As the general election in November approaches the people of California will have the right to vote on the legalization of marijuana for recreational purposes. But if it passes, will it be legal?? If you read the fine print of the Proposition, each INDIVIDUAL CITY will still be able to keep it illegal if they choose to. In many cities they have already preempted the law and have already banned the recreational sale of marijuana. WHY WOULD THE FINE PRINT SAY THAT?? GOOD QUESTION…. READ ON

Today I was speaking with a patient who has two daughters ages 6 and 8. She was explaining that they are extremely hyperactive, moody, have a hard time sleeping and get so wound up during the day that they crash and burn constantly.

One of the first things I do when trying to figure out what is going on with a patient is to see what they are eating and drinking. IN general IF YOU GIVE YOUR KIDS ROCKET FUEL… THEY ARE GOING TO BE WIRED FOR AN HOUR OR SO AND THEN CRASH AND BURN…. they will get moody, be cranky, hyperactive and be nightmare to try and raise.

Here are three things that EVERY patient could benefit from when it comes to improving your health
1. Eliminate COFFEE and CAFFEINE
2. Stop watching or reading the news.
3. Eliminate the negative people in your life.
This post will explain why these three things will make it harder for you to stay healthy and live a productive life. READ ON——>>>>>>>>

I often wonder how many patients that are visiting doctors for medical marijuana recommendations are using it for recreational uses and not for medicinal purposes like Proposition 215 was intended for. I have always stated that Prop 215 created two parallel worlds; the first was patients and the second was recreational users who use doctors to legally use marijuana to get high. My estimate is that 60% of the patients out there carrying doctors recommendations are using it strictly recreationally. READ ON….

Recently I have taken care a handful of HIV+ patients who are taking the medication Atripla and also using medical marijuana to combat it’s side effect. HIV (Human Immunodeficiency Virus) is a virus that attacks the bodies immune cells leaving the patients susceptible to infection. Treatment has come a long way and today patients can live practically normal life expectancies if they follow a medication regimen to keep the viral activity down and their immune cells up. Unfortunately many of these medications have severe side effects that affect a patients overall quality of life. Nausea, lack of appetite and weight loss are just a few of the ones I have been seeing patients for.

Despite President Obama’s word that the federal government would respect the rights of States who have medical marijuana laws and his attorney general’s comments that there would be no more raids on marijuana collectives… the raids continue. His promises are empty and he is spouting hot air out of his mouth. In fact the President has demonstrated on more than one occasion that he will ignore State’s rights. Just google “Arizona Immigration Policy and Laws”. READ ON…

I recently had a 28 year old pregnant patient ask me about the potential effects of cannabis use on her pregnancy. She had been using cannabis to treat ongoing migraine headaches with great results. Because I very rarely work with pregnant women as part of my professional practice I had to hit the books and look for what research is out there on how cannabis affects the pregnancy, neonatal growth and the future development of the child. Here is a summary of what I found.

Yesterday in Long Beach I evaluated a 52 year old man who wanted to use medical marijuana for chronic low back pain. He fractured the 4th and 5th Lumbar vertebra in his back 10 years ago on a construction site and has been under the care of a “pain specialist” ever since. WHEN HE SHOWED ME THE PRESCRIPTION THAT HIS PAIN DOCTOR GAVE HIM FOR THE MONTHS OF SEPTEMBER AND OCTOBER I JUST ABOUT FELL OUT OF MY CHAIR.

540 80MG OXYCONTIN with instructions to take 9 PER DAY!!!! He has been taking 9 per day for the last year. READ ON….

As medical director for Medical Cannabis of Southern California I often evaluate patients who are having either difficulty falling asleep or staying asleep. They try all sorts of medications (Ambien, Xanax, Trazodone, Lunestra, Tylenol PM) and remedies and do not get the results they hoped for. Many times the side effects of the medications are worse than the insomnia itself. DO YOU REALLY UNDERSTAND HOW IMPORTANT A GOOD NIGHTS SLEEP IS TO YOUR OVERALL HEALTH? Apparently most people do not based on the fact that I keep reading law enforcement and opponents of Prop 215 speak on how this law was supposed to be for “seriously ill” and is being used for “insignificant illnesses such as insomnia.” In this blog I am going to educate you on sleep and GROWTH HORMONE… read on

Today in my Irvine office I just took care of a 54 year old women suffering from Rheumatoid Arthritis, Osteoarthritis, Fibromyalgia and Hepatitis C. She had been evaluated back in February and received a recommendation from a doctor in Los Angeles. Unfortunately she went to her collective to get medications and she could not be verified to receive medication. The doctors office entered in her data incorrectly… and unfortunately SHUT DOWN AND COULD NOT BE REACHED!. This is very typical in this industry right now… READ ON