Much has been in the news (and rightfully so) this past weekend about the 2 deaths involving robberies at w medical marijuana collectives. First I give my sincere condolences to the family members who suffered this tragic loss.

I do want to put patients at ease and explain that these isolated incidents are just that. Although there are some dispensaries located in areas that I would never personally go, there are plenty in areas where I would send my Mother without thinking about it. Most operate very peacefully day after day.

I just got off the phone with an attorney who is representing one of my patients where local law enforcement raided his property where he was cultivating for personal use with one other patient and is being charged a bunch of crimes. She was pretty shocked about how willing I was to come down to San Diego and testify on his behalf. I told her it was a no-brainer. I have all the documentation including his medical records and can easily explain to the court why he qualifies as a legal patient. I asked her if she has had any issues with doctors coming to testify on behalf of her clients and she replied “the last case I had the doctor REFUSED to come and testify and when we ultimately sent him a subpoena he said he had medical issues and COULD NOT COME TO COURT”

I just read this article at Fox New’s website (see link) discussing the dangers or using medical cannabis. Please read it. http://liveshots.blogs.foxnews.com/2010/06/22/going-to-pot-the-science-behind-marijuana/#

In this article Dr. Mark Siegel, a practicing internist in New York’s NYU Medical Center, is quoted as saying “The idea that it(cannabis) needs to be commonly used, there’s no medical indication for that whatsoever. Not only that, it has a risk for lung cancer associated with it, a risk of psychiatric problems, anxiety, depression, dissociation and suicide.”

Today in my Long Beach medical marijuana (cannabis) office I evaluated a 60 year old man who has been suffering from carpal tunnel syndrome. He explained that he gets a burning sensation in his right hand and also has pain with any type of wrist movement that involves flexing his wrist. The pain is most pronounced in the evenings and at night and it has caused significant problems with sleeping. He has been using cannabis successfully for the past 2 months and wanted to receive a physician recommendation so he can safely access medicine to treat his symptoms.

Today in Irvine I took care of 2 patients who were suffering from Crohn’s Disease and Ulcerative Colitis that were using medical marijuana to help control their symptoms. Primarily they stated the cannabis reduces abdominal cramping, decreases diarrhea and decreased the amount of “flare ups” that they had in the past 12 months.

In my two years as medical director of Medical Cannabis of Southern California I have not witnessed the all out assault on patients and caregivers than what is going on right now. It is so perplexing that I am not sure where to start in this post.

First I guess let me say that the overall leadership in the State of California is about as bad as it gets. We have the 8th largest economy in the world and are stuck with a budget deficit that is 19 billion! Our taxes on business and corporations are some of the highest in the country making California one of the last States that you would want to start a business. Our unemployment is one of the highest in the United States.

Today I took care of a 61 year old patient named John who was diagnosed with cancer in his left ureter. The ureter is the “tube” that connects from the kidney to the bladder and transfers urine. It has already metastasized (spread) to the bone and he is starting a plan of chemotherapy. He came to me for a medical marijuana recommendation because of the lack of appetite, wight loss, nausea and pain as a result of his cancer. He has used marijuana on a few occasions recently with encouraging results.

As New Jersey tries to figure out how to implement their version of the medical marijuana program they are coming up with some interesting ideas. Gov. Chris Christie is thinking that growing all of the medical marijuana for the entire state at the agricultural center at Rutger’s University. ANOTHER EXAMPLE OF THE PEOPLE WHO HAVE NO IDEA WHAT REALITY IS TRYING TO IMPLEMENT THEIR OWN REGULATIONS ON THE INDUSTRY. Do you want my opinion?

Today I evaluated a 39 year old male for medical marijuana who was diagnosed with optic neuritis in his left eye. Optic neuritis is essentially swelling and inflammation of the optic nerve (the main nerve connecting the eye to the brain). MRI’s and eye exams could not identify the root cause. He is legally blind in that eye and because of that has persistent nausea and occasional pain. He has been using cannabis for the past year intermittently with good results and wanted safe access.

Today I had a 60 year old patient who suffered from chronic kidney stones (nephrolithiasis) and had chronic pain and nausea as a result. He had been suffering from recurrent stones since 1980. Kidney stones are INCREDIBLY PAINFUL! The pain usually isolates to the lower back on the affected side. Patients can develop extreme nausea and have episodes of vomiting. Medical marijuana is an amazing supplement to treat the pain and nausea. For this gentlemen, “I don’t know what I would do without it. It saved my life.”