cannabisnews.com: Medical Pot Applicants Put on Hold





Medical Pot Applicants Put on Hold
Posted by CN Staff on April 02, 2004 at 09:03:57 PT
By Bill Kettler, Mail Tribune
Source: Medford Mail Tribune 
Seventy-three Southern Oregon residents who applied for state medical marijuana cards during the past few months will have to find a new doctor to certify their need. They’ll have plenty of company. About 500 applicants statewide who were initially approved by Dr. Phillip Leveque have been put on hold after Leveque’s medical license was revoked March 4 by the state Board of Medical Examiners.
The board determined that Leveque was "grossly negligent" in approving applications for medical marijuana and posed an "imminent risk to public health and safety." The Board of Medical Examiners ruled that Leveque cannot sign any statements for patients who want to use medical marijuana, including so-called "verification" letters that state officials send to physicians to confirm that they are in fact treating the patients whose applications they have signed.Marijuana is an illegal drug in the same class with heroin and the psychedelic drug LSD under federal law, but state law allows patients who have one of nine conditions (such as multiple sclerosis, HIV, severe pain, frequent nausea or seizures) to possess marijuana and use it as medicine if they have obtained a physician’s approval. A doctor must evaluate a patient’s condition and sign a form before a card is issued. Leveque, a Molalla osteopath, has been an outspoken advocate of using marijuana as medicine, and he called on the medical establishment to recognize the plant’s medicinal role. Leveque has visited Grants Pass and Medford over the past 18 months to see patients who could not find a local physician who would approve their application. He described his support for medical marijuana as "a moral obligation" when he visited Medford in 2002."If I can help somebody, I will," he said. "That’s why I’m a physician."Letters were mailed Thursday from Portland to the people whose applications are now considered to be "pending," said Dr. Grant Higginson, state public health officer in the Department of Human Services. They will have three options: find another physician to certify their application; withdraw their application; or do nothing.Higginson said the state cannot assist people in finding a new physician because the Oregon Medical Marijuana Program does not take a position for or against medical use of cannabis. Finding a new doctor "is going to be a hardship for a lot of people," said Geri Kulp, an Applegate woman who has helped people obtain medical marijuana cards. "They’ll just have to spend more time and money (to find a new physician) and if they don’t do that they’ll be in jeopardy (of criminal prosecution)."Higginson said people whose applications are now pending will have 90 days to obtain new attending physicians to sign their applications. Those who have pending applications on file are protected from legal consequences for 90 days (until July 2, 2004).As of Thursday, medical marijuana cards had been issued to 709 Jackson County residents and 507 people in Josephine County. Taken together, the two counties account for 13.5 percent of the 8,975 cards that have been issued. With a population of about 250,000, the two counties represent about 7 percent of Oregon’s 3.5 million residents.An activist who supports legalizing marijuana said his organization and several other groups are considering legal action to prevent the Department of Human Services from rejecting the applications that were approved by Leveque before his medical license was revoked.John Sajo, of Voter Power, said state officials may have failed to process many of those 500 applications within the 30 days that are allowed under state law. "If they’d issued those cards in a timely fashion this wouldn’t have come up," Sajo said. "Does he (Leveque) need a license to verify that he had a license?"Note: Authorizing doctor for 73 applicants has had his license revoked.Source: Medford Mail Tribune (OR)Author: Bill Kettler, Mail TribunePublished: April 2, 2004 Copyright: 2004 The Mail TribuneContact: letters mailtribune.comWebsite: http://www.mailtribune.com/Related Articles & Web Sites:Voter Powerhttp://www.voterpower.org/SOMM-NEThttp://www.somm-net.org/State Suspends 'Marijuana Doctor' Levequehttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread18450.shtmlOregon Doctors License Suspended for Cardshttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread18446.shtmlOregon Doctor Stands Out in MMJ Prescriptionhttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread11960.shtml
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Comment #3 posted by FoM on April 02, 2004 at 15:47:11 PT
Related Article from The Associated Press
Medical Marijuana Applicants Put on Hold The Associated Press April 2, 2004EUGENE, Ore. (AP) — More than 500 applications for medical marijuana are being held up because the state has suspended the license of the doctor who signed them. Dr. Phillip Leveque was suspended last month by the state Board of Medical Examiners after the board ruled he posed an "imminent risk" to his patients.The state mailed letters Thursday to the 500-plus applicants saying they must find a new doctor to verify they have a medical condition treatable with marijuana. The deadline is July 2.Because of the circumstances, state officials are giving applicants 90 days, rather than the usual 30 days, to find another doctor.Applicants also can withdraw their applications and get their fees refunded, or do nothing until the July 2 deadline. Under the law, applicants are exempt from prosecution while awaiting approval or denial of their applications.Medical marijuana advocacy groups were upset when they learned of the state's action."We're outraged by this act by the health department, which we believe is clearly illegal," said John Sajo, director of Voter Power, a Portland-based group. "We will do everything we can to challenge this action. I expect there will be more than one lawsuit related to this."Voter Power sponsored clinics along the Interstate 5 corridor where Leveque would examine patients and sign their applications.Todd Dalotto, who runs the Compassion Center, a medical marijuana resource organization in Eugene, said the state's action appears to violate state law."If the doctor's license was in effect at the time he signed the attending physician statement, that should be honored," he said.Rather than punishing all of Leveque's patients, state officials should examine applications on a case-by-case basis and withhold only those suspected to be issued in error, he said.Dalotto predicted that the state's decision would pose a hardship for many patients."Patients have gone to Dr. Leveque because their own physicians have been unwilling to sign for them," he said, "so it will be difficult to get their own physician to sign or to start a relationship with another physician."Copyright: 2004 The Associated Press
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Comment #2 posted by FoM on April 02, 2004 at 09:57:55 PT
SystemGoneDown
I missed it because I was trying to figure out why I couldn't get in my web form. I'm sorry I missed it. They are talking about it on this thread.http://www.cannabisnews.com/news/thread18574.shtml
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Comment #1 posted by SystemGoneDown on April 02, 2004 at 09:51:16 PT
Peter Jennings
Did anybody see his 1hour story on Ecstacy? It was pretty interesting. The government exaggerating facts with scare tactics about Ecstacy. Sound familiar?
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