Quote:
Originally Posted by referee4  If your PRIMARY Doctor says that MMJ will help your condition. Thats good enough for me..
Notice the use of PRIMARY, |
Although I have a great deal of respect for my primary doctor, who I have been seeing for more than 25 years, he does not support the use of MMJ.
I'll never forget the first time I told him that I used cannabis to relieve my migraines. Note that this was years before MMJ was legalized in California. It felt like a lecture from your mom and dad! This guy isn't an older grampa type, either. He is around my age! Anyway, he went through every conceivable health risk, as well as other "risks" such as moving on to harder illicit drugs, losing all motivation, depression, etc. He wound things up with stating how, in addition to everything else I was risking, I was supporting gangbangers and street crime because "pot is illegal."
Over the years, while trying to deal with my migraine troubles, he prescribed many different meds (including marinol as a "legal" alternative to the one drug that consistently helped me). Each one had it's own special side effects to add to the miserable migraine experience, and few helped with the pain.
I have always been honest with my doctor. Even now, years after MMJ was legalized in California, he clearly does not support smoked cannabis as medicine.
I do agree with Referee4. Our recommendations should come from our primary docs. But until the medical community at large is educated and understands the usage and benefits of MMJ, we're stuck with the imperfect system we currently have.
The other obvious aspect is that "regular" doctors are not set up for the patient verification process. Can you imagine your primary doc getting dozens of calls from co-ops on April 20?
I think a good solution might be to fully implement and use the State cards as verification. Any doctor could fill out a State qualification form that would allow a patient to get the card. After you have your card, no further verification should be necessary. Show your valid card at a co-op or to a police officer, and that should be that!