Many interested in marijuana program

Friday, Sept. 28, 2001 | 10:01 a.m.

CARSON CITY -- The state has received a steady -- and heavier than expected -- stream of requests to enroll in Nevada's medical marijuana program in the program's first three days of signups.

The state Department of Agriculture by late Wednesday had received 152 requests for applications, Cecile Crofoot, administrator for the program, said.

"There's been quite a few (telephone) calls," she said, most of them from Las Vegas. One doctor called for an application in behalf of a terminally ill cancer patient, Crofoot said.

Only 200 applications, which became available Monday, were printed, she said, so will have to be produced.

Applications won't be processed until Oct. 1 when the law goes into effect.

The calls have brought more than requests, Crofoot said. They have included some interesting questions she could not answer.

One caller asked, "What kind of a pipe are you gonna send me?" Another wanted to set up a store to sell marijuana to people in the program, Crofoot said. Nevada law doesn't permit such stores, and it remains illegal to sell the drug.

To qualify for the program, patients must receive a recommendation from a doctor and undergo a fingerprint check at the local police station to make sure there are no prior convictions of drug sales.

When applications are returned to Crofoot, she has 30 days to approve or deny the request.

If approved, the patients go to the state Department of Motor Vehicles, which issues a card to permit possession of one ounce or less of marijuana plus seven plants -- three of them mature.

Applications can be obtained by calling Crofoot at 775 684 5333 or writing the Department of Agriculture, Post Office Box 948, Carson City, Nev. 89702-0948.