California, Riverside

[palmspringsbum]

Riverside clinic will offer doctors' notes for medical marijuana

by Gregor McGavin , The Press-Enterprise
November 13th, 2007

<a href="http://pe.robocaster.com/download.mp3?http://www.pe.com/localnews/inland/stories/PE_News_Local_R_rclinic13.3cd34b2.html" target=_blank>Podcast</a>

Riverside residents could soon have a much shorter drive to get a doctor's recommendation for medical marijuana.

Palm Springs resident and marijuana activist Lanny Swerdlow said he plans to open a clinic in December in an office building at 647 N. Main St. in northern Riverside.

"It's kind of a good central location for the entire Inland," said Swerdlow, a registered nurse who heads the Marijuana Anti-Prohibition Project.

Ingrid Wyatt, a spokeswoman for the Riverside County district attorney's office, has said in previous interviews that such a clinic would not be against the law provided no marijuana was dispensed there. She could not be reached for comment Monday.

"We do not dispense any cannabis at all," Swerdlow said in a telephone interview. "We're completely legal."

California voters approved decriminalizing the medicinal use of marijuana in 1996. State law allows people suffering from AIDS-related complications, cancer, multiple sclerosis, glaucoma and other diseases to use cannabis to relieve pain. They must first get a doctor's recommendation.

But marijuana use remains a federal crime. This year, federal authorities have raided or shut down dispensaries in Palm Desert, Corona, Perris, Riverside and Norco.

Swerdlow said a Rancho Mirage doctor is the only other physician in Riverside and San Bernardino counties who can provide a recommendation for medical marijuana. Patients seeking a recommendation have had to go the Coachella Valley or to Los Angeles or Orange County.

The Riverside clinic would be run by Swerdlow under the auspices of The Hemp and Cannabis Foundation, a nonprofit group that operates medical marijuana clinics in Colorado, Hawaii, Oregon and Washington state.

Swerdlow said several Inland doctors have agreed to work at the clinic. Patients will have to submit their medical records because no diagnostic testing will be done at the clinic.

Patients will undergo physical examinations, and their medical histories will be checked.

For those a doctor believes medical marijuana would benefit, recommendations will be written.

[palmspringsbum]

10:00 PM PST on Tuesday, January 15, 2008

First marijuana clinic in Riverside to open Thursday


By GREGOR McGAVIN
The Press-Enterprise

An 80-year-old great-grandmother from Temecula could be the first person to get a legal recommendation in the city of Riverside to use marijuana for medicinal reasons.

Iris Berger said she plans to use the drug to ease the pain of arthritis in her hands and back. She is scheduled to be the first patient at a medical marijuana clinic opening Thursday at 647 N. Main St., in northern Riverside.

"It seems to help," said Berger, whose son and daughter-in-law are longtime medical marijuana users and advocates. The couple won a three-year legal battle in late 2003 after being arrested for growing marijuana to treat their chronic illnesses.

The clinic will mean that Inland patients seeking a marijuana recommendation will no longer have to travel to the Coachella Valley, Los Angeles or Orange County to get one. A Rancho Mirage doctor has been the only person in Riverside or San Bernardino counties who could provide a recommendation for the drug, said Lanny Swerdlow, a registered nurse and longtime advocate for medical marijuana.

No marijuana will be dispensed at the clinic, said Swerdlow, who will operate the clinic under the auspices of The Hemp and Cannabis Foundation. The nonprofit group operates medical marijuana clinics in Colorado, Hawaii, Oregon and Washington state.

Ingrid Wyatt, a spokeswoman for the Riverside County district attorney's office, has said that the clinic would not be against the law as long as no marijuana was provided there.

California voters approved decriminalizing the medicinal use of marijuana in 1996. State law allows people suffering from AIDS-related complications, cancer, multiple sclerosis, glaucoma and other ailments to use cannabis to relieve pain. They must first get a doctor's recommendation.

Marijuana use is a federal crime. Authorities have raided or shut down dispensaries in Palm Desert, Corona, Perris, Riverside and Norco last year.

One doctor -- Paul Ironside, retired cardiothoracic surgeon from Bermuda Dunes -- will write recommendations at the clinic. Ironside said he will recommend marijuana only for people with serious illnesses, and he is not concerned about any law enforcement scrutiny.

"It's not to be used as a recreational" drug, he said. "As far as I'm concerned, law enforcement is invited in."

Berger's son, Martin Victor, said he is proud that his mother will be the clinic's first patient.

Victor, 55, uses marijuana to soothe cluster headaches he suffers as a result of a progressive eye disease and fibromyalgia. His wife, La Vonne, 52, uses the drug because of her multiple sclerosis, emphysema, panic attacks and compressed vertebrae in her back.

The couple was originally charged with felony counts of cultivation and distribution. Their case ended after Martin Victor pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor of providing less than an ounce of pot to a roommate, who Victor said took it without his knowledge or consent.

Berger said it is understandable that some people remain opposed to medical marijuana.

"We just can't change people's minds that don't want to be changed," she said.

[palmspringsbum]

Operator says business is strong at Riverside medical marijuana clinic

10:00 PM PST on Friday, January 25, 2008

By GREGOR McGAVIN
The Press-Enterprise

One week after the city of Riverside's first medical marijuana clinic opened its doors, staff and patients alike say business is coming along well.

Lanny Swerdlow, a registered nurse and longtime cannabis advocate who runs it, said the clinic's doctor issued about a dozen recommendations for the drug on the opening day, Jan. 17. The clinic does not dispense marijuana.

"People have to learn about us," said Swerdlow, who operates the clinic under the auspices of The Hemp and Cannabis Foundation. The nonprofit group operates medical marijuana clinics in four other states.

"As we build, we'll have more patients," Swerdlow said.

The clinic, located at 647 N. Main St., means a shorter drive for many Inland patients who have had to travel to the Coachella Valley, Los Angeles or Orange County to get a doctor's recommendation for cannabis.

The clinic will be open for doctor visits once every two weeks or so, Swerdlow said. Patients can call and leave a message at any time, however, and Swerdlow said people can come in on other days to get information about medicinal use of the drug.

The Riverside County district attorney's office has said that the clinic would not violate the law as long as no marijuana was provided there.

California voters approved decriminalizing the medicinal use of marijuana in 1996. State law allows people suffering from some chronic ailments to use cannabis to relieve pain, provided they get a doctor's recommendation. Marijuana use is a federal crime, however.

Swerdlow said that only one person who sought a recommendation last week did not receive one. Patients must fax in their medical records before an appointment because no diagnostic testing is done at the clinic. They then undergo physical examinations and their medical histories are checked.

"We don't want to waste their time or our time," Swerdlow said.

The clinic's first patient was an 80-year-old great-grandmother from Temecula whose son and daughter-in-law are longtime medical marijuana users and advocates.

Iris Berger is now using a balm made from cannabis to ease pain from chronic arthritis in her hands and back, said her son, Martin Victor.

"The pain goes away," said Victor, who is a legal grower and user of medical marijuana.

Reach Gregor McGavin at 951-368-9549 or gmcgavin@PE.com