The use of marijuana in medical field has been an age-old debate. In 1996, a proposed law was passed to legalize the use marijuana. Ever since then, patients from different states had demanded the cannabis recommendations and the identification cards.
A medical marijuana recommendation is a written consent by a patient’d doctor, allowing the patient, to use marijuana as a mean of alleviating chronic illnesses and conditions that the patient may be diagnosed of. The chronic illnesses of the patient must be considered treatable by the drug. This had been a discussion. The illnesses and conditions that the use of the drug is deemed applicable differs from every state. Consider a patient suffering from anxiety. The state of California permits the use of marijuana to treat anxiety attacks. The state of Oregon, on the other hand, find the use of the drug for anxiety irrelevant. A person applying for a marijuana recommendation must check his or her local law for a list of conditions that permits the use of marijuana.
The doctors willing to issue a cannabis recommendation are alarmed and overwhelmed with the increasing number of patients applying for the marijuana recommendation. At most, doctors will prescribe other medicine as solution to a patient’s condition, or disagree in the use of marijuana. The law, on the other hand, doesnot limit the patient to one doctor’s opinion. Patients could have an appointment with another doctor to have a second opinion, and hopefully, they would be issued a cannabis recommendation. The patient must bring their medical history that would qualify them for the use of marijuana. There are also medicinal marijuana clinics that employ doctors who specialize in this field. Since the legalization of marijuana, such clinics are established overnight and continues to increase in number.
The Compassionate Use Act of 1996 states that any doctors who issues a cannabis recommendation will not be subject to arrest and their license, rights and/or privilege taken from them. However, some doctors still fear the liability that they would have if they did give out a marijuana recommendation to patients. This is not the case. If they were to prescribe, then that would be in violation of the Controlled Substances Act of 1970, but the law states that if the doctor “recommends” the use, then there is no offense what so ever. They also worry about issuing a marijuana recommendation, an approval to use a drug that is not sanctioned by the Food and Drug Administration.
Once approved, with supplementary documents such identifications, and medical history, a patient will receive the marijauna recommendation that would allow the use, possession and transport among others of the drug throughout any states that implemented the law regarding the legality of marijuana. Some states had created a program that would serve as an additional protection for marijuana patients. After obtaining a marijuana recommendation, patients can now register for a cannabis card. This card is an identification for patients undergoing the marijuana treatment and for the law enforcers to differentiate the patients from drug abusers.
