The ads, by a clinic called 4Evergreen Group, offered authorization to use medical marijuana for one year for $150 if the patient had medical records; $200 with no medical records.
I was one of the first in line Friday, no medical records in hand but curious about how the process worked. After watching a short instructional video and meeting with a naturopath for 11 minutes, I joined the uncounted but growing number of Washingtonians able to legally posses 1-½ pounds of cannabis and 15 plants.
Throughout the 13-year history of the state medical-marijuana law, the issue of how patients get authorized has been overshadowed by battles between advocates and law enforcement over rules for possession.
But the Legislature's 2010 expansion in the type of medical professionals able to authorize marijuana, and the emergence of specialty authorization clinics, helped stoke a boom in the medical-cannabis industry. That pushes the issue of authorizations to more prominence, none more visible than 4Evergreen's Hempfest tent.
I was authorized for recurring lower-back pain, a condition the naturopath found to be covered under the law's definition "a terminal or debilitating medical condition" because it caused "intractable pain." It flares up weekly, but I haven't missed work for it in years.
The authorization process appears to largely comply with state law, even if I might not be the type of patient voters had in mind when they passed the law in 1998.
"The intent of the law is to treat people with terrible, serious, even life-threatening conditions that may be helped with medical marijuana," said Donn Moyer, a spokesman for the Department of Health. "Ask yourself, is that what's happening out there?"
4Evergreen, with locations on Seattle's Aurora Avenue North, and in Tacoma, advertises itself as "the premiere patient network." Its Hempfest tent is well-known among advocates.
A staff member advertised the "no medical records" offer outside the tent while, inside, patients filed into bathtub-size exam rooms separated by curtains. Patients were asked to fill out a medical inventory of problems and to watch a video describing fine points of the medical-marijuana law and advising patients to not drive while high.
I waited nearly two hours to see Dr. Carolyn Lee Bearss. . "Let's focus on your back," Bearss said.
State law limits medical-marijuana use to patients with such debilitating conditions as AIDS-related wasting syndrome and multiple sclerosis. Intractable pain is defined as not easily managed, relieved or cured by other treatments.
I did not embellish, although, with no medical records on hand, nothing would have prevented it. I describe a four-year problem, treated by physical therapy, prescription and over-the-counter pain remedies, with weekly flare-ups ranging from slight to severe. Most of my male friends and family have similar complaints.
As required by the state law, Bearss did a physical exam, asking me to stretch until it hurt. She talked about other alternatives, including acupuncture, and advised me to see my primary doctor about other medical issues.
Then, after 11 minutes, she signed the one-year authorization on tamper-proof paper, and I handed over my credit card.
