It looks like there won't be any shortage of medical marijuana patients to flock to the dozens of dispensaries that are waiting patiently (ok, not patiently) to open across the state.
As of Nov. 25, the Department of Health Services, likely to the dismay of Gov. Jan, had passed out 16,313 MMJ cards to qualified patients, according to the latest DHS MMJ report. Seventy-four percent of applicants are men (or boys - 13 patients are under 18), while 26 percent are women or girls.
The age distribution is pretty even across the four age groups from 18-60, though people in their 50s account for 24 percent of the patients, a tad more than the other age groups up to 60. Eleven percent of the patients are in their 60s, but just 284 people (1.8 percent) are over 70.
Interestingly, the last rejection for an MMJ card was in July. The number of rejections still stands at seven, not even enough make it a numeral under AP style.
Judging by the 83 percent of patients who asked to grow - 13,613 - I am guessing there might soon be more people growing MMJ than the stuff you get from a friend of a friend. And hopefully next year the dispensaries will open, and the friends of your friends can get jobs that won't get them arrested. There will be payroll taxes and medical coverage forms and meetings for training, and people will have bosses, real bosses, and all of the other things you get with jobs.
We could use some of those around here.
