As medical director of Medical Cannabis of Southern California I am intimately aware of the plethora of medical “clinics” (I use that term loosely) that patients can choose from to get their medical marijuana recommendation.   A simple google search produces approximately 15 clinics on the first page for patients to choose from.   For most patients they have no idea what to expect.   Will they see an actual doctor?  Is it in a safe area?  Why the price discrepancy?  The question that begs to be asked is: WHICH ONE SHOULD I GO TO?

As a full time physician providing medical marijuana recommendation for the past 3 years I have seen just about everything that is out there and can give you some good advice on where to go.

First, are you a PATIENT or RECREATIONAL USER.  This is very important because if you are just a recreational user that wants to get a cheap recommendation to go to the local dispensary to get high my advice is to find the most shady clinic out there because they will not require that you have a qualifying diagnosis and will stamp your paperwork for a simple fee without complying with state law.

If you are a patient then I suggest you read this carefully: find a clinic that is in full compliance with California law and more importantly operating according to the guidelines set forth by the California State medical board.

Here are some key points:

1. To truly qualify to use marijuana medicinally you must have a qualifying diagnosis and have been previously diagnosed.   A compliant clinic MUST keep a copy of your medical records on file.  If not then that doctor is not operating in compliance and will ultimately lose his/her medical license.

-if you call a clinic and tell them you have insomnia but haven’t seen a doctor and they say “come on in and we can take care of you”… I suggest you stay clear of that clinic.   Ultimately they will not be around for long and your recommendation will become invalid.   You must have at least had a physical to make sure your insomnia is not a result of an underlying metabolic disorder (for example)

There are a ton of clinics out there that require NO DOCUMENTATION at all.  They simple say “doctor is in, come get your medical marijuana card.”   ILLEGAL!!!!!

Recently at the THC expo a doctor was signing recommendations for $20 in the middle of the expo without performing an exam!! ILLEGAL.

2.  Will your doctor be there for you if something happens and you need him to provide testimony in court or produce your medical records.   Many of these “clinics” are fly by night and are there one week and gone the next.   There doctors are simply employees and have no vested interest in making sure they will be there for you in the event something happens.

3. Will your recommendation be valid in 3 months?  I have had countless patients who had received recommendations from clinics where the person signing the recommendation WAS NOT A DOCTOR!  HIGHLY ILLEGAL!   When they were finally caught by an undercover CBS investigation, all of their patients recommendations instantly became INVALID.    I know this because I ended up seeing many of those patients who used GreenLife Docs to become legal.

4. is your doctor concerned about you as a patient.  I can not tell you how many patients I speak with and examine each and every day that have undiagnosed high blood pressure, heart murmurs or skin cancers.   The reason why I know this is because I personally examine them.   Many of these clinics provide recommendations without EVER examining the patients. THIS IS COMPLETELY IN CONTRAST TO WHAT THE STATE MEDICAL BOARD REQUIRES.

MCSoCal clinics are the premier clinics in Orange County and Long Beach for this reason.

1. I am the ONLY doctor that sees and examines every patients.  You will have your blood pressure checked.  I will listen to your heart and lungs and perform a focused exam.   I will go over your health maintenance with you and let you know what you should be doing from a preventative medicine perspective.  It is my personal practice and I take my medical license very seriously.  I never compromise or jeopardize my license by providing recommendations for the recreational user.  These other clinics entire business model is centered around packing as many recreational users into a 3 hour clinic.   If this weren’t the case then why would they putting clinics directly next to dispensaries on the second floor of a building with no elevator or handicapped access? It’s a rhetorical question… but the truth is they are not interested seeing elderly patients in pain who can’t make it unassisted up a flight of stairs.

2. I have never once had a patient who was unable to obtain their medicine because they could not be verified or because of illegal operations at my clinic.  Our clinic is simply built to last.

3. We do not accept walk ins!  Why is this important?   Many of these clinics allow people to come in whenever they want.  What typically happens is you show up and there are 30 people ahead of you.  Some patients have told me that they had to wait 3 hours to see the “doctor”.   We give each patient a specific time so that we can get you in and out on time and give you the attention YOU DESERVE.

4. You can follow up with me at any time via email, face to face visit or phone call.  I regularly follow up with patients who have additional questions.   I believe each patient deserves with continuity of care that they would expect out of their primary care provider.

5. As a decorated combat veteran (Operation Iraqi Freedom, 2003) I run my clinic and staff with the utmost integrity.   I take pride in the professionalism of my staff and treat every patient with total and complete respect.   I truly love the patients I take care of.

If you would like to schedule an appointment to see if you can benefit from using marijuana medicinally feel free to make an appointment by calling 877-721-0047.

Or you can pre-qualify for FREE at www.mcsocal.com and my staff will get back to you asap.

I look forward to meeting you.

God bless,

Dr. Breen