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State now accepting applications for medicinal marijuan

By Noah Fowle News-Review Staff Writer
Monday, April 6, 2009 9:09 AM EDT

Michigan residents can now begin applying for identification cards that give them the right to use marijuana as medicine through the Michigan Medicinal Marihuana Program.

Those wishing to seek the treatment must mail an official recommendation from a doctor to the Michigan Department of Community Health, complete an application form and submit a $100 application fee.

Applications should be mailed to Michigan Department of Community Health, Medical Marihuana Registry P.O. Box 30083 Lansing, Mich. 48909.

The state agency is expecting an influx of applications and has only 15-days to turn accepted applications into identification cards.

Those with cancer, glaucoma, HIV/AIDS, Hepatitis C, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, Crohn’s disease, agitation of Alzheimer’s disease, nail patella are eligible to apply for the right to use marijuana. So is anyone with debilitating conditions that produce wasting syndrome, severe nausea, severe and chronic pain, seizures and spasms.
The proposal, which passed with 63 percent of support from Michigan voters on Nov. 4, 2008, allows patients and caregivers to possess up to 2-and-half ounces of useable marijuana in addition to owning up to 12 plants. According to the proposal, those plants must be in an “enclosed, locked facility.” Patients with serious medical conditions can raise a medical defense in court.

Although the law prohibits doctors from being prosecuted or arrested for signing certified recommendations for the marijuana, until federal law is changed they cannot prescribe the drug. Under current law medicinal users still may not smoke marijuana in public, nor can they drive while under the influence of marijuana.

For more official information on the program, click here.

Those without Internet access can also call the Michigan Medical Marihuana Registry at (517) 373-0395.

Noah Fowle439-9374 - nfowle@petoskeynews.com


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