As of June 2015, 23 states and the
District of Columbia have legalized medical cannabis. Should hospitals be
following suit?
Many hospitals such as The Cleveland Clinic have stated that they don't recommend using illegal substances to treat health conditions. However, the top 17 hospitals in the U.S. including the Maya Clinic, Johns Hopkins, and the Duke University Medical center have either taken no public stance on the issue of have evaded making direct statements on the issue.
One argument against medical marijuana in hospitals is the fear of patients falsifying medical documentation in order to smoke marijuana cigarettes or alternative paraphernalia. Some states have handled this problem by restricting legal medicinal marijuana to only the pill or liquid form. New York only permits medical cannabis in pill and oil form and prohibits the sale of the cannabis flower. All other states with legalized marijuana, recreational or medical, currently limit the amounts of live or dried plants a person can have.
Even in states that have legalized medical marijuana, hospitals have been unwilling to allow the administration in their walls. One issue with this is that it can be difficult to abruptly discontinue this treatment upon admittance to a hospital. This is one of the reasons that New York Minnesota, and Massachusetts are allowing use inside their hospitals.
The execution of laws allowing non-smokable types of cannabis is intended to provide aid for those suffering from some cancers, HIV/AIDS, ALS, Parkinson's disease, and more. By implementing the non-smokable forms, hospitals are working to avoid the stigma a 'physician's note' for a headache as a ticket to recreational drugs.
Contact us and let us know how you feel about medical marijuana use in hospitals.
Many hospitals such as The Cleveland Clinic have stated that they don't recommend using illegal substances to treat health conditions. However, the top 17 hospitals in the U.S. including the Maya Clinic, Johns Hopkins, and the Duke University Medical center have either taken no public stance on the issue of have evaded making direct statements on the issue.
One argument against medical marijuana in hospitals is the fear of patients falsifying medical documentation in order to smoke marijuana cigarettes or alternative paraphernalia. Some states have handled this problem by restricting legal medicinal marijuana to only the pill or liquid form. New York only permits medical cannabis in pill and oil form and prohibits the sale of the cannabis flower. All other states with legalized marijuana, recreational or medical, currently limit the amounts of live or dried plants a person can have.
Even in states that have legalized medical marijuana, hospitals have been unwilling to allow the administration in their walls. One issue with this is that it can be difficult to abruptly discontinue this treatment upon admittance to a hospital. This is one of the reasons that New York Minnesota, and Massachusetts are allowing use inside their hospitals.
The execution of laws allowing non-smokable types of cannabis is intended to provide aid for those suffering from some cancers, HIV/AIDS, ALS, Parkinson's disease, and more. By implementing the non-smokable forms, hospitals are working to avoid the stigma a 'physician's note' for a headache as a ticket to recreational drugs.
Contact us and let us know how you feel about medical marijuana use in hospitals.
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