Today I met with a 65 year old man who has the diagnosis of Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia. He was diagnosed 5 years ago and since then has battled significant anxiety and depression. The thought of considering his mortality and life beyond this world has been too much at times for him to bear. He has seen therapists, psychiatrists and other doctors only to be placed on anti-depressants, anxiolytics and sedatives. Although they helped his symptoms “a little” he still to this day battles depression on and off.

He came to me because for the last 2 months he has been using medical marijuana and says it has helped tremendously. He feels he is sleeping better and his days are not spent worrying (as much) about his mortality. READ ON….

Medical Cannabis of Southern California is pleased to announce it is now offering clinic hours on Saturday afternoons. In an effort to reach patients who can not get off work to receive an evaluation we will now see patients on the weekends.

Dr. Sean Breen has been evaluating patients for medical marijuana for the past three years and was recently contacted by the Medical Board of California to work as an expert on their behalf.

There are many choices when choosing a physician. Dr. Breen is a name that you can trust and count on.

If you would like to make an appointment feel free to call our office at 877-721-0047.

Be blessed,

MCSoCal Staff

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…

Although no one can state with 100% confidence what the impact will be on the medical marijuana and marijuana community as a whole if it passes, many people in the medical marijuana community agree that it looks like a big set back. LET ME EXPLAIN.

Unfortunately there are not a lot of physicians in traditional practices who are even willing to discuss cannabis use with their patients, let alone provide a recommendation. For example at Kaiser they have a policy that doctors are not allowed to recommend cannabis. Most kaiser doctors dodge the question or reply to a patients inquiry by saying “if it works then Ok but I can help you with it.”

Recently I have been reading about proposition 203 which Arizona voters are going to vote on November 2nd. It would legalize the use of medical marijuana for patients. Many of the opponents to prop 203 cite the “problem in California” as a result of proposition 215. They claim California doctors are out of control, unethical and are just out to make a buck and that 95% (quoted in one article) are using it for recreational purposes only. As I have written about numerous times in the past their claims are not accurate and are providing incorrect information to voters as they prepare to vote. Let me explain. READ ON

Today I had a VERY encouraging visit from a 52 year old women who has been suffering from Restless Legs Syndrome “my entire adult life”. Her symptoms have become so severe that she rarely gets a good night’s sleep and the pain is debilitating. Her description sounded like it was more severe than other patients with RLS that I have treated.

She has been treated with a medication called Requip for her symptoms but it causes debilitating headaches after 2 consecutive days of use so she is trying to stop it all together.

A month ago one of her friends let her try medical marijuana using a vaporizer to see if it helps and to quote her she said “It was the best night of sleep I have ever had in my life!” 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…

Today Governor Schwarzenegger signed into law Senate Bill 1449 which makes possession of up to 1 ounce of marijuana an infraction punishable by a $100.00 ticket. As of January 1, 2011 no longer will citizens be arrested for possession and have to appear in court. It will be equivalent to getting a traffic ticket. By doing so he will free up some 61,000+ arrests each year and save money otherwise spent on prosecuting these minor offenses.

A recent study performed by researches at McGill University in Montreal demonstrated a reduction in pain in patients who used medical marijuana. Here is the link to the article regarding the study.

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-504763_162-20015148-10391704.html

Although the study had only 23 patients in its pool I think their findings align with my conversations with over 5000 patients who I have treated for chronic pain. READ ON…