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Patients Who Qualify Will Receive a Registration Card Which Allows Them to Possess 12 Plants and 2 1/2 Ounces of Marijuana.
People who want to obtain marijuana for medical purposes, such as treating chronic pain or nausea, can start applying for registration cards from the state Health Department. Cardholders will be protected from prosecution by state authorities for growing or possessing small quantities of the otherwise illegal drug.
An application form was posted online yesterday at Medical Marijuana Program (MMP) . Forms are also available in Room 104 at the Health Department, 3 Capitol Hill, Providence.
In response to complaints at a February hearing, the Health Department lowered the annual registration fee for the card for certain needy people. People who are enrolled in the state Medicaid health plan for the poor or who receive disability benefits under the federal SSI ( Supplemental Security Income ) program will pay $10. Everyone else must pay $75.
Rhode Island became the 11th state to legalize marijuana for people with certain medical conditions when the legislature in January overrode the governor's veto.
The law gives the Health Department 30 days to process each application, but Charles Alexandre, chief of health professions regulation, said that verifying the information will probably take about two weeks. Then applicants will be asked to come to the Health Department to have a photo taken and get their cards.
The card will do nothing, however, to help people obtain the marijuana. It is assumed that people will buy seeds illegally and grow plants to meet their needs. The law specifies that each patient can have no more than 12 plants and 2 1/2 ounces of marijuana.
The card also does not protect people from federal prosecution. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled last year that federal drug-control laws supersede state laws legalizing marijuana.
Two categories of people may apply for the card: patients whose physicians certify that they have certain debilitating medical conditions ( including cancer, glaucoma, HIV infection, AIDS, hepatitis C, muscle spasms, Alzheimer's disease and others ), or a caregiver who will supply marijuana to a patient with a qualifying condition. Each caregiver can serve no more than five patients, and can possess no more than 12 plants and 2 1/2 ounces of marijuana for each patient.
Alexandre said the department mailed application forms to about two dozen people who had requested them after the law was passed. He couldn't predict how many more people would be interested. "It's kind of new to all of us," Alexandre said.
Source: Providence Journal, The (RI)
Copyright: 2006 The Providence Journal Company
Contact: letters@projo.com
Website: projo.com Rhode Island news | projo.com | The Providence Journal
People who want to obtain marijuana for medical purposes, such as treating chronic pain or nausea, can start applying for registration cards from the state Health Department. Cardholders will be protected from prosecution by state authorities for growing or possessing small quantities of the otherwise illegal drug.
An application form was posted online yesterday at Medical Marijuana Program (MMP) . Forms are also available in Room 104 at the Health Department, 3 Capitol Hill, Providence.
In response to complaints at a February hearing, the Health Department lowered the annual registration fee for the card for certain needy people. People who are enrolled in the state Medicaid health plan for the poor or who receive disability benefits under the federal SSI ( Supplemental Security Income ) program will pay $10. Everyone else must pay $75.
Rhode Island became the 11th state to legalize marijuana for people with certain medical conditions when the legislature in January overrode the governor's veto.
The law gives the Health Department 30 days to process each application, but Charles Alexandre, chief of health professions regulation, said that verifying the information will probably take about two weeks. Then applicants will be asked to come to the Health Department to have a photo taken and get their cards.
The card will do nothing, however, to help people obtain the marijuana. It is assumed that people will buy seeds illegally and grow plants to meet their needs. The law specifies that each patient can have no more than 12 plants and 2 1/2 ounces of marijuana.
The card also does not protect people from federal prosecution. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled last year that federal drug-control laws supersede state laws legalizing marijuana.
Two categories of people may apply for the card: patients whose physicians certify that they have certain debilitating medical conditions ( including cancer, glaucoma, HIV infection, AIDS, hepatitis C, muscle spasms, Alzheimer's disease and others ), or a caregiver who will supply marijuana to a patient with a qualifying condition. Each caregiver can serve no more than five patients, and can possess no more than 12 plants and 2 1/2 ounces of marijuana for each patient.
Alexandre said the department mailed application forms to about two dozen people who had requested them after the law was passed. He couldn't predict how many more people would be interested. "It's kind of new to all of us," Alexandre said.
Source: Providence Journal, The (RI)
Copyright: 2006 The Providence Journal Company
Contact: letters@projo.com
Website: projo.com Rhode Island news | projo.com | The Providence Journal
