Report details med pot certifications

LANSING, Mich. (AP) - A majority of about 64,000 people authorized to use medical marijuana in Michigan have unspecified ailments that cause severe and chronic pain, muscle spasms and nausea, according to a published report Thursday.

The top medical condition for medical marijuana certification was severe and chronic pain, with 36,560 patients, the Detroit Free Press reported. That's followed by about 15,500 with severe, persistent muscle spasms and about 7,300 with severe nausea.

There were about 1,400 certifications for cancer and about 1,100 for hepatitis C.

According to the report, 55 doctors certified about 45,000 patients, or about 70 percent of authorized medical marijuana users in Michigan. The Free Press based its report on Michigan Department of Community Health data and said the numbers come from a broader report that is due out soon.

In all, 2,197 doctors wrote at least one certification, the newspaper said.

Michigan voters agreed in 2008 to legalize marijuana for the treatment of some health problems. The law's effectiveness remains a subject of intense debate. There have been raids on some businesses that supply medical marijuana and opponents of medical marijuana want tougher restrictions.

Attorney General Bill Schuette, who took office this year and opposed the voter-passed ballot proposal in 2008, said the report shows that the system is rife with abuse.

"We were told (medical marijuana) was designed to treat a very narrow set of ... chronic and severe illnesses," Schuette said, "and what's going on is that this poorly drafted law is being exploited by those who want to legalize marijuana or make money ... or by unscrupulous doctors."

Karen O'Keefe of the Washington, D.C.-based Marijuana Policy Project , which backed the ballot initiative, said chronic and severe pain is a serious medical condition that often is treated with prescription painkillers. Medical marijuana for such conditions is legal under Michigan law.

"It is absolutely unfair to suggest that severe pain is not a serious condition," she said.

Kelly Niebel, a spokeswoman for the Department of Community Health, declined to comment on what, if any, conclusions the department drew from the data. Later this month, the state Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs takes over processing of medical marijuana certification from the Department of Community Health as part of a reorganization ordered by Gov. Rick Snyder.

"They are aware there are some outstanding issues, and they will be looking into them," Niebel said. "We're all committed to administering the law within the scope that was intended by those who voted for it."