[420 Girl]

The Michigan Department of Community Health begins reviewing applications today for Medical Marijuana Registry ID cards.

The day means different things to different people.

Melissa Ewalt, 35, of Port Huron likes the option that's now available to her.

Ewalt has multiple sclerosis, one of the diseases that can be treated with marijuana under the Michigan Medical Marijuana Act passed in December 2008.

She said she primarily would use marijuana before bed to help sleep, while taking minimal prescription drugs during the day so she could stay alert and interact with her 6-year-old son and 14-year-old daughter.

Ewalt takes daily injections to help slow the progression of the nerve-damaging disease, as well as drugs for nerve pain, prescription painkillers if necessary, and muscle spasm medication. She said she's developing a tolerance to her medications, and the spasm drug can cause seizures if she stops taking it while prescribed to a high dosage.

"(Marijuana is) something I would definitely do if the doses get too high or the prescription's not working anymore," she said. "I'm not willing to climb the ladder high enough to go on something like oxycontin that's highly addictive."

Ron Shaw is in no hurry to get his ID card, he said.

The 62-year-old Port Huron man, who is bedridden with symptoms stemming from childhood polio, said today means "not a damn thing" to him.

He's used marijuana to treat his symptoms for years.

"I'd be doing the same thing whether it was legal or not," Shaw said.

A lot of self-medicating users feel the same, said Brad Forrester, spokesman for the Michigan Medical Marijuana Association.

Under the medical marijuana act, people who are caught using marijuana could get arrested and lose their plants but won't face charges if they can prove they possessed an amount reasonable for their medical need.

Registered patients or caregivers are limited to 12 marijuana plants and 2.5 usable ounces at a time -- an amount Forrester calls "liberal," but potentially not enough for patients with severe pain.

There also are some unanswered questions.

For example, the law allows patients or caregivers to possess the marijuana. But transferring possession of marijuana still is illegal. This creates the most pressing question, Forrester said: How can you have something you can't legally get?

Still, he thinks today marks a step in the right direction.

"There are many gray areas in the law, but certainly we think it's a workable law," he said.


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