MichiganRadio

An Update: Medical Marijuana in Michigan ANN ARBOR, MI (Michigan Radio) - Michigan's medical marijuana law took effect in April 2009, but some patients say getting the drug is still a problem.

Michigan's voters said yes in November 2008 to an initiative that
would allow people with certain medical conditions to grow and use marijuana.

That includes cancer, AIDS, multiple sclerosis and glaucoma, to name a few.

For 51-year-old Nick - who asked us not to use his last name -- the law meant relief from chronic pain he's suffered since he was injured in a car accident 15 years ago. He is unable to work and rarely leaves his Washtenaw County home.

"People think there are a lot of drugs that you can take for pain," he says. "Pain is one of the most common complaints of the citizens of the United States. But there really aren't. There are about four or five basic groups of drugs that they can give you, and each one of them has dangerous side effects when they're taken long-term."

Nick knows about those drugs. He's been dependent on opiates, including morphine and oxycontin -- for many years. He says marijuana helps him reduce his narcotics use by about 40 percent.

But Nick says finding a doctor to formally recommend medical marijuana for him was a challenge, because most simply aren't educated about the law, or don't want to be involved.

He eventually found Dr. Robert Kenewell in Troy.

Kenewell now specializes in evaluating patients who want to apply for a state permit to use medical marijuana.

"If you can put yourself in the shoes of someone who's truly suffering, the pain that becomes so severe that it occupies your every thought," Kenewell says. "You can't escape from it, no matter what you do, you can't hold a regular conversation with somebody, because no matter what you're talking about, your mind is constantly coming back to the pain. It's a really terrible way to live."

Linda Vanni is a nurse practitioner for the Karmanos Cancer Pain Service in Detroit.

She says Karmanos does not allow smoking of any kind on its premises -- and that includes marijuana. But the hospital does prescribe Marinol, a pill that contains THC, the active ingredient in marijuana.

But Vanni says it doesn't give the same sense of well-being that smoked or vaporized marijuana does.

She also says some patients get the drug without going through the state's registration process or having a registered caregiver grow it for them.

"Many of these people are senior citizens, so maybe not of the group that maybe had used marijuana in the past, when they were younger," Vanni says. "And I'll usually say something to the effect of, Would you like to share where you're getting it? And they'll usually say my grandchildren helped me get it."

Nick grows his own marijuana plants. But he doesn't understand why the state won't provide information on where to get seeds or clones of the plants.

Nick says Michigan Medical Marijuana Compassion Clubs do offer guidance.
He hopes the state's law will be streamlined to make it easier for patients to access the drug.

"Why do you want to hurt sick people? Some of these people are literally in the process of dying, he says. "They can't find relief any other way. You just can't imagine this unless you're experiencing it, and you don't experience it until it's too late to change your opinion."

The Michigan Department of Community Health says more than 17 thousand people applied for medical marijuana cards since April 2009.

About 9 thousand registrations have been issued, and just under four thousand caregiver registrations have been issued.

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