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Posted: Monday, November 24th, 2008 5:24 PM HST

Medical marijuana patients surge in numbers

By Associated Press

HONOLULU (AP) _ Over the past two years, Hawaii has experienced an 87 percent surge in the number of medical marijuana patients. There were 4,200 patients statewide in fiscal year 2008, about 1,000 more than the previous year and 2,000 more than in 2006. Nearly two-thirds of the registered users are on the Big Island. Keith Kamita of the Narcotics Enforcement Division says more doctors have been certifying patients for the program. Under a 2000 state law, patients must be diagnosed by a medical doctor as having a ``debilitating'' medical condition such as cancer, glaucoma, HIV/AIDS, severe pain or seizures. Hawaii is one of 13 states that has approved medical marijuana use. (Copyright 2008 Associated Press. All rights reserved)