Requests for Medical Marijuana Surge Under Obama

Medical-marijuana providers say that record numbers of people have been seeking to become medical users of the drug since President Barack Obama took office in November, MSNBC reported April 15.

Requests for medical marijuana are up anywhere from 50 to 300 percent in states where medical use is legal, according to operators of medical-marijuana co-ops, dispensaries, clubs, and other experts. “I have been flooded with calls,” said Seattle attorney and marijuana advocate Douglas Hiatt. “It’s ’Where can I find a doctor [to prescribe it]? How can I start a co-op?’ You wouldn’t believe it.”

“I have had a 300 percent rise at my business,” said the owner of Boulder County Caregivers, a marijuana dispensary in Colorado, where the number of medical-marijuana application jumped by more than 2,000 in just two months this year.

Some say Obama’s decision to limit federal involvement in prosecuting medical-marijuana providers has played a role in the surge, while others say the poor economy has pushed people who don’t have health insurance to seek cheaper alternatives to prescription drugs. Uninsured patients may “turn to medicine that is good for a whole bunch of ailments, that you can grow yourself and not spend a tremendous amount of money on,” Hiatt said. “That’s very appealing to lots of people.”

Changing social attitudes toward marijuana also may be playing a role in the trend: most Americans born after World War 2 have had exposure to marijuana and tend to be more accepting of the drug.