Medical Marijuana Consultants Of Nevada - In the News

[billk6969]

Hi there, Here are some link that I thought you Nevadan's would like:

www.medicalmarijuananv.com

http://www.lasvegassun.com/sunbin/stories/sun/2004/mar/24/516580650.html?bill%20kosinski

Keep smokin!

B

[billk6969]

Pot Adviser Likely To Get License

A Las Vegas resident will likely have the city's blessing this week to charge patients suffering from a variety of diseases $265 to advise them about how to score their own marijuana -- legally -- the man in charge of the city's business licenses said Monday.
Bill Kosinski, a former Las Vegas financial planner, received the go-ahead Monday after agreeing to change his business plan from growing the drug to working as a middleman for patients trying to understand Nevada's complicated medical marijuana laws, Jim DiFiore, the city business licensing manager, said.

"Simply put, he can give advice and he can consult about marijuana for medical purposes," DiFiore said of Kosinski's business, Medical Marijuana Consultants of Nevada. "He cannot procure or purchase or sell any marijuana or seeds."

Kosinski was initially scheduled Wednesday to oppose the council's rejection of his previous business application after he had trouble registering for Nevada's medical marijuana program, DiFiore said.

Monday's move means Kosinski will most likely meet with the city licensing board Wednesday, at which point his application is "very, very likely" to be approved, DiFiore said.

Kosinski, who smokes marijuana to treat a degenerative spinal disease, had been operating his business with a temporary business license since April, he said.

"A lot of people first thought all I wanted to do was sell drugs and get people hooked on marijuana," Kosinski said. "I'm just trying to help people understand what the laws are and help them comply with them. We do not provide the medication."

If approved, Kosinski's business would be the only one of its kind operating with a license in Las Vegas, DiFiore said. State laws allow patients with a doctor's prescription to grow up to seven marijuana plants to treat symptoms of cancer, HIV/AIDS and an array of other diseases.

Pierre Werner, who operates Primary Caregivers and Consultants, a company that grows and consults with patients who want to obtain marijuana, was turned down for a Clark County business license in April when the county said it didn't have a business license that applied to such an outfit, he said.

Since then, he has tried unsuccessfully to obtain a Las Vegas license, Werner said.

Both he and Kosinski advertise in several local publications, including the Las Vegas Sun.

Werner said the difference between his business and Kosinski's is that Kosinski does not supply the plant to patients, a key sticking point in the application process.

"I think that's the only difference," Werner said.

Both men say their experience obtaining the drug for their own use -- Werner uses it to treat a bipolar disorder -- helped them understand how difficult it can be to obtain legally.

"I understand the pitfalls in trying to find a doctor and I know there is a resource," Kosinski said.

Source: Las Vegas Sun (NV)
Author: Stephen Curran, Sun Capital Bureau
Published: August 03, 2004
Copyright: 2004 Las Vegas Sun Inc.
Contact: [email protected]
Website: http://www.lasvegassun.com/

[billk6969]

Man granted license to operate company that helps people get pot

By PAUL HARASIM
REVIEW-JOURNAL


A retired police officer eases the pain that he suffers from a tire-iron beating with a bowl of marijuana Monday. Nevadans with health problems can legally use marijuana, but they must navigate a lengthy process to do so.
Photo by Ralph Fountain.


Bill Kosinski of Medical Marijuana Consultants of Nevada now has a license to do business in Las Vegas.
Photo by Clint Karlsen.


A retired police officer, who requested anonymity because of the stigma that accompanies marijuana use, prepares to smoke marijuana to relieve pain from a tire-iron beating. At left are the hydrocodone and morphine prescriptions he once used, but now shuns in favor of marijuana.
Photo by Ralph Fountain.





Bill Kosinski got buzzed five times Monday. But he only had to smoke weed four times.

His natural high came when city officials reversed course and said he can legally operate a Las Vegas business that helps people go to pot.

Kosinski, whose back pain turned him to toke four times a day under the state's medical marijuana program, said the news Monday that his company, Medical Marijuana Consultants of Nevada, can legally help residents benefit from the state's Medical Use of Marijuana Act gives him "a great feeling."

In June, the city denied Kosinski's application for a license. Jim DiFiore, manager of the city's Business Services Division, said there was concern that Kosinski might be planning to grow or distribute marijuana.

"If he were acquiring marijuana for individuals who want it for treatment of an ailment, then he would be violating federal law," DiFiore said Monday. "But he's simply going to assist someone with an ailment who needs to see a doctor, who would prescribe medical marijuana. ... We have no law that denies his opportunities to do that."

Kosinski, whose back was injured in a car accident, repeatedly has said that he has only wanted to help people with debilitating health problems, such as cancer and glaucoma, work through the state bureaucracy. He said it took him more than a year to get a registration card to use marijuana for medicinal purposes.

For a fee, he connects people with health problems to doctors willing to recommend that they use marijuana to cope with their pain. He also advises them about Internet sites where they can learn where to buy marijuana seeds and how to grow the plants.

Much of the confusion over Kosinski's application, DiFiore acknowledged, was caused by the city's inexperience with such businesses.

"This is the first one that is actually going to be licensed by the city," he said.

Kosinski said he worried that he had been lumped in with a businessman who was arrested after growing marijuana and selling it or distributing it to people who were sick.

Jennifer Bartlett, manager of the Nevada medical marijuana program, said 455 people have been issued registration cards to use marijuana. She also said the state cannot advise people on what doctors to see or on how to grow the drug. She said that in her dealings with Kosinski, he has always "been completely professional."

About 170 doctors, Bartlett said, have recommended marijuana for their patients. One doctor, who asked to remain anonymous "because of the stigma still attached to marijuana," said he thinks Kosinski has been "a real service to people."

"So many patients end up getting addicted to pain medicine," he said. "And they end up needing more and more, so it's really bad for them."

A retired East Coast police officer who is still recovering from a tire-iron beating said morphine and other painkillers caused cysts on both his kidneys and liver. "I was always in a bad mood before," said the officer, who requested anonymity because of the stigma that comes with the narcotic. "Now I feel much better, and the cysts have stopped growing."

The retired police officer's wife said medicinal marijuana has "been a godsend. He's happy again."

Federal law, as pointed out in the city's initial denial of Kosinki's business license, does not grant exemptions from prosecution for possession of marijuana for medical purposes or from prosecution for attempting or conspiring to obtain marijuana for medical purposes.

"You're just asking for trouble if you start advertising that you're using marijuana," the retired policeman said.

Under Nevada law, which is based on the medical marijuana law from Oregon, participants can only keep an ounce of marijuana on hand. They can grow seven plants, but only three can be mature.

Currently, the state charges an annual $150 registration fee and a $50 charge for mailing application forms. If people hire Kosinski to help them through the system -- he also helps them through the fingerprinting process -- he makes $100 the first year and $50 thereafter. Five of six people who are mailed applications by the state never return them.

The program was created after voters overwhelmingly approved a constitutional amendment in 1998 and 2000 that allows people with medical problems to use marijuana.

Las Vegas City Attorney Brad Jerbic said that what Kosinski is doing "is not illegal today." But he said a case now in a federal appellate court could change that.

"If the law changes, he won't have a license," Jerbic said.


Review-Journal writer Michael Squires contributed to this report.

Link to article: http://www.reviewjournal.com/lvrj_h...s/24451278.html

[Computer Monkey]

I am moving to vegas from San Fran. In san fran I had a doctors recommendation (not prescription) since this is not ok in NV I was thinking of going legal. Anyone use this service or know of anyone that has? I am thinking of giving them a try

[del...]

you can use him, he is legit. or you can email me and i can save you a few bucks as i don't charge anything for helping you get to the doctor that signs the forms (the hardest part as they don't advertise and very few are willing to sign). i can also guide you through the process...so all you have to do is have whatever medical documants you have with you, a hundred bucks for the dr's office visit and be a nevada resident. piece of cake!

drop me a line and we can get into more detail...
[email protected]