V V V V V V V V V i -W _w- 7^ _w -7W._ -w v -W w v 4B The Michigan Daily - Wednesday, September 23, 2009 Wednesday, September 23, 2009 - The Michigan Daily 51B 16 A I I I - n the afternoon of Aug. 11, Domin- ick's was as bustling as could be expected on a sunny summer's day. With barely a table available on the back patio, the tin of friendly chatter and the tinkling of sangria-filled jars created a lighthearted atmosphere. But tucked away in the far back, a much more seri- ous conversation was going on. There, people from all walks of life had come together to discuss their one unifying factor: the desire to treat themselves or others with medical marijuana. While from the outside seeming like a casual gathering like any other taking place on the patio, this meeting of the Michigan Marijuana Patient Collective was anything but carefree. Nearly all of the 30 or so participants suffered from a debilitating condition, from leukemia to chronic migraines. Some people were so ill they said they barely leave their homes except for doctor appointments. But for registered patients, such meet- ings are one of the only available means to figure out how to get marijuana. Michigan took a progressive step when voters approved the Michigan Compassionate Care Initiative last November. But in some crucial ways, the program is out of touch with needs of the patients it serves. Michigan isn't alone - out of the 13 states that admin- ister medical marijuana programs, only California provides a means for dispens- ing to patients through cannabis phar- macies. Dennis Hayes, an Ann Arbor lawyer who specializes in drug law, said that states declined to operate dispensa- ry systems to avoid being direct suppli- ers in the face of federal laws prohibiting marijuana. "One of the problems is that the state can't encourage people to act collective- ly," Hayes said. "The reason is no state can publicly endorse breaking a federal law." But chances that the War on Drugs will heat back up and target medical marijuana are slim to none. Following California's example, states could - and many people say, should - provide guid- ance for marijuana patients who, by vir- tue of being approved for the program, have serious conditions that make extra help all the more valuable. As it stands right now, the Michigan Medical Marijuana Program presents a catch-22 for patients: You can smoke weed, but it's up to you to figure out how. Vague regulations governing the pro- gram also induce anxiety for patients who are afraid that in trying to get their medicine, they'll run afoul of state drug laws. EELING LIKE A CRIMINAL Even though marijuana is now legal for thousands of people in Michigan, registered patients are still skittish about speaking outright about it. All patients and caregivers interviewed for this story asked that their full names not be printed so as not to draw attention to their activities. Several people talked about how smoking marijuana still feels illicit even with a registered patient card in pocket. The same people who passed around lit pipes at the Dominick's meeting were unwilling to be identified as marijuana smokers to the outside world. Some cited the stigma attached to the vilified sub- stance. "We're from the Reagan Drug War era," a patient named Kirk said. "This is crazy." But besides a residual feeling of guilt surrounding marijuana, there are other more tangible threats dogging patients and caregivers. The Michigan Medi- cal Marijuana Program has only been operational since April, which means the nuances of the law are not yet well known by both patients and law enforc- ers. A patient couple in Madison Heights ranintotrouble in March whenthe police raided their house and confiscated 21 plants, The Detroit News reported. The two had been approved by a physician as patients but were waiting to receive their cards in the mail. A judge later dis- missed the charges and derided the new marijuana law for its lack of clarity, say- ing it was the "worst piece of legislation (he) has ever seen in (his) life." The problem comes down to the law's guidelines, which initially seem clear but become confusing when applied to the transfer of marijuana from caregiver to patient. The law stipulates that a care- giver may possess up to 2.5 ounces of usable marijuana and 12 plants for each of up to five patients. A patient who has authorized a caregiver to grow mari- juana may possess 2.5 ounces of usable product. But does that mean that 5 ounc- es can be held in the name of one patient, or just 2.5? It may seem like splitting hairs, but patients feel like they need to be as care- ful as possible. They do live in a state that has a long history of throwing the book at marijuana offenders. Ann Arbor lawyer Dennis Hayes knows just how bent against marijuana the courts can be. Hayes has worked on drug law since 1972, when he helped create Ann Arbor's infamous pot law - which instituted a small fine as the maximum punishment for marijuana possession in the city. He represented defendants in drug cases until the '90s, when he stopped taking those cases out of frustration toward the war on drugs. But as soon as Hayes heard about the campaign to put medical marijuana on the 2008 ballot, he came back to the cause. The tide had turned for medical marijuana in Michigan, he said. Unlike less organized attempts to put it on the ballot, last year's movement had better leadership and wider support. "It was very clear when I saw what was going on with this one that these people had it together," Hayes said. The medical marijuana law began as a grassroots effort, and deciding how the program will operate has also been a community affair. Before the medical marijuana program began, Hayes and many other advocates attended public hearings regarding proposed regulation guidelines. Advocates shut down plans to record the actions of caregivers and patients to an extent that could threaten privacy or incriminate them in the case of a federal investigation. "They first proposed that there be detailed inventories of who got what pot, when, from whom - very, very detailed tracking," Hayes said. "I guess the threshold issue here is that the state strongly opposed this leg to begin with." COMMUNITY IN LIEU OF PHAR7MACIES Michigan might not know how to treat marijuana users as anything but criminals. Since the state offers little PHOTOS BY SAM WOLSON/Daily (ABOVE) Joe, a leukemia patient, travels almost two hours from onia to be treated in the University Hospital. He uses marijuana to ease more moderate pain he generally feels on a daily basis. (LEFT) To have easier access to hard-to-find-medical marijuana, Joe is building a hydroponics grow room at his home and learning how to cultivate through websites and other sources. \ x : k _ assistance in obtaining medical mari- juana, a network of community support groups has helped patients get their needed drug. The Hemp and Cannabis Foundation, a marijuana advocacy group stationed in eight medical marijuana states, has already set up four clinics in Michigan designed to examine patients and issue recommendations for medical marijuana cards. The foundation not only educates patients about the effects of medical marijuana, but also advocates the legal- ization of marijuana for recreational and industrial use. Organizations like the Michigan Medical Marijuana Association main- tain websites with articles and forums to educate patients and caregivers. The Ann Arbor-based Association of Medi- cal Marijuana Caregivers is currently establishing a database that will locate available caregivers within a certaingeo- graphical area. The locator tool doesn't yet yield results, but the volunteer effort to help patients shows a system that is, in fact, rooted in compassion. "When you have someone who is chronically ill, you need to make it easy on them, not hard, to find their medica- tion," said Jacqueline Cooke, who vol- unteers for the Association of Medical Marijuana Caregivers. "You see a lot of blogs and a lot of forums with patients who just have these questions. Your heart just sort of goes out to them. It's just so difficult and it shouldn't be dif- ficult because it's legal." Hayes, the Ann Arbor lawyer, is also the co-founder of the Medical Marijua- na Patient Collective. He said he formed the group to help patients and caregiv- ers find each other, learn about growing techniques and compare experiences. For patients who were never recreation- al smokers, medical marijuana commu- nity meetings are invaluable in figuring out how to attain their medicine. At the Dominick's meeting in August, patients seemed split between people who had been already using marijuana to treat their pain previous to the ini- tiative and people who are just trying it now. One marijuana convert at the meet- ing was a professor at Eastern Michigan University, who asked to remain anony- mous to protect her reputation at work. Suffering from glaucoma, back pain and chronic headaches, the professor had been taking so much morphine that it interfered with her teaching. "It was such heavy doses," she said. "It just makes you sick. What would I do if I even had more pain?" The professor had never smoked marijuana except once in high school, but when a friend suggested she try marijuana, she found it suited her much better than the morphine. After being approved as a patient, she was able to find a caregiver at a patient meeting who would grow and harvest marijuana for her. Her caregiver, Brenda from Man- chester, Mich., was also at the Aug. 11 meeting. Sitting with her fiance Randy, a registered patient she also grows for, Brenda was on the lookout for prospec- tive patients. As a caregiver for both Randy and the EMU professor, Brenda can legally serve three more patients, which would allow her to grow 60 plants in total. She said she is considering mak- ing her caregiver service a full-time job. "The more and more people that I meet, the more that appeals to me," she said. PORTR AIT OF A PATIENT Among the networking patients and caregivers on the Dominick's patio was Joe, a leukemia patient at the Univer- sity Hospital. Joe was different from the others from the meeting. He wasn't trying to find a caregiver - he had been doing that for himself for years. He wasn't looking to become a caregiver. In fact, he hasn't even become a registered patient yet. Even though he has an obvious quali- fying condition, Joe hasn't applied for a card because he has been waiting to have a consultation with his main doc- tor at the University Hospital to get his approval. Earlier in the year, his doctor had been concerned about Joe smoking marijuana and inhaling chemicals on the buds. As a substitute, Joe was prescribed Marinol, which is a synthetic cannabinoid meant to mimic the effects of marijuana. But Joe said the drug was less effective and took longer to work - "I was going bon- kers," he said. Since being diagnosed with cancer in 2002, Joe has realized the place for medical marijuana in his pain manage- ment system. At first, he said, he turned to marijuana for the first time in years to deal with his feelings about his diagno- sis. But he soon learned that marijuana can't be used to avoid your problems. "You'll box it up and box it up, and sooner or later, your box is full and you have to deal with," he said. "It doesn't work. I've tried." Joe now uses marijuana for moderate daily pain that doesn't require some- thing as heavy as morphine. It helps him overcome nausea, develop an appe- tite and get on with his life. For a can- cer patient as active as Joe, the ability to lessen pain without getting bogged down by heavy-duty pain killers makes for a more fulfilling life. That is why he is working on a project that he hopes will placate his doctor's concerns about street-bought marijua- na while keeping his medicine always at hand: his own organic hydroponics grow room. See PAGE 8B v.