Pubdate: Tue, 30 Jul 2013
Source: Washington Post (DC)
Copyright: 2013 The Washington Post Company
Contact: http://mapinc.org/url/mUgeOPdZ
Website: http://www.washingtonpost.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/491
Author: Mike Debonis

1ST LEGAL DOSE OF POT DISPENSED IN D.C.

The 15-year struggle to legalize medical marijuana in the District 
ended like this: A 51-year-old Northwest resident entered a North 
Capitol Street rowhouse Monday evening and emerged 90 minutes later 
with slightly less than a half-ounce of street-legal, high-grade, 
D.C.-grown cannabis.

Shortly before 6 p.m., Alonzo walked into the high-security sales 
room of the Capital City Care dispensary with two store employees to 
consummate the city's first legal marijuana deal in at least 75 
years. He purchased about $250 worth of three strains of cannabis.

"It's a beautiful natural product that is from rain, sun and soil," 
Alonzo said, wearing a dark T-shirt with a green logo of a cannabis 
leaf over a medical cross. "Mother Nature doesn't make mistakes."

Alonzo agreed to share his experiences navigating the District's 
medical marijuana system on the condition that he be identified only 
by his middle name, concerned that public knowledge of his medical 
marijuana use could prove sensitive at work.

Capital City Care's sales Monday to two patients represent the 
culmination of a fight that dates to the mid-1990s, when HIV/ AIDS 
activists first fought to put medical marijuana on the citywide 
ballot. Nearly 70 percent of voters approved a 1998 legalization 
initiative, but Congress intervened for more than a decade, 
preventing the implementation of a medical marijuana program.

After Congress lifted its restrictions in 2009, the District 
government started a slow process to set up a strict regulatory and 
licensing regime limited to city residents with specific chronic 
illnesses, with lawmakers and city officials saying they were moving 
deliberately to reduce the risk of future federal intervention.

Initial hopes that cannabis could be made available to patients in 
late 2010 gave way to early 2011 and then mid-2012 as the city moved 
through the painstaking and politically sensitive process of 
licensing marijuana growers and retailers, as well as certifying the 
doctors who would recommend the medicine and patients who would consume it.

Alonzo, who is HIV-positive, said he had been following the rollout 
of the medical marijuana program since the beginning of the year. The 
combination of antiviral drugs he takes to manage his infection, 
Alonzo said, causes him frequent insomnia and occasional difficulty 
in swallowing and digesting.

Marijuana, he said, was not initially his preferred therapy. "Like 
many people, I certainly had my fair share in college, but then I 
really left it alone for a long time," he said. A mid-1990s trip to 
Amsterdam with his former partner, who had a more advanced HIV 
infection, demonstrated how cannabis could help address the virus's 
symptoms and the side effects of the drugs used to treat them.

In March, Alonzo approached his doctor about seeking a marijuana 
recommendation.

"He asked why, and I outlined my challenges," he said. "I really 
don't want to have a prescription drug dependency, and they weren't 
working for the insomnia. He was agreeable to it. And then the long wait."

To secure his first dose, Alonzo had to visit his doctor, who had to 
request recommendation forms from the health department, which then 
processed the forms and issued him a patient card.

Although the city's medical marijuana program has started, it remains 
a slow start.

D.C. Health Department spokeswoman Najma Roberts said that as of 
Monday, only nine patients have obtained a city-issued medical 
marijuana card. About 20 doctors, she said, have requested forms from 
the city allowing them to recommend cannabis to their patients.

Capital City Care, the first of three planned District dispensaries 
to secure an operating license, offers four strains of medical 
cannabis, priced from $380 to $440 an ounce, grown by Northeast-based 
Holistic Remedies. More varieties will be offered once two other 
cultivation centers - including Capital City Care's own - produce 
their first salable harvest, said Scott Morgan, a spokesman for 
Capital City Care.

Morgan said he was not aware of any health insurers willing to cover 
medical marijuana purchases. The prices, he said, reflect the highly 
regulated nature of the District's system and the firm's investment 
in its dispensary and growing operations.

Senior citizens, veterans and low-income patients are eligible for 
discounts of 10 to 15 percent, he said.

"After a couple of years of hard work, it's exciting to open our 
doors and serve the patients our facility is really for," Morgan 
said. "This is a moment we've all been looking forward to for a long time."

Alonzo opted for the Blue Dream, Jack Herer and Master Kush strains 
and, to consume it, a $120 Magic Flight vaporizer.

The Sticky Guide, a Web site reviewing medical marijuana strains and 
dispensaries, said Blue Dream "is helpful for reducing pain and 
stress while maintaining energy levels" and offers a flavor 
"reminiscent of hash with a subtle hint of blueberry underneath." 
Master Kush, the site says, is a "classic indica-dominant strain" 
whose characteristics include "helping [to] promote relaxation and 
assisting with sleep."

Wayne Turner, one of the leaders of the 1998 initiative effort, 
called Monday's sales "the end of the beginning."

"It's taken us 15 years to get to this point," he said, adding that 
the program had much left to prove. "We can do this. We can do this 
right. The world isn't going to come to an end. People are going to 
have access to something that really is going to help them, really 
help them ease their suffering."
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom