[Bababooey]

I guess the clinic is to help prospective patients establish a doctor-patient before the law takes effect...
From dnainfo.com:


WICKER PARK — With Gov. Pat Quinn signing into law a measure allowing medical marijuana in Illinois, a sign in an Ashland Avenue strip mall has gone up advertising the opening of what's being described as a "medical marijuana clinic."

The office at 1723 N. Ashland Ave. in Wicker Park — next to two other medical offices — has been vacant for a number of years, neighbors said.

The clinic, Good Intentions LLC, is owned by Tammi Jacobi, who has operated a similar clinic in Saugatuck, Mich., where medical marijuana is legal. Crain's reported Jacobi's plans.

Under Illinois law, such clinics will not be able to dispense marijuana, but patients can get prescriptions for pot from a doctor there. Those applicants OK'd by the state will be able to use the prescriptions at a marijuana dispensary. The locations of the 60 dispensaries allowed by the new law haven't been revealed.

Jacobi said Wicker Park was chosen because it was close to the Kennedy Expressway and near her clinic partner, Dr. Brian Murray, who owns Big Rapids Surgery.

Jacobi, a former registered nurse who plans to divide her time between Michigan and Wicker Park, said she met Murray in 2011 and they are both "really excited" about the clinic, which hopes to see its first patients next week.

Though the clinic in Michigan saw about 100 patients per month, Jacobi said she "has no idea" how many patients the Wicker Park clinic will serve and will see here how people respond to it.

When asked about potential objections from the community or neighbors, Jacobi said she is not concerned because Murray's office "does not touch [marijuana], grow it, or sell it."

Murray, who is licensed to practice medicine in Michigan and Illinois, offers other services such as vascular surgery to minimize varicose veins, Jacobi said. Murray can also administer steroid shots for knee pain and can provide alternative medicine therapies for migraines.

Jacobi described her clinic as a "first step" in the process. While any medical doctor can prescribe medical marijuana, patients, under Illinois law, need to have an "existing relationship" with the physician.


A billboard facing the Kennedy Expwy. will read: "Hello, I'm Illinois Medical Marijuana."
DNAinfo/Alisa Hauser
The specialized clinic, Jacobi said, would provide potential patients the opportunity to establish a relationship before the law kicks in on Jan. 1, 2014.

A man who answered the phone at the number listed for mall rentals said the new tenant has assured him that the clinic will not exclusively deal with marijuana and will offer other medical services.

The clinic's neighbors are an occupational therapist and an MRI clinic operated by the Illinois Bone and Joint Institute, the latter of which plans to move out of the strip mall at the end of September. Employees at both locations expressed no opposition to the pot clinic.

In the parking lot, William Joney, 48, an unemployed machinist was waiting for a friend to finish physical therapy. The South Side resident saw the sign in the planned marijuana clinic remarked, "If people really need it for pain or health, that's fine."

"But if it's an easy way to get high, I have a problem with it," Joney said.

Jacobi says she wants to erect a billboard on the side of the building that faces the Kennedy Expressway.

The sign, she said, will read: "Hello, I'm Illinois Medical Marijuana."

[Julian]

MMJ bilboards on the fuckin Kennedy........ya gotta love it ..



Sorry.....missed the last part.....the angels were singing too loud ...

[Bababooey]

But is this a publicity seeking stunt? Sometimes drawing attention to yourself in this business is not a good thing.

[hamstring]

Of course its a publicity seeking stunt. She charges for her services and whether or not you qualify for Med MJ she still gets paid. I am making no moral judgments just making the point this is a business for her and the more publicity the better.

Freedom of speech applies to all even if your intent is less than honorable.

[Julian]

Originally Posted by Bababooey

But is this a publicity seeking stunt? Sometimes drawing attention to yourself in this business is not a good thing.

Originally Posted by hamstring

Of course its a publicity seeking stunt. She charges for her services and whether or not you qualify for Med MJ she still gets paid. I am making no moral judgments just making the point this is a business for her and the more publicity the better.

Freedom of speech applies to all even if your intent is less than honorable.

That would have been my reply, but not necessarily "publicity seeking" as much as mere "advertising"....

I'm sure they addressed (or should have), but key points (so far) in IL are:
1. "Established relationship" with doctor
2. Limited list of qualifying conditions
3. Jan 1st will find the development of further guidelines by all governing agencies.

(So, therefore.....what exactly would the payment for service be?.....to say, "Yes, you have a qualifying condition"?.....

Or......

To have the door revolving 80 hrs. a week with people who will not meet criteria, as the general public is under the assumption that environment will be like other states which are much less regulated...

Note: There was a story run (TV/News) recently referring to it as "The first dispensary in Illinois"....so.....again, yet another reflection of the lack of general knowledge among even those who are supposed to be seeking and presenting factual commentary...

[Bababooey]

They certainly raised some eyebrows when the media called them the 'first mmj clinic' in IL.

I imagine they'll help patients be recommended for mmj if their existing physician is reluctant to write them a recommendation. Still a lot of old school physicians out there who believe there are better medications than a smokable plant.

But yes, a lot of misinformation out there. Calling this place a dispensary doesn't do them any favors, might bring heat down on them.

Most physicians in mmj states dont charge unless they find you are eligible for a rec, so maybe this wont...

[nintey]

As excited about mmj coming to illinois as I am, there is just so much red tape around it all it seems impossible that I will ever even receive it even if I get accepted