Jacob Redmond
Well-Known Member
There is nothing easy about starting a new industry and developing the robust regulatory framework needed to govern it - especially when your state-legal industry is in conflict with federal law.
It would be naïve to expect the rollout of the state's voter-approved medical marijuana program would come without challenges, surprises, and setbacks. The Sun's Oct. 5 editorial touched on some of the early challenges that the program has faced, yet failed to acknowledge that we are tackling these challenges head-on in the most responsible manner possible.
Making sure qualified patients can access safe medicine as quickly as possible is the top priority of the regulated medical marijuana industry. Thanks to the leadership of our Department of Public Health (DPH) and the input of responsible dispensary operators, patients, labs, and other stakeholders, Massachusetts has made great strides in establishing our Medical Use of Marijuana Program.
Thanks to waivers from the Baker Administration, dispensaries in Salem, Brockton, and Northampton are providing patients with safe access to medicine. A fourth dispensary is growing the medicine and others of the initial 15 provisionally licensed dispensaries are working tirelessly to fill in additional gaps across the Commonwealth.
Thanks to reforms made by the Baker administration and DPH, 133 additional dispensary applicants are working through the new rolling application process to secure licenses and more are likely on the way.
DPH has established some of the most comprehensive medical marijuana regulatory guidelines in the country. Dispensaries are among the most secure operations in Massachusetts. Our personnel undergo rigorous background checks. We have stringent safeguards against diversion. Our medicines are extensively tested for potency and contaminants.
Physicians and patients, too, face far more red tape in respect to this medicine than for any other medication. Physicians must complete continuing education related to the medical use of marijuana and register with DPH before they can issue recommendations. Before issuing a recommendation to a patient, the doctor must conduct a clinical visit, complete and document a full assessment of the patient's medical history and current medical condition, explain the potential benefits and risks of marijuana use, and have a role in the ongoing care and treatment of the patient.
In the editorial, the editors asked: "What's the sense of compiling an official list of conditions if doctors can determine whether or not to prescribe medical marijuana?" The answer is simple: medical decisions are best left to a doctor and their patient - not the law.
The medical marijuana law that 63 percent of Massachusetts voters approved specifically listed certain conditions that have been shown to benefit from treatment with medical marijuana. However, the drafters of that law rightly anticipated that no list in a law could account for all of the conditions that patients and doctors would face.
Chronic pain can be a horribly debilitating condition for many - one that frequently leads to opiate addiction - yet it isn't among the specific conditions listed in the law. According to the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), states with medical cannabis laws in effect before 2010 have a 24.8 percent lower mean annual opioid overdose mortality rate compared with states without medical cannabis laws. Multiple studies of patients from other states show 66-75 percent of patients using cannabis to reduce or end their dependence on opiates.
As Massachusetts grapples with a prescription pill-induced opiate addiction crisis, it is a relief that physicians and their patients - not a static law - can decide how best to treat debilitating conditions.
Kevin Gilnack is the executive director of the Commonwealth Dispensary Association, and Nichole Snow is executive director of the Massachusetts Patient Advocacy Alliance.
News Moderator: Jacob Redmond 420 MAGAZINE ®
Full Article: Responsible, Well-Regulated Medical Marijuana Industry Growing In Massachusetts
Author: Kevin Gilnack and Nichole Snow
Contact: Contact Page
Photo Credit: David Downs
Website: Lowell Sun News
It would be naïve to expect the rollout of the state's voter-approved medical marijuana program would come without challenges, surprises, and setbacks. The Sun's Oct. 5 editorial touched on some of the early challenges that the program has faced, yet failed to acknowledge that we are tackling these challenges head-on in the most responsible manner possible.
Making sure qualified patients can access safe medicine as quickly as possible is the top priority of the regulated medical marijuana industry. Thanks to the leadership of our Department of Public Health (DPH) and the input of responsible dispensary operators, patients, labs, and other stakeholders, Massachusetts has made great strides in establishing our Medical Use of Marijuana Program.
Thanks to waivers from the Baker Administration, dispensaries in Salem, Brockton, and Northampton are providing patients with safe access to medicine. A fourth dispensary is growing the medicine and others of the initial 15 provisionally licensed dispensaries are working tirelessly to fill in additional gaps across the Commonwealth.
Thanks to reforms made by the Baker administration and DPH, 133 additional dispensary applicants are working through the new rolling application process to secure licenses and more are likely on the way.
DPH has established some of the most comprehensive medical marijuana regulatory guidelines in the country. Dispensaries are among the most secure operations in Massachusetts. Our personnel undergo rigorous background checks. We have stringent safeguards against diversion. Our medicines are extensively tested for potency and contaminants.
Physicians and patients, too, face far more red tape in respect to this medicine than for any other medication. Physicians must complete continuing education related to the medical use of marijuana and register with DPH before they can issue recommendations. Before issuing a recommendation to a patient, the doctor must conduct a clinical visit, complete and document a full assessment of the patient's medical history and current medical condition, explain the potential benefits and risks of marijuana use, and have a role in the ongoing care and treatment of the patient.
In the editorial, the editors asked: "What's the sense of compiling an official list of conditions if doctors can determine whether or not to prescribe medical marijuana?" The answer is simple: medical decisions are best left to a doctor and their patient - not the law.
The medical marijuana law that 63 percent of Massachusetts voters approved specifically listed certain conditions that have been shown to benefit from treatment with medical marijuana. However, the drafters of that law rightly anticipated that no list in a law could account for all of the conditions that patients and doctors would face.
Chronic pain can be a horribly debilitating condition for many - one that frequently leads to opiate addiction - yet it isn't among the specific conditions listed in the law. According to the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), states with medical cannabis laws in effect before 2010 have a 24.8 percent lower mean annual opioid overdose mortality rate compared with states without medical cannabis laws. Multiple studies of patients from other states show 66-75 percent of patients using cannabis to reduce or end their dependence on opiates.
As Massachusetts grapples with a prescription pill-induced opiate addiction crisis, it is a relief that physicians and their patients - not a static law - can decide how best to treat debilitating conditions.
Kevin Gilnack is the executive director of the Commonwealth Dispensary Association, and Nichole Snow is executive director of the Massachusetts Patient Advocacy Alliance.
News Moderator: Jacob Redmond 420 MAGAZINE ®
Full Article: Responsible, Well-Regulated Medical Marijuana Industry Growing In Massachusetts
Author: Kevin Gilnack and Nichole Snow
Contact: Contact Page
Photo Credit: David Downs
Website: Lowell Sun News
