If it gives you PTSD, I have a suggestion for you.
Regards,
Shodan
It’s been legal for use in a number of states for years now. It’s been illegal but very widely used in a number of places for a lot longer.
The sky has never fallen, crime rates have not soared, the highways aren’t being turned into death traps by stoned drivers.
Everything bad promised by the anti-Marijuana crowd has been proven to be a pack of lies, disinformation and ignorance.
Every dispensary I’ve visited has offered military veterans a 10% discount. PTSD is very common among veterans, as is depression. Just saying.
We’re good but I’ve got to stand by my position. I don’t entirely blame you for gaming the system, though since you have ample access iirc I don’t know why you bother. But a doctor is put in a position of responsibility and authority, she is abdicating that by just going by her patients wants/feelings.
Before pot got recreational legal here, I just bought from my buddy like I always did. I didn’t find a “pot friendly doctor” because I would rather give all my money to a pot dealer over some weak willed airy-fairy doctor.
And apparently Irritable Bowel Disease and PTSD are soon to be eradicated as well.
Regards,
Shodan
No need to be obtuse. No one is claiming pot cures anything anymore than aspirin cures headaches or insulin cures diabetes.
Actually, it’s about judging people who are trying the best they can to manage their issues in our sucky health “system”. The last time I smoked was last November when I was smoking a low THC-strain. It was recommended to me by an excellent budtender who understood that I needed to manage extreme anxiety, not get high. You see, my husband was hospitalized across the country after having a heart attack. He had open heart surgery. My doctor told me to try deep-breathing and gave me an antihistamine to help me sleep. I thought she was kidding. The weed helped take off the panicky edge.
My husband died. I haven’t smoked any weed since then, but I’m not going to judge anyone for how they manage their lives. Or how they acquire what they use. I blame the system and not the people, unlike those in this thread who sit in judgment. :rolleyes:
I like the idea that I’m legal. For 45 years I’ve broken the law every time I’ve purchased or used cannabis. Feels good to do it legally.
Here are the 21 conditions Pennsylvania allows treatment with medical marijuana. I’m sure you can find plenty of laughs in the list.
Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis
Autism
Cancer
Crohn’s Disease
Dyskinetic Disorders
Damage to the nervous tissue of the spinal cord with objective neurological indication of intractable spasticity
Epilepsy
Glaucoma
HIV / AIDS
Huntington’s Disease
Inflammatory Bowel Disease
Intractable Seizures
Multiple Sclerosis
Neurodegenerative Disorders
Neuropathies
Opioid Use Disorder
Parkinson’s Disease
Post-traumatic Stress Disorder
Severe chronic or intractable pain of neuropathic origin or severe chronic or intractable pain in which conventional therapeutic intervention and opiate therapy is contraindicated or ineffective
Sickle Cell Anemia
Terminal Illness
Tourette’s and Anxiety are currently under consideration.
And the bona fide, scientifically demonstrated effectiveness of marijuana on those diagnoses is pretty close to zero. Reports of usefulness of pot on those entities are based on anecdotes 99+% of the time.
Now I’m sure people report relief of symptoms; pot works great for making most folks feel better. Works better than alcohol, for sure. Safer, too.
And while pot does lower intra-ocular pressure, it needs to be consumed every 2 hours to do so effectively; i.e. enough to prevent actual blindness from developing due to elevated pressure. Eye drops and eye surgery are better options.
Once we study the various active components of pot, I’m sure we’ll find some demonstrated uses for it. But touting it as a fix for nearly everything then making physicians complicit in approving it remains ludicrous.
I don’t smoke pot. I tried it once in college, and didn’t like it. But now that it’s legal in my state, I may try it again, just out of curiosity.
But I’m a huge fan of medical cannabis, and I favor full legalization. (and even got the chance to vote for legalization, whoopie!)
Two anecdotes: A guy who worked for me developed Hodgkins disease. He smoked pot prior to his chemo, and it greatly reduced he nausea. He found out just how much it reduced it the week he neglected to smoke pot. I gather there are other drugs for that these days, but choice is good, and pot is pretty safe.
My BIL has intractable back pain. He’s in pain management therapy, and takes more opioids than he’d like, and still has a lot of pain. Since medical marijuana was legalized, he’s been using it. He was able to cut way back on his opoids, and gets better pain relief. My sister says he’s also become a bit of a pot-head, but, she say, “it seems to make him happy”, and he’s doing much better at work (fewer pain-related sick days, mostly) and is generally doing okay with all the regular stuff. So it’s been a net win.
What a bizarre story. The doctor sounds like a dick.
All that being said, kayaker’s story rubs me the wrong way. You were wasting your doctor’s time and lying to get treatment. I don’t blame him for throwing you out on your ear. You obviously didn’t have trouble buying on the black market. Why mess up the medical system and hurt legitimate medical users?
May I suggest you seek a PCP now, when you aren’t in a crisis? Maybe even one you are compatible with?
I take Amlodopine, Atenolol, and Losartan every day. I feel no effect whatsoever. I also take some cannabis every day. It makes me feel better.
As Ry Cooder sings(Sidney Bailey / J.B. Lenoir / Jim Dickinson) :
Feelin’ good, feelin’ good
All the money in the world is spent on feelin’ good
I never lied. Lying is something I do not do even in situations where some people would say it was OK. As far as wasting my doctor’s time, his time is what I pay for. In fact, he was pissed off at me for not paying for his time every year.
Heh. Yes, that would probably be a good idea, but it’s not something I’m likely to do.
Shssh. You’ll harsh their mellow.
In Pennsylvania, physicians are not made complicit in approving it. Any physician who does certification must:
[ul]
[li]Demonstrate to the Department of Health by training or expertise that he or she is qualified in treating one of the “serious medical conditions” eligible for treatment with medical marijuana including: Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, Autism, Cancer, Epilepsy, Glaucoma, HIV/AIDS, Parkinson’s Disease and Post-traumatic Stress Disorder[/li][li]Successfully complete the required four hour course established by the Department of Health[/li][li]Hold a valid, unexpired, unrevoked, unsuspended Pennsylvania license to practice medicine[/li][/ul]
A physician approved to do certification may certify a patient if all of the following conditions are met:
[ul]
[li]The physician has determined, based upon a patient consultation and any other factor deemed relevant by the physician, the patient has a serious medical condition and has included that condition in the patient’s health care record.[/li][li]The physician has determined the patient is likely to receive therapeutic or palliative medical benefit from the use of medical marijuana based upon the physician’s professional opinion,[/li][li]The physician has reviewed the Prescription Drug Monitoring Program prior to issuing or modifying a patient certification to determine the controlled substance history of the patient to determine whether the controlled substance history of the patient would impact the patient’s use of medical marijuana.[/li][li]The physician has explained the potential risks and benefits of the use of medical marijuana to the patient and has documented in the patient’s health care record that the explanation has been provided and informed consent has been obtained.[/li][/ul]
Is it possible that it was more exasperation that your heart stint and missing gallbladder isn’t enough to get you to visit the doctor regularly but a pot prescription gets you to come in? Because I don’t know about your town but around here, doctors often have to turn away new patients. It certainly wouldn’t affect their finances if a patient dropped off the radar for 5 years.
Nope. I can call and get a same day appointment here. I never mentioned the purpose of my visit until the final 5 minutes, and we were yelling at each other for an hour by that time. He was pissed off about the fact that he hasn’t been able to retire, period.
He’s always been a dick, but I always just played along. I do not want to out anyone, but here is a review posted online (not by me):
To be fair, he also gets positive reviews, but even in those people often mention his attitude:
And, another:
Starting with Yak’s ex-PCP
I started this thread thinking it would give those of us with medical certification a place to discuss the details of our situations. There are discussions on reddit like this. Oh well, so it goes.
Heh, turns out my ex-PCP is more evil than I thought. He refunded my $60 copay, but I assumed he still billed my insurance for my visit. Curious about how much he charged, and how he explained not charging a copay, I looked on my medical insurance app.
He made a claim and it was covered. He billed my insurance $301.00, they paid $146.88 after a network discount of $154.13. My copay is listed as $0 because he lied about the services provided. I showed this to my gf and she thinks I should complain to my insurance as well as the state medical board, but fuck it. He’s looking for an excuse to retire and I’m not going to cooperate.:mad: