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Tag: medical marijuana program

  • Medical Marijuana Patients Forced To Choose Between Housing Or Pain Relief

    Medical Marijuana Patients Forced To Choose Between Housing Or Pain Relief

    The government’s stance on medical marijuana is leaving some low-income patients in a major bind. 

    Some medical marijuana patients across the country are having to choose between having a place to live or effective pain relief.

    People who apply for, or already receive, federal housing assistance may face discrimination if they use cannabis—even if it is for medical use, even if it is legal in their state.

    That’s because the federal government’s stance has not changed along with the policies of individual states, the majority of whom have legalized cannabis in some form. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development says federal housing policy will continue to prohibit cannabis use until the federal government officially changes its stance on it.

    Currently cannabis is classified as a Schedule I drug, in the same category as heroin and LSD. Drugs in this category are defined as having no medical value and a high potential for abuse.

    Lily Fisher, 55, is a medical cannabis patient under Montana’s medical cannabis program. Fisher, who has a prosthetic foot as a result of developing blood clots while being treated for breast cancer, relies on cannabis for pain relief.

    Fisher previously tried both hydromorphone and oxycodone for her pain, but ultimately preferred cannabis over taking opioids because it gave her fewer side effects.

    While applying for federal housing assistance, Fisher learned that her status as a medical marijuana patient would disqualify her from the process.

    In August, she was notified that she had been removed from the Section 8 waiting list because the state “recently received information from our field office that [she had] engaged in illegal use of a drug.” She would have to reapply.

    “It never even crossed my mind in a million years that that would be an issue,” she said, according to the Billings Gazette. “I started getting shook up and nervous because I’m about to be homeless.”

    Another woman, 66-year-old Mary Cease of Pennsylvania, was also denied access to a Section 8 housing voucher. Cease is a disabled veteran who also prefers cannabis over opioids. “It’s a crazy thing to do to an old woman who has no criminal background, and who owes nobody anything, and is living in a place where you cannot expand your mind,” she said, according to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

    In June, Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton, a representative from Washington, D.C., introduced a bill that would allow the use of cannabis in federally subsidized housing in states where it is legal. “Individuals who live in states where medical and/or recreational marijuana is legal, but live in federally-assisted housing, should have the same access to treatment as their neighbors,” Norton said.

    If such legislation should pass, it would represent a huge victory for medical marijuana patients who fear discrimination in not just public housing, but in the workplace too.

    “No one should have to choose between staying off opioids and a roof over their head,” said Mary Cease’s lawyer, Judith Cassel.

    View the original article at thefix.com

  • New York Moves To Replace Opioids With Medical Marijuana

    New York Moves To Replace Opioids With Medical Marijuana

    Opioid use disorder has been added to the list of qualifying conditions that medical cannabis can be used to treat in the state.

    Officials in New York have changed medical marijuana policy in order to make it easier for patients to access medical cannabis in lieu of opioids, and have added opioid use disorder to the list of qualifying conditions that medical cannabis can be used to treat. 

    The New York Department of Health announced the expansion on July 12. Under the emergency regulations, any condition that could be prescribed an opioid is now a qualifying condition for medical marijuana. 

    “Effective immediately, registered practitioners may certify patients to use medical marijuana as a replacement for opioids, provided that the precise underlying condition for which an opioid would otherwise be prescribed is stated on the patient’s certification,” the state’s press release said. “This allows patients with severe pain that doesn’t meet the definition of chronic pain to use medical marijuana as a replacement for opioids.”

    The expansion also allows people who are being treated for opioid use disorder in a qualified treatment setting to be issued a medical marijuana license to use cannabis as a replacement for opioids. 

    Only 12 other medical conditions are currently listed as qualifying conditions for medical cannabis, so the expansion could have a significant effect on New York’s medical marijuana system. At the time of the announcement, just over 62,000 New Yorkers had a medical marijuana license, according to the health department.  

    Lawmakers hope that by expanding access to medical marijuana, they can reduce the number of opioids prescribed in the state. 

    “Medical marijuana has been shown to be an effective treatment for pain that may also reduce the chance of opioid dependence,” said New York State Health Commissioner Dr. Howard Zucker. “Adding opioid replacement as a qualifying condition for medical marijuana offers providers another treatment option, which is a critical step in combatting the deadly opioid epidemic affecting people across the state.”

    Additional changes will make it easier for people to access medical cannabis after they are approved for the program. Lawmakers hope that this will help reduce overdose deaths from opioids. 

    “I have been strongly advocating to remove barriers and allow the use of medical marijuana as an alternative to opioids because it will help patients, reduce the number of highly addictive opioids in circulation, and ultimately, it will save lives,” state Senator George Amedore, co-chair of the Senate Task Force on Heroin and Opioid Addiction said in a June press release.

    “We continue to be faced with an opioid epidemic that is devastating communities throughout our state. It’s important we continue to do everything possible to address this issue from all sides, so I’m glad the Department of Health is taking this measure that will help high risk patients, as well as those that are struggling with, or have overcome, addiction.”

    View the original article at thefix.com

  • Oklahoma Public Schools Increase Drug Testing For Students

    Oklahoma Public Schools Increase Drug Testing For Students

    The decision comes on the heels of the state’s voters passing a measure to legalize medical marijuana.

    A public school district in Oklahoma will double the number of students that will be required to undergo random drug testing in the coming school year.

    The move comes on the heels of a recent decision by state voters to pass a measure that allows for legal use of medical marijuana without a qualifying condition, but Bret Towne, superintendent for Edmond Public Schools, said that the increase was “coincidental” with the bill’s passage.

    According to coverage by High Times, more than 700 of the 3,000 students in the district who participate in extracurricular activities will be randomly tested for drugs this year.

    Random drug testing for students in Edmond Public Schools, which has been conducted largely among students in extracurricular activities for the past six years, was reduced two years ago after funding for the district was subjected to cuts. But at a meeting on July 2, the Edmond school board voted to return to previous testing levels, which is the number of students they are legally allowed to test.

    According to Towne, the board’s decision was not directly influenced by the passage of SQ 788, which allows patients to use marijuana for medical purposes after obtaining a recommendation from a qualified physician.

    Unlike most medical marijuana measures, SQ 788 requires no pre-existing health conditions to qualify for the medical marijuana program, and according to Towne, that element was cause for alarm among some parents. 

    “My concern is how it’s going to affect students on campus and the availability [of medical marijuana],” he told Oklahoma’s KFOR News. “We always worry about students having easier access to it.”

    But while the decision to increase the number of tests was a simple matter of voting, deciding how the school district will handle the issue on a broad scale will require more debate.

    As High Times noted, SQ 788 allows anyone 18 years or older to use the drug with a doctor’s recommendation, and grants permission to minors aged 16 to 17 to use medical cannabis as long as they have recommendations from two doctors.

    According to Towne, he’ll wait to see how the Oklahoma Department of Health will rule in regard to medical marijuana use on campuses, and then meet with state school board officials to consider revisions to their current policy. Currently, prescription medication are held and distributed to students by a school secretary. 

    But as Towne said, applying that policy to medical marijuana is “a little bit different situation [sic].”

    View the original article at thefix.com

  • New York Plans To Allow Medical Marijuana As Opioid Alternative

    New York Plans To Allow Medical Marijuana As Opioid Alternative

    “We looked at the pros, we looked at the cons, and when we were done, we realized that the pros outweighed the cons,” said one public health official.

    The New York Department of Health will now recommend that the state allow adults to legally use medical marijuana instead of an opioid prescription, or if they are struggling with opioid addiction.

    According to U.S. News, state commissioner Howard Zucker announced that the Department of Health will create regulations that allow patients who have been prescribed opioids or become addicted to the drug, to instead enroll in the medical marijuana program.

    Dr. Zucker proposed that allowing medical marijuana use in place of opioids is backed by research which shows that having access to marijuana reduces opioid use and eliminates the risk of overdose, as well as the risk of addiction for those not dependent on the drug.

    The New York Times pointed out that New York Governor Andrew Cuomo referred to marijuana as a “gateway drug” in the past and was not a supporter of its medicinal use.

    Howard Zucker noted this change, stating in the NYT, “We looked at the pros, we looked at the cons, and when we were done, we realized that the pros outweighed the cons,” adding, “we have new facts.”

    The NYT reported that the New York State Department will now be supporting the legalization of marijuana after the results of their state-sponsored study, backed by Governor Cuomo, were released.

    Dr. Zucker was quoted in NYT, noting that the researchers behind the study were “experts from all across the government.” He said that the researchers had surveyed a broad array of issues, including age, and production and distribution, and decided that the legalization of marijuana in New York was workable.

    News outlet WHEC noted that as of now, the New York medical marijuana program allows only 12 conditions (which must be certified by a physician) in those who use the program. These conditions included HIV/AIDS, and chronic pain conditions such as arthritis and cancer.

    So far the regulations around the program have been strict: no smokeable forms of marijuana are allowed.

    Elizabeth Brico wrote in a recent feature for The Fix that medical marijuana was an integral part of her abstinence from opioids.

    “The ability to soften the blow of that transition helps some users acclimate to life without opioids. Even if the marijuana use doesn’t remain transitional—if someone who was formerly addicted to heroin continues to use marijuana for the rest of his or her life instead—the risk of fatal overdose, hepatitis C or HIV transmission through drug use, and a host of other complications still go down to zero.” 

    View the original article at thefix.com

  • Veterans Hold Memorial Day Push for Medical Cannabis

    Veterans Hold Memorial Day Push for Medical Cannabis

    The veterans participating in the Veterans Rally advocated for the VA to change its medical marijuana policy.

    Veterans from across the country gathered in Washington, D.C. on Monday to advocate for better access to medical cannabis through the Department of Veterans Affairs. 

    “Use cannabis, die less,” Mike Krawitz, a 56-year-old disabled U.S. Air Force veteran told Marijuana.com. “The scientific community has confirmed that cannabis saves lives by avoiding overdoses. VA doctors know this but are obliged not to recommend cannabis for pain and PTSD. And that is unethical.”

    The motto of the 2018 Veterans Rally D.C. was “plants over pills.” The veterans who were participating were advocating for the VA to change its policy, which currently bars medical cannabis that many vets believe could help with chronic pain and issues like post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). 

    Derek Cloutier, who has PTSD after serving with the Marines, said that he always found it easy to get prescription pills from the VA. He said he has seen veterans turn to selling their VA-issued pills in order to get medical cannabis, which they felt was more effective at relieving their symptoms. 

    “I’ve been told straight by a vet that I can go to a VA hospital and be prescribed opiates, Adderall—anything if they play their cards right, and then go sell the pills on the streets… just so they can buy cannabis and heal themselves,” Cloutier told Fox News.

    Many vets, he said, are hesitant to use marijuana because it is stigmatized as a street drug. He worked through his own negative perceptions about cannabis before he began using it regularly. Now, he grows his own medical cannabis legally in Massachusetts, which has both a medical and recreational cannabis program. 

    “The more I learned about it, the more I educated myself about it… the stigma came down, the stereotypes came down,” Cloutier said. “All these walls around me, that I was terrified to say I’m a cannabis user… that’s part of the problem.”

    According to The American Legion, 22% of veterans are already using medical cannabis, despite the fact that it could affect their treatment from the VA. The overwhelming majority of vets (92%) say that they support research into using cannabis to treat a variety of ailments. 

    Recently, the VA announced that it would begin to study medical marijuana. However, many veterans believe that there is unlikely to be a policy change under the current administration.  

    “VA doctors may be allowed more breathing room in a legal medical marijuana state, but they are afraid to run afoul of the federal government,” Krawitz said. 

    View the original article at thefix.com