As a physician who regularly discusses the use of marijuana for medicinal purposes with patients it is my job to make sure patients understand all of the risks of using this medication.   In this blog I want to talk about some of the most obvious risks.   First and foremost, because cannabis affects a patients mental status, specifically their judgement, coordination, balance, perception and fine motor skills they have to be in a safe environment when medicating.

Elderly patients have to specifically be careful about falls.  Every day elderly patients fall and break their hips.  This leads to significant morbidity and mortality.  Hospitalization, infection and other complications can throw an otherwise “healthy” patient into an absolutely tailspin.  Patients should be cautioned about going up and down flight of stairs.   Waking up at night to use the restroom can be challenging for elderly patients because their balance is off when medicated.    This not only applies to elderly but all patients.

Patients should not drive or operate heavy machinery period.  I can not tell you how many people I hear say that people drive better under the influence of marijuana.   I would disagree.  Cannabis clearly affects reaction times and depth perception.   These two factors alone make a driver under the influence more dangerous on the road.

Other safety issues become general sedation.   Certainly patients can fall asleep while cooking or start a fire when medicating (not unlike cigarette smokers)  Parents should take extra caution to make sure that if they are the sole parent that they do not medicate until there is another adult at home.   I have known in two cases where Child Protective Services (CPS) have removed children from environments where parents were medicating “putting their children in danger”.

Certainly patients should not engage in physical activity that requires balance and full concentration.   I have seen the outcome of people medicating prior to surfing… and it’s not good.

Although many of these things seem obvious and common sense bullet points… we all know that there is nothing common about common sense.  Most people use good judgement but there are enough people who show they have no capacity to use good judgement.