END FEAR OF MEDICAL MARIJUANA

I am known as Dr. Bob throughout Northern Michigan, my practice
certifies patients to use medical marijuana, and I want the state to
put me out of a job.

To do that, leaders need to look at the reasons marijuana
certification clinics like mine exist and work to remove those reasons
while respecting the wishes of 63 percent of Michigan voters. Some 3.2
million Michigan residents voted for the MMMA, yet rather than respect
their will, leaders have, at nearly every opportunity, sought to throw
up roadblocks to its implementation.

The latest effort is a group of bills sponsored by the likes of Sen.
Rick Jones and Rep. John Walsh designed to hamper patients and gut the
act, rather than ease access for patients as the MMMA and the people
intended.

Patients cannot go to their primary care doctors and get a
certification, regardless of how much they want one and how well
qualified under the act they are. In most cases they are chronically
ill, middle-aged folks who have been using marijuana for years and
want to take the step to become legal. They view marijuana as a
natural and benign alternative to prescription narcotics such as
OxyContin or Vicodin -- medications that damage their livers and turn
them into zombies.

This statement is backed by the fact that only one in 15 Michigan
physicians have written even one certification for marijuana. Most are
written by 55 physicians such as me who are cannabis specialists.
Hospital systems and practices for the most part refuse to let their
physicians write certifications for their patients.

When these patients go to certification clinics to get the card their
doctor will not or cannot issue, they face having their pain
medications withheld to punish their choice or are simply discharged
from the practice. "Do no harm" does not involve withholding needed
care.

Why would physicians treat patients that way? The answer is simple,
fear. Fear of the Drug Enforcement Administration, fear of the
attorney general, fear of their employers. They feel free to use
marijuana as an excuse to discharge patients, perhaps to satisfy
liability lawyers or insurance carriers. Federal law is frequently
cited as a reason, despite the fact the feds made it clear they are
not interested in prosecuting patients that follow state marijuana
laws. To this day, the DEA refuses to acknowledge the medical use of
marijuana despite embracing Marinol and extracts created by
pharmaceutical companies with the same active ingredients.

Rather than restrict patients, gut the act and in general try and
obstruct the process as much as possible, government should listen to
the voters and help suffering patients obtain medication. Require
doctors to write certifications on demand for their qualified
patients. It is a health care choice, and patients should not feel
afraid to discuss it with their physicians. Do not allow physicians to
discharge or cut off patients for getting a card. Take away the fear
and there will be no need for certification clinics such as mine.