Pot Growing Legally in Washington
BLITZER: Marijuana comes to Washington, D.C, medical marijuana. City officials insist residents won't abuse it, but some worry already where legalizing pot will lead. Lisa is back. She is taking a closer look at this story. What are you finding out?</s>SYLVESTER: Well, Wolf, as you can expect, this is a controversial issue. Advocates point to science and say it shows marijuana can ease the pain of some patients, but critics say that it opens the door to abuse. As of this summer it will be legal to use marijuana in Washington if you meet certain conditions.</s>SYLVESTER (voice-over): Marijuana growing legally in the heart of Washington, D.C. The District of Columbia's Health Department received 90 applications from people wanting to grow pot for medicinal purposes. Out of those, the city selected half a dozen cultivators. By early June, patients with cancer, HIV, multiple sclerosis, chronic renal failure and glaucoma can receive a prescription for marijuana use in their home. The city's health director says there are controls in place to make sure the medical marijuana program is not being abused.</s>DR. MOHAMMED AKHTER, WASHINGTON, D.C. HEALTH DIRECTOR: If you have one of those five conditions and the doctor can evaluate whether you could be benefiting from the medical marijuana, then you take the prescription. You come to the health department, you are issued an identification card with your picture on it and you take that to the dispensary and the dispensary only dispenses you 2 ounces by month.</s>SYLVESTER: The District of Columbia joined 16 states that have now approved marijuana use to treat medical conditions. (on camera): The District of Columbia has approved six of these cultivation centers and all six of them are just a few miles from the nation's capitol. (voice-over): Marijuana was actually legalized in D.C. 13 years ago, overwhelmingly approved by its residents, but because it's the District of Columbia, Congress had to approve and that took until 2009. But not everyone is a fan. Residents near one of the centers expressed dismay.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think marijuana is a gateway drug. Marijuana today, heavier drugs next week.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It doesn't look good for the neighborhood.</s>SYLVESTER: The city has a new resident, WeGrow, a national franchise that sells medical marijuana supplies that opened Friday. The company's founder says D.C. is following a national trend of decriminalizing marijuana.</s>DHAR MANN, WEGROW FOUNDER: Marijuana cultivation, distribution and consumption is going to happen with or without their acceptance. The choice that we have to make is whether we want to regulate and tax it or continue to expend limited resources and trying to control it and only giving rise to the underground criminal market.</s>SYLVESTER: Now the D.C. health director says they screen the six cultivators to make sure marijuana meets certain quality standards and that it can be grown in protected environment and there are limit to how many plants each cultivator can grow -- Wolf.</s>BLITZER: And a lot of really ill people think it helps them ease the pain.</s>SYLVESTER: And that's one of the reasons they are doing this. You know, the D.C. health director, he is a medical doctor and he says that he has seen it firsthand. Where these people particularly in the last six months of life that they may be suffering a lot and if this helps them, he says that's the reason why he's in favor of it because it's from a compassionate standpoint -- Wolf.</s>BLITZER: Lisa, thanks very much. Escaping a tornado. How one quick-thinking bus driver saved a group of children from disaster? Lotto fever, live pictures of one Ohio clerk wearing a helmet camera as he sells tickets. We are only hours away from the $640 million drawing.