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Safer asks. "I think there's a lot of that. And I think you know, a lot of what we have now is basically pot dealers in storefronts, " Imler says...... Television station KCBS went to a Los Angeles clinic, where the waiting room was full of young people, joking about what they'd tell the doctor their ailment was. The doctor, James Eisenberg, saw four healthy people sent by KCBS. He rejected a 17- year -old for being underage. But after getting a brief consultation and paying $175, the other three got their papers. One complained of dry skin, another of hair loss, and the third said high heels hurt her feet....... "There's bound to be abuse in the system. You know, our pharmacies are abused by people who want to abuse prescription drugs. And so it's reasonable to assume that our medical cannabis facilities are abused as well. What we really need right now are regulations that address those issues," Duncan says. Cities around the state have been tightening the rules ...... Kevin Reed was forced to shut down his San Francisco dispensary because of complaints from neighbors. So he simply went into the delivery business ....... His couriers fan out across the city, delivering their wares. In theory, all the medical marijuana sold in California is grown by the patients themselves. "We're a collective. And what that means is our members grow it, they bring excess medicine here and we provide it back to the other members. That way we have no entanglement with the illicit market," Don Duncan explains. But skeptics say it doesn't always work that way, and that old fashioned pot dealers can easily get a compliant doctor to make them patients and caregivers too. "Most of these cannabis centers are buying their marijuana off the black market. They're dumping millions of dollars into the criminal black market," Imler says....... "What you're suggesting is that the traditional black market or part of the traditional black market is now legal ?" Safer asks. "Yeah. That's essentially what's happened," Imler agrees. Source: httD: / /www.wibw.com /home /headlines /12938067.html 'Pot docs' issuing 'Get Out of Jail Free' cards By Linda Williams /TWN Staff Writer / 12/26/2007 ....An estimated 95 percent of patients visiting "pot docs" are already significant pot users seeking approval for their drug use, and a small group of physicians are willing to fulfill their request .... Because there is no monitoring of these recommendations and with no requirement to get a state or county marijuana card, there is no way to know how many recommendations have actually been issued ...... By 2005, 15 pot does had issued an estimated 50,000 marijuana recommendations. About 1,500 other physicians, primarily AIDS and cancer specialists, issued the remaining 50,000 recommendations..... The CMA has sanctioned several doctors but was handcuffed by a 2004 California court ruling restricting its investigations to patients who file a complaint and authorize the release of their medical records. Without a complaint from a pot patient, the CMA has limited ability to review cases. This ruling has led to an explosion of marijuana prescription clinics springing up across California. These new groups of pot docs advertise in the media and on the internet ..... One Bay Area reporter said her feet hurt when wearing high heels and got a recommendation. An undercover police officer in San Diego requested a marijuana recommendation for his dog, while the pot doc refused to provide one, he did give the officer a caregiver authorization to obtain marijuana for the dog. One reporter received a marijuana recommendation because he had dry skin, another for hair loss. Those not wishing to visit a pot doc can be designated as a "caregiver" for someone who has. With most recommendations valid for one year and typical fees of $150 each, these pot docs seem to have found a $45 million a year business opportunity. Should the remaining regular or recreational pot users decide to get their own Get Out of Jail Free cards, the recommendations could generate as much as $255 million annually and essentially legalize all marijuana use in California..... Source: httD: / /www.willitsnews.com /ci 7812620 14