Report Deems Oregon Medical Marijuana Patient Directory Successful 10/27/00

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(courtesy NORML Foundation, http://www.norml.org)

Portland, OR: The medical marijuana registry in Oregon registered 594 patients in its first year, and since May 1, 2000 another 474 patients have signed-up to receive a medical marijuana identification card. In order to legally qualify for Oregon's 1998 Medical Marijuana Act, patients must possess a doctor's recommendation and register with the Oregon Department of Human Services Health Division (ODHSHS) for a $150 fee (which in turn funds the program).

"Oregon was the first to implement a statewide registration system for patients," said Martin Wasserman, MD, administrator of the ODHSHS. "Our first-year review shows the system is working as it was intended. A substantial number of qualified patients and their physicians are using it, and only a very few inquiries from law enforcement officials regarding patients have occurred." According to a report released last week by the ODHSHS, during the medical marijuana program's first year (5/1/99 - 4/30/00):