By Michael Dorausch, D.C.
There’s been news recently that with the election of President Barack Obama, the DEA would discontinue raids on legal medical marijuana dispensaries, operating in states like California. Raids of medical marijuana facilities is only one of the many confusing issues surrounding the topic of providing cannabis to people for various health conditions. While not licensed in the practice of medicine prescribing, chiropractors have found themselves faced with questions regarding medical marijuana, as both patients and medical doctors pressure doctors of chiropractic for information and referrals.
(photo: snapshot of a medical marijuana survival guide mailed to a chiropractor’s office by local medical doctors)
Chiropractors practicing in any of the states that do not provide legalized medical marijuana prescriptions may find it hard to believe that chiropractors are now receiving marketing materials from medical doctors, in hopes of getting referrals for patients that may be suffering from back pain, migraine headaches, nausea, and other health conditions, considered to respond well via marijuana therapy. The state of California is one of those states, and advertising (both online and in print) for use of medical marijuana has become rather commonplace.
While marijuana prescription is legal under California state law, the growing and/or possession of marijuana is still illegal federally. To show the stark contrast of federal versus local state scenarios, in January 2008 there was news that a West Los Angeles marijuana dispensary was rolling out vending machines for patients to purchase prescription marijuana. Not something you’d expect to see in a state like Utah or South Carolina.
The confusion for chiropractors and other California healthcare professionals potentially becomes an ethical one. On one hand, medical doctors that prescribe marijuana (sometimes referred to as pot docs) are supplying chiropractors and other natural practicing healthcare practitioners with marketing materials for marijuana use. On the other hand, chiropractors have reported that patients have asked questions regarding the use of smoking or ingesting marijuana for treatment of low back pain, neck pain, headaches, and other common musculoskeletal conditions chiropractic patients complain about. This leaves doctors of chiropractic in a gray area.
Would the majority of chiropractic patients find it offensive if chiropractors left medical marijuana marketing materials, provided by local medical doctors, in front desk a reception areas? Would chiropractors be subject to disciplinary action from state chiropractic boards for promoting the use of legalized medical marijuana? Would chiropractors be subject to fines and penalties from insurance carriers, if those same materials were available for browsing and pick up in a chiropractor’s office? Until those questions are answered, it’s my assumption that the majority of marijuana marketing materials sent by M.D.’s to chiropractors, end up in the trash. Is that in the patients best interest?
You can read materials related to Medical Marijuana MD Referrals requested from chiropractors. Professionals in the fields of acupuncture, massage, naturopathy, and other holistic fields are likely receiving medical marijuana marketing materials as well. The decision to display educational marijuana materials is something practitioners in those industries are likely also faced with. Marijuana is a drug (even when it’s medical marijuana), and some natural health care practitioners hold a philosophy that drugs are drugs, whether pushed or prescribed.
Will chiropractors lean on the side of the fence saying marijuana is a natural herbal product that can be beneficial for treating particular ailments, or will they position themselves on the side of marijuana as a drug, a federally illegal drug, that can be hazardous to one’s health?
Like buds oozing with resin, the discussion and decisions are proving to be a sticky situation for chiropractors practicing in states that have legalized marijuana use medicinally.
planetc1.com-news @ 7:21 am | Article ID: 1236007310
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