Pubdate: Tue, 18 Aug 2015
Source: USA Today (US)
Copyright: 2015 USA TODAY, a division of Gannett Co. Inc
Contact: http://mapinc.org/url/625HdBMl
Website: http://www.usatoday.com/printedition/news/index.htm
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/466
Authors: Katie Campbell, Anne M. Shearer, Lauren Del Valle and Rilwan 
Balogun, News21
Note: Katie Campbell, Anne M. Shearer, Lauren Del Valle and Rilwan 
Balogun AnneM.Shearer is an Ethics and Excellence in Journalism 
Foundation Fellow. Rilwan Balogun is a John and Patty Williams 
Fellow. This report is part of a project on the politics and issues

MEDICAL MARIJUANA RULES VARY WIDELY STATE TO STATE

Federal Authorities Outlaw It, So Areas Set Their Own Regulations

To be considered qualified for medical marijuana, patients under all 
24 programs must be diagnosed with an approved condition by a physician.

After waiting in line for hours at a booth during a medical marijuana 
convention in San Francisco, Jeff Harrington needed only a twominute 
consultation and a written recommendation to become a medical 
marijuana patient in California. He can legally purchase and possess 
marijuana from any one of thousands of marijuana businesses in the state.

Across the country in Connecticut, an established physician-patient 
relationship is required before patients are deemed qualified for 
medical marijuana, and only licensed pharmacists can own and operate 
dispensaries.

Between these two extremes, a News21 investigation found there are as 
many ways to deal with medical marijuana as there are states that 
have legalized it. News21 is a Carnegie-Knight national student 
reporting project based at Arizona State University's Walter Cronkite 
School of Journalism.

As the federal government continues its prohibition of marijuana, the 
District of Columbia and the 23 states that have legalized marijuana 
for medical use have been left to write the rules and regulations on 
their own.

The process has resulted in wide variances and contradictions in 
states' approaches to everything from possession limits and lab 
testing to how people qualify as medical marijuana patients.

In Vermont, a medical marijuana patient is allowed only two mature 
plants and 2 ounces of marijuana. In Washington state, a patient can 
have 15 plants and 24 ounces of prepared marijuana.

In some states, such as New Mexico, there is no fee for a medical 
marijuana card, while others, such as Minnesota, charge up to $200. 
Some states do not tax medicinal marijuana. Others charge a sales tax 
or a specific tax on marijuana products, as much as 37% in Washington state.

Because marijuana remains a Schedule 1 drug, federal agencies do not 
offer any guidance or medical protocol for state medical marijuana programs.

"Based on the research to date, the Food and Drug Administration has 
not recognized or approved the marijuana plant as medicine," said 
Mario Moreno Zepeda, spokesperson for the White House Office of 
National Drug Control Policy. "However, research on marijuana 
extracts, called cannabinoids, has led to FDA-approved medications."

FDA approval of marijuana would require "carefully conducted studies 
(clinical trials) in hundreds to thousands of human subjects to 
determine the benefits and risks of a possible medication," according 
to the National Institute on Drug Abuse.

The News21 analysis of medical marijuana programs across the country 
shows states differ on what health conditions qualify a patient for 
medical marijuana, and little research has been done to determine 
whether marijuana or its derivatives effectively treat those 
conditions. AIDS, cancer and chronic pain qualify as conditions for 
medical marijuana treatment in more than 20 states. Traumatic brain 
injury qualifies only in New Hampshire, and Tourette's syndrome 
qualifies only in New Mexico.

To qualify for medical marijuana, patients under all 24 programs must 
be diagnosed with an approved condition by a physician. The standards 
for physician evaluations vary. The San Francisco doctor Harrington 
saw legally certified him for medical marijuana even though the 
consultation took less than five minutes, and Harrington was one of 
hundreds seen that day.

A single physician in New Jersey has approved more than 1,000 of that 
state's 4,000-plus medical marijuana patients. In Washington state, 
at least 12 doctors have faced penalties for operating socalled mills 
at which they recommended medical marijuana for large numbers of 
people, according to Donn Moyer, a spokesman from the state health department.

Anthony Anzalone, the New Jersey doctor who paved the way for so many 
of the state's medical marijuana patients, is a former gynecologist 
who left his practice to evaluate patients. He said he wants to see 
patients have access to medical marijuana, even if he has to dig for a reason.

"Patients say, 'Oh, I have post-traumatic stress.' I say, 
'Unfortunately, the state will not allow it at this point in time. 
However, tell me more. Do you have any kind of GI (gastrointestinal) 
problem - irritable bowel (syndrome)?' " Anzalone said.

He said the idea is to make people feel better - not high.

"If you are not getting approved for medical marijuana in New Jersey, 
you are going to the wrong doctor," said Anzalone's patient 
counselor, Kevin Long.

Connecticut is the only state that treats medical marijuana like any 
other pharmaceutical.

Jonathan Harris, commissioner of the Department of Consumer 
Protection, said it's "the only state in the nation that has a true 
medical marijuana program."

Once patients are approved by a doctor and registered through Harris' 
department, they must obtain their marijuana from one of six 
dispensaries owned and operated by licensed pharmacists.

When Laurie Zrenda, a pharmacist of 27 years, opened her dispensary 
in Uncasville, Conn., patients were handing her hundreds of dollars 
in cash. "And then, I realized they were paying their drug dealers 
all of this money before," she said.

Her dispensary, Thames Valley Alternative Relief, serves 515 
patients. "I didn't realize how widely used (marijuana) was for so 
many other conditions," she said.

Eight states - Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Maryland, Minnesota, 
New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York - and the District of Columbia 
require patients to use dispensaries rather than allowing home cultivation. 
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom