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Cannabis Campaigners' Guide News Database result:
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US: Few Use Medical Marijuana
ccguide Saturday 30 Nov 2002 Pubdate: Sat, 30 Nov 2002 Source: Anchorage Daily News (AK) Contact Website: http://www.adn.com/ Forum: http://www.adn.com/forums/ Address: P.O. Box 149001, Anchorage, AK 99514 Fax: Fax (907) 264-8794 Copyright: 2002 The Anchorage Daily News GAO: FEW USE MEDICAL MARIJUANA REGISTER: Most Are 40 Or Older, Use Drug For MS, Muscle Spasms Or Pain. Washington -- Few people have registered to use medical marijuana in Alaska and three other states with a drug-law exemption, and of those who have, more than 70 percent are 40 or older, according to a government study released Friday. The General Accounting Office, responding to a congressman's request, looked at the experiences of Alaska, California, Hawaii and Oregon. They are among at least eight states that have passed laws exempting certain patients from state prohibitions on marijuana use. The laws, mostly the result of voter initiatives, are in conflict with federal drug law, which doesn't allow marijuana use for any purpose. Alaskans overwhelmingly approved its initiative in 1998, despite arguments from many that it would lead to widespread marijuana use and encourage youngsters to smoke pot. The Alaska Legislature later added a requirement that users register. Alaska patients need documentation from a doctor stating that they suffer from a debilitating medical condition and that marijuana could help them. The state issues identification cards to qualified users. Alaska has 190 people on its registry, which amounts to 0.03 percent of the state population -- slightly below the average found by the GAO. Of the four state laws the GAO looked at, only California does not require patients to register. Alaska does not track the ailments of the people on its registry, but data from Oregon and Hawaii show that multiple sclerosis and other muscle-spasm disorders are the most common conditions among medical marijuana users, followed by severe pain. In Oregon, the only state to keep detailed records on doctors' participation, 435 licensed physicians -- 3 percent of the state's doctors -- had recommended marijuana to patients who chose to register. Most had recommended it for only one patient. One doctor, though, issued recommendations for 823 patients, and the state medical board stepped in to temporarily suspend his license. Several high-profile federal busts of California marijuana dispensaries have put a spotlight on the conflict between state and federal marijuana law. But the authors of the GAO report said they found no useful data to show whether the medical marijuana laws were affecting arrest or prosecution rates. Their interviews suggested few registered users had occasion to present their cards to police. The GAO interviewed people at 37 federal, state and local law-enforcement offices, including the Alaska State Troopers, the Anchorage Police Department and the district attorney's office in Anchorage. "Officials representing 21 of the organizations we contacted indicated the medical marijuana laws had had little impact on their law enforcement activities for a variety of reasons, including very few or no encounters involving medical marijuana registry cards or claims of a medical marijuana defense,' the report says. A top official at the Alaska State Troopers drug unit told the GAO he'd never run into anyone using the card as a defense. Law enforcers, though, clearly have concerns about medicinal use of marijuana. More than one-third of those interviewed told the GAO the laws could make it more difficult to prosecute some marijuana cases. Many also said the laws soften the public's attitude toward the drug. "For example, state troopers in Alaska said that they believe the law has desensitized the public to the issue of marijuana, reflected in fewer calls to report illegal marijuana activity than they once received," the report says. "Hawaiian officers state that it is their view that Hawaii's law may send the wrong message because people may believe that the drug is safe or legal." Medical marijuana appears to have inspired at least one Anchorage crime. In May, armed and masked robbers burst into an Anchorage apartment, bound the two occupants and fled with five marijuana plants. One of the victims was a 51-year-old AIDS patient with a state registration card. To see the report: (http://www.gao.gov/cgi-bin/getrpt) www.gao.gov/cgi-bin/getrpt?GAO-03-189 - --- MAP posted-by: SHeath(DPFFlorida)
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