cannabisnews.com: State's Medical Officer Promotes Restrictive Law

cannabisnews.com: State's Medical Officer Promotes Restrictive Law
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State's Medical Officer Promotes Restrictive Law
Posted by CN Staff on March 22, 2010 at 03:51:36 PT
By Loretta Sword
Source: Pueblo Chieftain
Colorado -- The days of one-stop-shopping to "get legal" and buy marijuana may soon be over. The Colorado General Assembly is close to passing a bill intended to put the emphasis on medical need rather than legal marijuana. In other words, it's intended to put a stop to abuse and fraud going on statewide, on the part of some applicants to the registry and doctors who have signed registry applications for hundreds of patients, according Dr. Ned Calonge, chief medical officer at the Colorado State Department of Public Health and Environment.
Calonge said earlier this week that SB109 is intended to end the practice of physicians conducting "clinics" at marijuana dispensaries — usually for patients they've never seen before and often without performing an exam or even asking to see medical records to back up applicants' claims of medical need. The measure would require that all doctors who recommend marijuana use for patients and sign state registry application forms have a "bona-fide relationship" with those patients before the medical marijuana evaluation takes place. Calonge said the proposal would ensure that only patients who can provide proof of medical conditions that qualify them for use of medical marijuana will be added to the state registry. "What we're really trying to do is make this a medical care program rather than what it's become, which is not really a medical care program at all," he said. The proposed law, based in large part on recommendations from Calonge and other top state health officials, is intended to help patients and doctors and ensure that "medical marijuana patients' care can be regulated like any other patient in Colorado. The desired outcome is that if a physician diagnoses pain, the source of the pain has to be identified" and verified through acceptable medical means. In addition, the evaluating doctors often don't ask for medical records or even take applicants' blood pressure and heart rate. "In any other setting, diagnosing a debilitating condition and making a recommendation for a therapy with a Schedule I drug — marijuana is in the same federal classification with heroin, methamphetamine and other things that have no medical use — requires more than a two-minute consultation," Calonge said. "We believe there should be an existing relationship between the evaluating doctor and patient. The way we see the constitutional amendment, and my medical colleagues agree, is that medical marijuana should be part of the armamentarium for a physician taking care of patients," but should be recommended and used with the same careful consideration — and regulation — that apply to other drugs. "This bill will require doctors to legitimize diagnoses, with a complete history and a full physical exam that would meet the typical standard of care," Calonge said. The patients who qualify for marijuana under the law, he said, are cancer patients who haven't responded "to pain medications or who need symptom relief in end-of-life care," as well as patients with chronic pain who are unable to tolerate or function under the influence of prescribed painkillers. "There will be a discreet group of patients who need something else or something for palliative care, and those people are the ones envisioned (to be helped) by this amendment." Calonge said. "But the best person to make that decision is a doctor you have a relationship with," he said, but many doctors simply aren't willing to sign registration application forms, so the proposed bill also makes allowance for doctors to refer patients to others who have been cleared for evaluating medical marijuana patients in a medical setting, and for providing follow-up care. "Being able to have access to a clinician who specializes in marijuana is a scenario envisioned by this bill, but we want to make sure that person has the time and expertise to look at your medical history. "Marijuana use carries potential long-term side effects, and even if your doctor doesn't recommend marijuana, he needs to know if you're using it so he can check for pulmonary changes and other potential problems on a regular basis. "What we put in is really the minimum of what we would expect for diagnosis and management of a debilitating condition. The idea is, can't we create a system where legitimate patients can get marijuana safely, and in settings that ensure privacy and dignity? "We're approaching this from the standpoint of trying to make this a real medical program, to match what we believe the amendment says and was intended to do," Calonge said. Provisions in SB109 also would bar the practice of dispensaries referring applicants to physicians who have agreed to provide evaluations off-site. "The co-location practice is a conflict of interest that the physician has with the dispensary, and we don't allow that with any other area of medicine," Calonge explained. "Physicians who contact me are very upset about this program because they really believe some of their colleagues are practicing ethically poor and fraudulent medicine. And it's not just a matter of, 'Boy, I could be making that kind of money.' What's going on in some places right now detracts from the stature and status and trust of our profession. "We hope we're going to stop the unethical and fraudulent activity. At the same time, clinicians should feel better protected in the legality of it, and maybe more will be willing to sign patients' applications themselves," so the market for dispensary clinics will disappear. Calonge said doctors who fear legal ramifications need to remember that they are not prescribing marijuana use, but recommending it. "There is language in the Constitution that was very carefully put forward that prevents them from breaking the law. And if they're doing it within the context of genuine medical care, they have nothing to fear." Patients who buy marijuana at dispensaries — at much higher cost than what they'd pay on the streets — also need to understand that the state has no mechanism for verifying that the dispensary products are any more effective, or safer, than marijuana bought from illegal dealers. "There is no expertise in the state for doing this. There is no drug for which this is done at the state level. There is no science to bring to bear on this issue. It's a gap for which no one is responsible. The (federal Food and Drug Administration) would have to take action to move it from a Schedule 1 to at least a Schedule 2 substance to allow research into the area," Calonge said. "We're caught in this quandary unless federal law changes. I respect the view of the Colorado electorate that the substance is useful, but unfortunately, the way it's set up, there's not a mechanism" for guaranteeing product safety or effectiveness. The lack of human studies regarding both — illegal because the drug is illegal at the federal level — is one reason so many physicians are reluctant to recommend marijuana use for their patients, Calonge said. Studies done in other countries have proven that marijuana contains numerous dangerous toxins, especially when smoked. One study also has shown that marijuana use hastens mental decline among users who have multiple sclerosis — one of the conditions that qualify patients for inclusion on the Colorado registry, Calonge said. "It's interesting that advocates say we don't have evidence of the benefits because of federal laws, but I would also point out that we don't have evidence of the harms, and this is not a harm-free substance." But, unless the federal government changes its laws, the state is helpless to study the effects of marijuana on patients here. "It's a problem we have but can't solve, since we're using an illegal substance as a medicine. It's not a good situation to be in."Source: Pueblo Chieftain (CO)Author: Loretta SwordPublished: Monday, March 22, 2010Copyright: 2010 The Star-Journal Publishing Corp.Contact: newsroom chieftain.comWebsite: http://www.chieftain.com/URL: http://drugsense.org/url/frQUWEOfCannabisNews Medical Marijuana Archiveshttp://cannabisnews.com/news/list/medical.shtml
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Comment #32 posted by Hope on March 23, 2010 at 05:29:32 PT
Some comments in the Chieftain
http://www.chieftain.com/news/local/article_ba21ef7e-3563-11df-9d83-001cc4c002e0.html
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Comment #31 posted by Hope on March 23, 2010 at 05:26:41 PT
From The Pueblo Chieftain, Colorado
Marijuana's Illegal Status Attained Through Racism, Fraudhttp://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v10/n201/a01.html?397
[ Post Comment ]

Comment #30 posted by Paint with light on March 22, 2010 at 21:18:09 PT
Tennessee
I just found out Firefox doesn't catch misspellings in the subject line...just the comment box.Legal like...you know.
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Comment #29 posted by Paint with light on March 22, 2010 at 21:11:26 PT
Good News from Teenessee
The Safe Access to Medical Cannabis act is progressing faster than expected.Here is a link if anybody wants to follow. There is an MPP link in the article that is pretty good.http://wpln.org/?p=15966Legal like medicine for the patients....Legal like alcohol for the recreational users.....And Legal like wheat for the hemp farmers........And eventually ......legal like tomatoes for everybody.
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Comment #28 posted by The GCW on March 22, 2010 at 20:30:23 PT
Serve and Protect?
Colo. trooper arrested on drunken driving chargehttp://www.summitdaily.com/article/20100322/NEWS/100329951/1078&ParentProfile=1055CASTLE ROCK — A Colorado state trooper was arrested Monday on suspicion of driving drunk in uniform while he was behind the wheel of a marked patrol car and carrying a gun, authorities said.Cont.
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Comment #27 posted by FoM on March 22, 2010 at 19:31:48 PT
Totalrod2
That's what doctor's visits cost around here. $100 to $150 a visit. That's why health care has become unaffordable to nearly 40 million people.
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Comment #26 posted by FoM on March 22, 2010 at 19:28:47 PT
Totalrod2
No one really knows how this will work out. It's going to be years before much of it is enacted. It's only going to change a few things right away. The few things seem like good things to me.
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Comment #25 posted by Totalrod2 on March 22, 2010 at 19:17:22 PT:
Re:
Like everything else in our piece of sh** health care system, (which just got worse) it's all designed to bleed more money from the people. For the past 2 years I've been seeing a psychiatrist once every 3 months who refills my prescription for Remeron (which I take for depression). He sees me for 5-10 minutes and my co-payment is $53 (this obviously doesn't include the part covered by my insurance). He gets about $100 for a ten minute BS session, and sees six patients every hour. Do the math....that's $600/hour. Nobody is worth that. Who knows how much my co-payment will be now.
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Comment #24 posted by FoM on March 22, 2010 at 17:24:00 PT
CO: House Panel OK’s Medical Marijuana Regs
By Charles AshbyMonday, March 22, 2010Colorado: The House Judiciary Committee approved a highly amended measure today that would lead to the creation of medical marijuana centers in the state.The new centers would operate much like the many dispensaries that have cropped up in the past year only with stricter regulations.House Bill 1284 would require the centers to obtain a license from the state and still abide by whatever zoning regulations are approved by local governments.Those new regulations include requiring each marijuana sale to be digitally recorded, sale areas to be limited to patients authorized to use the herb, and anyone convicted of a felony would be barred from opening a center for at least five years.Dispensaries and caregivers that opt not to get state licensing would be limited to serving no more than five patients, but those that operate in areas of the state that ban centers altogether would be allowed to serve up to 16 patients.The controversial measure heads to the House Appropriations Committee for more debate.Copyright: 2010 Grand Junction Media, Inc.URL: http://www.gjsentinel.com/breaking/articles/house-panel-oks-medical-marijuana-regs/
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Comment #23 posted by Hope on March 22, 2010 at 15:54:27 PT
Pharmaceuticals
Things like the smallpox vaccine, the polio vaccine, Pasteurization, penicillin, antibiotics, and antivirals is why the health sciences and pharmaceutical manufacturers where once held in a certain amount of reverence and respect. They still save lives, of course. But some things have changed. A lot of things, I think. Not just one thing. Greed, or something very like it, seems like it might be one thing that's not quite as right as it might once have been.
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Comment #22 posted by FoM on March 22, 2010 at 14:54:19 PT
Sam
I cannot recall when I had an antibiotic before my surgery. I had to have it then because of the incarceration. I don't think I have ever had a flu shot.
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Comment #21 posted by Sam Adams on March 22, 2010 at 14:42:56 PT
anti-biotics
look at what they did with Swine Flu - there were camps in Maine giving every kid there Tamiflu for their entire stay. Out of fear for a very mild and short version of the flu, that only a fraction of the kids were going to contract. that sort of behavior may well be what kills us all. I've read that some suspect the grand age of health and freedom from disease is coming to an end, that we may eventually see a wave of multiple "super epidemics" that add a whole new list of uncurable diseases.Even now MSRA has passed AIDS in terms of deaths per year. Now C-diff has equaled MSRA. There will be more, many more.
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Comment #20 posted by FoM on March 22, 2010 at 14:11:27 PT
Hope
We have given people antibiotics way too liberally and this is the result.
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Comment #19 posted by Hope on March 22, 2010 at 14:11:12 PT
I hope I'm right, too.
Something has got to give. One way or the otherBut, like the author of the Wall Street Journal piece said, they will probably choose to make it worse... for the sake of the brute force, well tooled Drug Warrior economy, which at the same time, of course, supports the underground, brute force driven, black market economy.
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Comment #18 posted by Hope on March 22, 2010 at 14:02:32 PT
Infection
A few years ago I had a friend and school mate be killed by one of those aggressive infections. I don't think his started in a hospital. It started with a small wound on his leg. The doctors tried to stop it with antibiotics and amputation. It took his leg first... quickly ... then more quickly than could be imagined... the rest of him. He had been a healthy, strong man.It's very scary.I'm remembering several years ago, my Frisian son-in-law and other people from the Netherlands were very blase about small wounds and scratches when they first came here. Bandaids were for sissies... as well as washing wounds and applying ointments. One day on a construction job, my son-in-law told me, a friend of his, a fellow Dutchman, got a pretty nasty cut. They examined in and tried to go on with their work. Finally the guy, looked at my son-in-law and said, "I probably better get some Neo-sporin on it. Right?" They laughed at themselves... but they hurriedly cleaned, put the ointment on, and bandaged it.
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Comment #17 posted by FoM on March 22, 2010 at 13:51:20 PT
Hope
I really hope you are right about the border wars.
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Comment #16 posted by FoM on March 22, 2010 at 13:49:51 PT
Hope
Our friend from back in PA is coming out to do some of the AMA (motorcycle things) he does. He will stop in tomorrow. He told Stick his one friend that was 52 just died from the one infection that is hard to stop. We got bugs out there that we better pay attention to or I mean doctors better pay attention to.
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Comment #15 posted by Hope on March 22, 2010 at 13:46:29 PT
The Border Wars
I suspect they are the harbinger of the end of prohibition. This bloody situation was created by prohibition. And ending prohibition is the only way to stop it. It's either that or more, and more, death, violence, and disaster.That violence and many other situations of terror and violence associated with prohibition, along with the ungodly incarceration situation in this country are going to force the prohibs to wake up and wise up, or wipe out about half the world in a fit of authoritarian pique and monstrosity. I hope they wake up and wise up.
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Comment #14 posted by Hope on March 22, 2010 at 13:39:50 PT
Sam
Even though he was high on the traditional respect totem pole... the other doctors tried, irrationally, insanely, and pridefully, like gangbusters, to throw him under the proverbial train. Obviously he fought back and managed to get more of the right thing done. This should be a wake up call to all the people that like to think the perfect "Modern" system is already firmly in place and always just rolling along in fine order and simply can't be improved upon. The struggle never ends. Progress sometimes. A little rest sometimes. But the struggle must go on. It's how time and life works. One of those hospital infections killed my Grandmother a year or two ago.
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Comment #13 posted by FoM on March 22, 2010 at 12:03:44 PT
Hope
I just don't know what will come of the border wars. There has been so much violence that I don't have any idea how it will go.
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Comment #12 posted by Sam Adams on March 22, 2010 at 12:02:11 PT
doctor article
Hope, wow that guy at Hopkins sounds like a saint! Isn't it funny though, it has to be an aristocratic-looking guy, undoubtedly of EXCELLENT breeding, to even be able to broach the subject of poor quality and needless infections.eat the rich, eat the rich
out of the palace
and into the ditchthat pretty much sums up my feelings about the American doctor.
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Comment #11 posted by Hope on March 22, 2010 at 11:59:33 PT
Storm Crow
Probably, a lot of people would be very willing to have their MMJ doctor as their primary physician... if the doctor would agree to it. Of course, I realize that some doctors, like psychiatrists, like Dr. Mikurya was, I think, and such, wouldn't do primary care physician work.
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Comment #10 posted by Sam Adams on March 22, 2010 at 11:58:05 PT
Storm Crow
just wanted to say that recently I was working with another med MJ patient who has Ulcerative Colitis and we wanted some medical info for a politician who thought that this gentlement was only using Med. MJ to "feel better about things".I immediately went to your list and sure enough, there's a whole section about UC and inflammotory bowel diseases, many thanks!!!!Also the NORML website has a nice section on each disease that's good too.of course research on the endo-cannabinoid system shows that cannabis is actually curative on UC and Crohn's, not just palliative.
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Comment #9 posted by Hope on March 22, 2010 at 11:55:35 PT
Sam
Doctor Leads Quest for Safer Ways to Care for Patientshttp://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/09/science/09conv.html?em
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Comment #8 posted by Hope on March 22, 2010 at 11:23:02 PT
Comment 2 The Wall Street Journal piece
That's a hard hitting opinion piece. It seems very powerful to me.Clinton in Mexico? I'm thinking this is it, or a big part of the "It". I hope it is anyway. I think the woman may have some wisdom and fortitude. I hope she's brave and strong enough to use it.They are up against a wall. It's obvious what should be done to save some lives, and end some violence and disaster, as far as cannabis is concerned. It's time Clinton made a public appeal to legislators to deal with the problem of cannabis prohibition, it's uselessness, it's cost, it's wrong headedness and all. It's so obvious that the longer they ignore it, the more people die, the more violence and terrorizing there is, and the sorrier they are at policy.
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Comment #7 posted by Canis420 on March 22, 2010 at 10:58:01 PT:
Sam
There is nuthin new about C. diff. been around a long long time
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Comment #6 posted by Storm Crow on March 22, 2010 at 10:45:39 PT
Somebody please !
Send these men a copy of "Granny Storm Crow's MMJ Reference List"! Their ignorance is a bummer! In fact- if you say you are from Cannabis News, I'll even send you an exclusive preview version of July's list- 250 pages of MMJ links! (January's list, which I'm usually sending out, is "only" 150 pages of links.) Let's educate these dolts! You can get your very own "Special Equinox Update" at i.wantgrannyslist(at)greenpassion.org Don't forget to mention Cannabis News, or you'll get the "little" 150 page version! As to the MMJ doctors not giving good service. I'm in California, but my MMJ doctors (there have been 3 so far) have consistently given me far more time with them than my "regular" doctor does! All do the standard vitals check. All look at my records as they talk to me. And I feel the MMJ doctors actually ask me more questions about my health! Next time I re-up (unless we legalize this fall), I may just ask the MMJ doctor if he would prescribe me my thyroid pills and skip the regular doc! My MMJ doc is friendlier and more cheerful, and I simply like him better! Plus, his son, also a doctor, took excellent care of my hubby when he was in the ICU in 2008, so you might say, I like the family!
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Comment #5 posted by FoM on March 22, 2010 at 10:34:12 PT
AP: Half of New York Voters Back Legalizing MMJ
March 22, 2010URL: http://www.syracuse.com/news/index.ssf/2010/03/half_of_new_york_voters_back_l.html
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Comment #4 posted by Sam Adams on March 22, 2010 at 09:28:46 PT
more info
here's a great blog on the subject. Whooops! Doctors are killing 200,000 per year because of poor sanitary practices:http://www.foodconsumer.org/newsite/Non-food/Healthcare/hospital_infections_deaths_1303100725.html
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Comment #3 posted by Sam Adams on March 22, 2010 at 09:24:21 PT
Doctor talk
So ironic - the doctors are upset because med MJ docs aren't spending enough time with patients - isn't that a good laugh! Most doctors I see (there are many) usually spend about 90 seconds talking to me, often after I've been forced to wait for hours for a scheduled appointment. Of course, if I'm 15 minutes late, they cancel.I have very little respect for the typical US Western Medicine doctor. To me, all the years of study and practice are rendered completely useless by their bloated male egos, greed, and shocking lack of compassion.Just one example - I read an article in today's paper saying that MSRA and a new bacteria called C-diff are each killing 20,000 or more Americans per year. The vast majority of these people caught in the infection in US hospitals.The article was saying that scientists are now looking at the traditional doctor's white coat as a major vector of infection. In other words, the physicians are so callous that they're willing to kill tens of thousands of people each year so that they can continue to wear their status-symbol white jackets.And if you think I sound extreme right now, remember that back in the late 1800's it took Western doctors 10 or 20 years to admit that their refusal to wash their hands was killing thousands of birthing women every year.In fact the AMA issued a directive to their doctors to NOT wash their hands - amazingly similar to today, where their bloated egos have them attacking medical cannabis use while doling out lethal drugs to people that don't need them every day.These docs are furious that cannabis is taking away their drug-selling business. The more someone sees a med MJ doc and uses herbal medicine, the less MONEY they'll make. The greed is as plain as the nose on their faces.
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Comment #2 posted by FoM on March 22, 2010 at 08:55:31 PT
Off Topic: Article From The Wall Street Journal
The War on Drugs Is DoomedMarch 22, 2010URL: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703580904575132153106546066.html
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Comment #1 posted by FoM on March 22, 2010 at 03:54:58 PT
Related Article From The Denver Daily News
A More Patient-Friendly Bill?March 22, 2010URL: http://www.thedenverdailynews.com/article.php?aID=7737
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