be joined at the hearing by her caregiver and longtime companion Terry Robl.
County officials have declined to discuss the case, even after Price waived her right to confidentiality."Our position is the same as it was the last time. We're not able to offer you any comment," said Carol Huchingson, Lake County social services director.Ten days after going public in April, Price received a notice from the county that she would no longer be allowed to deduct the cost of marijuana from her state workers compensation and federal disability income. Price is on a fixed income and the deduction makes her income low enough that she doesn't have to pay part of her costs under a state caregiver program.The notice cited federal drug laws prohibiting the sale or use of marijuana and stated Price must pay $430 toward her $1,300-a-month caregiver costs.Robl, as Price's caregiver under contract with the county, said he is allowed to purchase or grow and dispense marijuana. He contended that federal drug laws allow him as a "practitioner" to "administer" medical marijuana as allowed under state law."I'm simply following the law. This is just a little outside of the ordinary," Robl said. "Marijuana is a medicine for Sylvia. It might be a political issue for someone else, but for her it's an issue of life or death."The case has the attention of state officials, who are waiting for the administrative law judge's ruling.State Department of Social Services officials are not aware of any similar case involving the 260,000 elderly and disabled in the state served by the caregiver program, which is known as In Home Support Services."A lot of terminally ill people use medical marijuana. And that's the population that IHSS serves. So this is an important case," said Andrew Roth, a department spokesman.The caregiver program does not provide a medicinal marijuana benefit.A potential alternative is marinol, a pill containing a synthetic form of THC, the psychoactive chemical found in marijuana. Medi-Cal, one of Price's government health care programs, allows doctors to prescribe the pill.But Price's doctor did not because of side effects she suffered from other medications. Instead, he wrote her a recommendation to acquire marijuana for medicinal use.Price, 55, smokes marijuana under California's medicinal pot law that voters approved in 1996. First diagnosed with lupus more than two decades ago, Price also suffers from osteoporosis, epileptic seizures, and a condition known as reflex sympathetic dystrophy syndrome.Price says the chronic pain syndrome is a result of her work as a massage therapist.A mother of three grown children, Price worked as a bank and legal secretary in San Francisco for more than a decade before training to work as a massage therapist.Price has been disabled since injuring her right hand at a Calistoga spa in 1992.She turned to medicinal marijuana after drug treatments, including Vicodin, opiate patches and spinal shots, often left her anxious and bedridden and caused seizures.Smoking marijuana daily helps balance the one drug Price does use, Keppra, to ease seizures. She also has a nerve stimulator implanted above her heart to help prevent seizures.He said he even paid taxes on the amount of money Price paid him to grow some of the marijuana she used last year, which amounted to about one-fifth of the total."We're trying to do the right thing," he said.Note: Judge to rule on Clearlake woman's right to deduct cost from state, federal income.Source: Press Democrat, The (CA)Author: Michael Coit, Staff WriterPubdate: May 25, 2003Copyright: 2003 The Press DemocratContact: letters pressdemo.comWebsite: http://www.pressdemo.com/Related Articles & Web Site:Medical Marijuana Information Linkshttp://freedomtoexhale.com/medical.htmMedicinal Pot Advocate in a Much Better Placehttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread15842.shtmlCannabisNews Medical Marijuana Archiveshttp://cannabisnews.com/news/list/medical.shtml 
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