Today I took care of an 85 year old male patient with Guillain-Barre Syndrome. He came to me because he is wheelchair bound an has significant cramping and pain in his legs from being immobile. He had never tried medical marijuana but the pain medications he is taking are causing significant side effects and he “can’t take them anymore” He just wants an alternative to try and improve his quality of like. READ ON…

After three full years of discussing the benefits of using cannabis for medical purposes in California with thousands of patients I can say with the most sincerity that there are patients suffering across the country unnecessarily. There is no reason that someone who has debilitating pain and is taking multiple doses of opiate narcotics daily should have to continue to do so. There is no reason that someone who is undergoing chemotherapy for cancer or interferon for hepatitis C should have to suffer. Cannabis CLEARLY improves the quality of these patients lives. You can not let the fact that many patients will malinger in order to get a recommendation to use cannabis legally for recreational purposes to stop that from allowing patients safe access to it.

In the past week I have had 3 patients come into my office for a medical marijuana recommendation who had previously received an invalid one from another doctor just that month. The reason this is happening is because:

1. The offices set up show and are closed 3 months later. Typically they are charging approximately $49 for a recommendation and collect as much money as possible and then close.

or

2. The clinic is not PHYSICALLY employing a medical doctor. 2 or the 3 patients were seen over skype on a computer screen and the doctor ultimately lost his medical license for falsifying completing a physical exam. READ ON…

This morning a mother by the name of Anne brought her 21 year old autistic son to my Irvine office to be evaluated for treatment with cannabis. He suffers from sever autism; very agitated, violent, and is unable to speak at all. He requires 24/7 supervised care which his parents assume. Anne described never having any total relief from the stress of taking care of him.

Last week I evaluate a 61 year old women named Fran who had multiple medical problems. Her main complaints were that she suffers from Parkinsons and has debilitating resting tremors and more importantly that she has been taking 18 pain pills EVERY DAY for the past 5 YEARS!!! (12 of which were oxycontin)

As medical director for Medical Cannabis of Southern California I have the opportunity to evaluate patients who present with the diagnosis of Restless Legs Syndrome. Most of these patients come to me after having an incredible experience with cannabis to treat their symptoms. The following is an actual patient I had in my office yesterday.