[420 Girl]

Lansing - Renee Wolfe, a 48-year-old mother of four sons, was at the head of the line today as the state began accepting applications for a program to allow people with "debilitating" medical conditions to use marijuana.

"This is the coup de grace for me," said the Ann Arbor woman who has battled multiple sclerosis for 30 years. She's also been illegally using marijuana to ease her suffering for just as long.

"Marijuana allows me to eat, allows me to live a fairly normal life," said Wolfe, who used a wheelchair to roll into the Michigan Department of Community Health building where applications are being taken.

"I'm able to walk better when I smoke," she said.

Wolfe was among 55 people who took a chartered bus from a Lansing café to the state office building to pay their $100, file the needed paperwork, including a certificate from a Michigan-licensed physician that they have a medical condition that could be helped through the use of marijuana. Under the Michigan Medical Marijuana Registry, the state will issue picture ID registration cards to those who qualify. The cards, which look like a driver's license, should be in the hands of patients by the end of the month.

Backers of the new law estimate that as many as 50,000 Michiganians will register.

James McCurtis, spokesman for the state health department, said two or three staffers will process the paperwork.

"We're taking a wait-and-see approach as to how many will get on the registry," he said.

Medical conditions to qualify for the new program include cancer, glaucoma, HIV/AIDS, Hepatitis C and Crohn's disease. It also covers those with wasting syndrome, severe and chronic pain or nausea, seizures and persistent muscle spasms.

In November, nearly two-thirds of voters decided Michigan should join a dozen other states to allow marijuana use by patients with serious medical problems.

Under the law, a registered user can possess up to 2.5 ounces of pot. The law is silent on where they are to obtain the marijuana. But the law makes it clear the state will play no role in making the drug available.

Marijuana is illegal under federal law. However, the Obama administration has said federal drug agents won't harass patients given the right to smoke marijuana by a state law.


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