Pubdate: Sun, 20 Mar 2011
Source: Honolulu Star-Advertiser (HI)
Copyright: 2011 Star Advertiser
Contact: 
http://www.staradvertiser.com/info/Star-Advertiser_Letter_to_the_Editor.html
Website: http://www.staradvertiser.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/5154
Author: Kristen Consillio
Bookmark: http://www.drugsense.org/cms/geoview/n-us-hi (Hawaii)

PROFITABLE POT

Isle Medical Cannabis Users Are Rising, and Some Doctors Are Charging 
High Fees to Certify Patients

Medical marijuana has become a lucrative business in Hawaii.

Legal users soared to more than 8,000 over the past decade from 255 
in 2001, the program's first year.

$38 million a year, with patients consuming an average of 1 ounce per 
month at a street price of $400.

It's a burgeoning business for doctors, who charge as much as $300 to 
certify medical marijuana patients. The consultation typically lasts 
an hour and often is not covered by medical insurance.

There were 175 physicians licensed to certify medical marijuana 
patients as of June, up from 35 in 2001, according to the Narcotics 
Enforcement Division of the state Department of Public Safety.

The state charges a $25 processing fee for a medical marijuana 
certificate. Patients are required to be certified annually.

Hawaii's medical marijuana law allows patients with a debilitating 
condition; such as cancer, AIDS, glaucoma, severe pain or nausea; to 
use the drug if they are certified by a physician registered with the 
state. It is still illegal to buy marijuana, but patients can grow it legally.

Matthew Brittain, a licensed clinical social worker and substance 
abuse counselor on the Big Island, has built a niche for himself 
referring potential medical cannabis users to doctors. Brittain has 
about 600 active patients and charges as much as $100 for referrals 
and handling the paperwork.

"We're in this to make money; I wouldn't spend the time if I weren't 
making money because I have to pay my bills," said Brittain, who also 
is a certified medical cannabis user for a degenerative back condition.

The Big Island, which has 13.6 percent of the state's population, 
accounts for 57.8 percent of the medical marijuana certificates.

Out-of-state doctors are also benefiting from the increase in Hawaii 
patients. Doctors from the Hemp & Cannabis Foundation, based in 
Portland, Ore., make frequent trips to the islands. The company 
charges $250 for a marijuana certificate, including the $25 state fee.

"There's a big market," said Keith Kamita, deputy director for law 
enforcement at the Department of Public Safety, which administers the 
medical marijuana program.

What concerns law enforcement officers is that certain doctors are 
willing to issue medical marijuana certificates to patients who are 
not suffering from major illnesses.

"Is there a true doctor-patient relationship, or are they just paying 
a fee to smoke marijuana?" Kamita asked. "There are some questionable 
practices."

Kamita said the bulk of marijuana permits are for residents in their 
20s and 30s, most of whom cite severe pain as their medical condition.

"We know that the ages are younger and we're getting more and more 
minors ... which concerns us," Kamita said. "Because the term is so 
broad, doctors are interpreting it in their own manner. We don't see 
what their diagnosis is. It's not what the original (law) was 
intended for. It was touted as this would be a last-resort type of 
drug, but that's not the case."

Dr. Jim Berg, a Big Island physician, has issued the most marijuana 
certificates since the law was passed, according to state records. 
The Narcotics Enforcement Division records showed Berg had authorized 
2,957 certificates as of June 2010.

Berg disputed that number, but said he doesn't keep count. He said he 
typically charges between $125 and $150 per office visit.

Once the marijuana certificate is issued, patients in Hawaii have to 
break the law to acquire the drug. Buying marijuana or the seeds to 
grow the plant is illegal even with a certificate. Certified patients 
or caregivers can jointly grow seven plants; three mature and four 
immature, or nonflowering; and have up to 1 ounce of usable marijuana 
per mature plant.

"What they've done is created a law that makes somebody break it in 
order for the law to be fulfilled. It's a Catch-22," Berg said. "An 
unbelievably high percentage of my patients are extremely law-abiding 
patients. People who are coming for medical marijuana usually want to 
be legal; they're trying to do what the state wants them to do."

Patients or their caregivers often end up buying pot, paying as much 
as $400 an ounce.

"When I can't grow it ... I spend (money) or I don't walk," said Teri 
Heede, a 55-year-old Makakilo resident and retired computer engineer 
suffering from multiple sclerosis, which causes her frequent 
blindness and immobility. "There is no other way to purchase it, 
except illegally, so there is no legal mechanism for us to comply 
with the law."

Heede said she used to take 25 to 30 pills a day to alleviate her 
condition. Now she uses at least one-eighth of an ounce daily and 
virtually no pills.

"Marijuana holds it at bay and in some cases totally alleviates it," 
said Heede, who has lobbied lawmakers for the past two years to 
establish marijuana dispensaries in Hawaii. "Pills weren't working."

Medical marijuana advocates are pushing to make it easier for 
patients to buy the drug. A bill to allow the distribution of medical 
marijuana through a single Maui dispensary, or "compassion center," 
for five years as a pilot program passed out of two committees in the 
state Legislature last week. It would also establish a 30 percent tax 
on medical marijuana products.

Fifteen states and the District of Columbia have medical marijuana 
programs. In many states, the industry is growing rapidly with new 
fields emerging for cutters, growers, rippers, testers and so-called 
bud tenders, who help patients choose the right strain of weed for 
their illness.

Illegal cannabis sales nationwide are estimated at $35 billion to $40 
billion, according to the National Organization for the Reform of 
Marijuana Laws in Washington, D.C.

The United Food & Commercial Workers Union, Local 5, in California 
has organized 200 medical cannabis members and has another 400 
workers whose collective bargaining contracts still must be 
negotiated, said Dan Rush, Local 5 cannabis division director.

In California, the nonprofit medical cannabis companies "generate a 
tremendous amount of revenue, which makes them willing to want to pay 
their workers well," Rush said.

The union has recognition agreements with cannabis companies that 
will be employing another 2,100 people in California within the next 
year, Rush said. "What we're trying to do is take that from the black 
market and bring it to the open market."

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VARYING LAWS

Fifteen states and Washington, D.C., have medical marijuana programs, 
but laws vary from state to state:

California has legalized medical marijuana sales with retail 
dispensaries and home delivery services available in certain 
counties. About a dozen counties or cities in California tax medical 
marijuana products. Most recently, Los Angeles passed a tax measure.

Marijuana sales are illegal in Hawaii, Alaska, Washington, Oregon, 
Nevada, Michigan, Vermont and Montana. People can possess or grow a 
small amount in those states, but not purchase it.

State-sanctioned marijuana sales are legal in Colorado, New Mexico, 
Rhode Island, New Jersey, Maine, Arizona and the District of Columbia.

In Maryland, if people are arrested for possession of the drug, they 
can use medical necessity as a defense.

Source: National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws

[sidebar]

LEGISLATIVE EFFORTS

Bills related to medical marijuana that are still alive in the Legislature:

HB 1085: Makes Hawaii statutes on controlled substances consistent 
with federal laws and increases fee for registration.

SB 1458: Creates a five-year pilot program with one medical marijuana 
dispensary on Maui.

SB 1460: Decriminalizes an ounce or less of marijuana.

SB 175: Moves medical marijuana program from Department of Public 
Safety to Department of Health.
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MAP posted-by: Richard Lake