Pubdate: Tue, 25 Jan 2005
Source: Burlington Free Press (VT)
Copyright: 2005 Burlington Free Press
Contact:  http://www.burlingtonfreepress.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/632
Author: Nancy Remsen, Free Press Staff Writer
Cited: Marijuana Policy Project ( www.mpp.org )
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mmj.htm (Cannabis - Medicinal)

MEDICAL MARIJUANA AID LAUNCHED

MONTPELIER -- Mark Tucci, 48, traveled to the Statehouse from his home
in Manchester Center at least a dozen times in recent years to explain
why he and others who suffer from severely debilitating illnesses
should have legal protections if they choose marijuana to ease their
disease symptoms.

Having helped win passage of a law that provides a narrow protection
to those who use marijuana as a medication, Tucci now finds he can't
afford the $100 annual fee to register for the required identification
card.

"It's a week's worth of groceries," said Tucci, a former French chef
and house painter who no longer works because of his multiple
sclerosis. He and his two teenage sons get by on his Social Security
disability checks.

The Vermont Marijuana Policy Project has set up a fund to assist Tucci
and other Vermonters who want, but cannot afford, the protection of
the state's new marijuana registry. State director Nancy Lynch
established a financial aid program using a $2,000 donation from the
national Marijuana Policy Project Foundation.

"We suspected there might be a problem," Lynch said, noting that
despite many inquiries, only a handful of people applied to be on the
state's marijuana registry since it launched in October. "We heard it
from enough people that we knew there was an issue."

Five people have completed the required forms and received approval
for their identification cards, according to Francis Aumand, who
oversees the registry as director of the division of criminal services
in the Department of Public Safety.

Vermont's program doesn't legalize marijuana use. Rather it promises
participants they won't face prosecution for using or possessing small
amounts of marijuana if they have state identity cards that prove they
meet eligibility standards.

To qualify, Tucci and others must file statements from their
physicians that verify they have one of the medical conditions
specified in law -- terminal cancer or AIDS, or debilitating and
intractable symptoms caused by cancer, AIDS or multiple sclerosis or
the treatments for these diseases. Under Vermont's law, doctors aren't
asked and don't have to agree that marijuana is an appropriate treatment.

Registered participants may grow small amounts of marijuana for their
own use or register a caregiver who would grow the plants for them.
Caregivers must pass a criminal background check.

Lynch is looking for donations to supplement the $2,000 provided by
the Marijuana Policy Project Foundation, which has promoted legal
leniency for medical marijuana across the country. She said she will
award assistance to Vermonters whose income falls below 150 percent of
the federal poverty level. For a single individual, 150 percent of the
federal poverty level would be an income of less than $14,280 a year.

"We hope to make sure that no Vermont patient has to risk arrest and
jail because they can't afford to register," Lynch said. She advises
prospective participants to forward their completed forms to her with
evidence of their need. She will attach a check to all the
applications that qualify and submit the forms to the state. She will
mail Tucci's application and a check this week.

Tucci said he still has to come up with $500 or more for the
equipment, including lights, to grow his future supply of marijuana.
He hopes for the day when marijuana will be just another medicine sold
at the local pharmacy.

Tucci turned to marijuana, he said, after narcotics and steroids
failed to relieve the pain and muscle spasms that wake him early each
morning. "I have to have it," Tucci said of his daily puffs on a
marijuana cigarette. "It keeps me able to function."
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MAP posted-by: Derek