Medical marijuana dispensaries are about to open in Hawaii, but that doesn’t necessarily mean your doctor is ready to help you get it even if you qualify.
Earlier this year, the state issued eight businesses licenses to operate dispensaries, none of which are open yet. For the first time since medical marijuana was legalized in 2000, those who are approved to use this substance for medicinal purposes will actually be able to buy it instead of growing it themselves.
There are also other changes. Previously, individual doctors had to sign up to be allowed to participate in certifying patients had certain diagnoses that would allow them to legally use marijuana for their conditions. This process led to very few doctors participating.
Now that dispensaries will be opening in Hawaii, an increase in medical marijuana patients is possible. But will their doctors help them to gain the necessary permission?
Anthony Quintano / Civil Beat
Now, any doctor who has an ongoing relationship with a patient and is treating that qualifying condition can make the recommendation that the patient use marijuana medicinally, as long as they are fully aware of the consequences of doing so, and other aspects of informed consent are discussed.
The process is supposed to be easier. Even nurse practitioners can participate, which was not the case previously with the certification process. There is no actual prescription that is given. Rather the plan, as of now, is that a one-page form would suffice, listing the patient’s diagnosis, the risks and alternatives discussed, and their choice to receive the marijuana for their health condition.
The dosing, frequency, refills and other details that are required on most conventional prescriptions would not be necessary.
Those who said no were emphatic. They were not interested in participating in the medical marijuana program under any circumstances.
Although federal law and the Drug Enforcement Agency still consider marijuana a Schedule 1 drug, there are no anticipated liability issues with doctors or nurse practitioners who provide this treatment as an option, as long as all of the proper documentation is completed.
So I decided to ask my colleagues if they were planning on participating in the program, once dispensaries are a reality. Another colleague and I had guessed most of the doctors in my department would be willing to sign the form and authorize a dispensary to provide the marijuana as clinically indicated. But we still needed to collect data.
I emailed 29 of my internal medicine colleagues the same afternoon that our chief medical officer gave a lecture on how to handle the issue of certifying patients that were allowed to receive medical marijuana from the upcoming dispensaries. Basically, we could each decide based on our own medical expertise.
Within the next week or so, 19 responses arrived. Thirteen of my colleagues said “no,” four said “maybe” and only two said “yes.”
Those who said no were emphatic. They were not interested in participating in the medical marijuana program under any circumstances.
The maybe group said it would depend on what everyone else was doing, and also on the paperwork burden involved. After all, the previous application for both the certifying doctors and patients was overwhelming, which is one reason why so few doctors participated.
The yes group included me and one of my most conservative colleagues. Surprising, huh!
My reasoning for participating is that the opioid crisis is exploding. Almost 20,000 people die each year from prescription pain relievers. Many of these patients are using these pills to treat chronic pain conditions that are truly debilitating.
No one has died from a marijuana overdose … It’s still safer than what many of us are prescribing now.
Medical marijuana can help this situation. In states where it’s legal, not only did prescriptions for painkillers decrease substantially, but there were 25 percent fewer deaths.
No one has died from a marijuana overdose. Although the long-term effects are still being studied, and there may be a lack of studies to prove that it’s better than using other types of medicine, it’s still safer than what many of us are prescribing now.
The medical conditions for which medical marijuana is allowed are not diagnoses any one of us want to have: cancer, glaucoma, HIV/AIDS, severe pain, wasting, severe nausea, seizures, multiple sclerosis, etc.
If there is a safe treatment, that does not have the risk of overdose or death, that can alleviate the suffering of individuals and allow them to function, I’m going to choose that over the potentially lethal use of chronic opioids.
I’ve never personally smoked marijuana, eaten it, or had any experience with the drug. But I also don’t suffer from cancer-related nausea, chronic severe pain, intolerable migraines, or any of the other conditions that qualify for certification. I hope I never do.
However, when the dispensaries are open and a regulated form of medicinal marijuana is made available to patients to treat their illness, I will support the certification process so that those who need it will have access to the means to relieve their suffering.
I respect my colleagues’ opinions. They have their reasons, and I have mine.
I just hope that as more studies are done regarding the use of marijuana as a medical treatment, we either look at making this available to those who need it on a greater scale, or find something else that can help those who need it the most.