Desperate patients search for Minnesota doctors who will help them sign up for medical marijuana

Turned down by her doctors, Deanna Jean Ryther turned to Craigslist in search of someone — anyone — willing to help her enroll in Minnesota's new medical marijuana program.

"Seeking Medical Professionals willing to refer Patients for MMJ," she posted on the Rochester Craigslist community page Tuesday. "Myself and others have been denied support by our Doctors and Medical teams."

Ryther, who lives in Austin, has tried cannabis before to ease the seizures and muscle spasms she suffered after a traumatic brain injury in 2009. On July 1, patients like her will be able to buy the drug legally in Minnesota — but only if they can find a doctor or other health care practitioner willing to certify that they have one of the nine conditions that qualify them to enroll in the new state program.

So far, no doctors have replied to Ryther's ad.

"What are patients supposed to do? Being told, 'Well, you can schedule an appointment and see if they'll refer you,' it's really demeaning," said Ryther, who participated in Colorado's medical cannabis program when she lived there. "We're being shamed, we're being shunned, we're being neglected and we're being redirected with no direction."

As of last Friday, 104 physicians, nurses or other health care professionals had registered with the Minnesota Department of Health Medical Cannabis office, ready and willing to certify their patients. But the department will not release their names, leaving patients searching frantically for other options if their primary caregiver doesn't participate in the program.

A recent survey by the Minnesota Medical Association found that two-thirds of doctors who responded said they would not be willing to certify patients to participate in the program, leery of sending them off to try a drug that remains illegal at the federal level. Other physicians have been willing, but work for group practices that have decided not to participate.

Daniel Solem, a retired veteran battling cancer and AIDS, was turned down by three different doctors — his primary care physician, his specialist and a new doctor he contacted just in the hope of getting certification. All said their group practices had decided not to participate in the state program.

Next, he tried the Minnesota Certification Clinic, a start-up in Bloomington that offered to help patients enroll in the medical cannabis program for $250 in cash and a 15-minute appointment.

Solem was siting in the clinic waiting room Wednesday afternoon when he found out the doctor wouldn't be seeing him for his 12:30 appointment. The Health Department had rejected the clinic's application.

"All the high hopes that I had, I'm really discouraged," said Solem, who moved to Savage from Colorado, where he had used medical marijuana to fight nausea and help him maintain a healthy weight. A Minnesota native, he's now debating whether he will have to move back to Colorado, where his daughter is in medical school.

"I'm not one of these guys to give up. I talked to 25 to 30 doctors on the phone and I heard, 'Nope.' 'Nope.' 'Won't touch it.' " he said. "I'm a very sick person who moved across the country. … I'm getting a door shut in my face."

Since the state will not identify doctors willing to certify medical marijuana patients, the Minnesota Certification Clinic was the first in the state to list its services through MarijuanaDoctors.com.

John Nicolazzo, the co-founder and chief operating officer of the company running the referral site, said more than 1,800 patients had contacted the clinic about certification. Just eight patients managed to get certified and enrolled in Minnesota's medical cannabis program as of last Friday.

Tightly regulated

Minnesota law tightly regulates all aspects of medical marijuana, limiting the program to patients with certain conditions who will be able to buy the drug in certain forms — pills, liquids or oils only — in just eight locations across the state. The first medical cannabis clinics will open their doors in Minneapolis and Eagan July 1.

Nicolazzo said another dozen physicians with existing practices were in talks with his company to add their names to the database, although a few have dropped off, spooked by what happened to the Bloomington clinic.

"It did put a little shock to some of the physicians, a little concern," he said. "Whether, if they listed, would they be scrutinized. … Ten of them are still strong, willing to move forward."

Nicolazzo said he talked to the Health Department Wednesday, attempting to convince officials there that the clinic — which set up shop down the street from the Mall of America, in a nondescript building that rents out office space to day traders and mortgage brokers — wasn't some seedy pill mill, ready to certify anyone who walked through the door.

"They thought that clinic was getting in business to take patients away from primary cares," he said.

But in many states with active medical marijuana programs, he said, "doctors want to have a certain line of separation" between their regular practices and the business of cannabis.

A Health Department spokesman says it wants to be sure that doctors will have an ongoing relationship with the patients they certify.

Calls and e-mails to the Minnesota Certification Clinic went unreturned Wednesday, but a few days earlier a clinic employee who went only by Ryan responded to an e-mail.

"Both of our physicians work full time in Minnesota hospitals and clinics and have come to realize these large organizations are moving extremely slow (if at all) on medical marijuana in the state of MN," Ryan wrote. "The only people we have scheduled are those with one of the few existing approved conditions, and have their medical records supporting their diagnosis in hand at the appointment. We are not interested in seeing people who do not legitimately have one of the [state's] listed health conditions that qualify. We want to remain [as] above board as possible."

One reason the doctors were eager to set up a separate certification clinic was the stigma that clings to medical marijuana. In the same e-mail, Ryan noted:

"It has been an enlightening process getting the business started. A major bank even closed down one of our doctors' personal accounts when they found out what we were doing while trying to open a business account."

Jennifer Brooks • 612-673-4008