State of Michigan buying new printer for medical marijuana cards

The state of Michigan has ordered a new printer that will allow it to produce 4,000 medical marijuana cards a day.

Rae Ramsdell, who oversees the program, says 40,000 people who don't have cards have been given a tamper-proof letter to show they're qualified to use marijuana for medicinal purposes.

More than 131,000 people have been approved for marijuana. Thousands more serve as caregivers, who are allowed to grow marijuana for up to five people.

Ramsdell says the new printer should be ready by mid-March at a cost of "six figures." She says the medical marijuana office started with three employees in 2009 and now has eight full-timers and 15 temps. Ramsdell says the office gets at least 600 pieces of mail a day, including new applications and renewals.