A total of thirty-nine states and the District of Columbia have approved medical cannabis since California got the ball rolling back in the 1990s. Though the details of each of their programs may differ, the one thing they all have in common is the qualifying conditions list.
Given how much state laws vary on nearly every topic, it’s curious that the states would be so uniform about qualifying conditions and medical cannabis. The question is, why? The answer is just a simple: because medical cannabis is not a proven therapy for anything and everything.
Standard Drug Approval Processes
When a pharmaceutical company wants to introduce a new drug, it must go through a standard set of approval processes that include several rounds of rigorous testing. The FDA only approves drugs that pass all the tests. Furthermore, said drugs are only approved for specific conditions.
A medication intended to treat cardiovascular disease is not necessarily approved to treat hair loss. Likewise, stem cell treatments relying on cellular material from donors other than the patient are approved for only one condition: leukemia.
The point to all of this should be pretty clear. Medications are developed to treat specific conditions. If a medication proves effective for treating multiple conditions, it will be approved as such. But no medication is a cure-all. Medical cannabis is no exception.
Medical Cannabis With No Restrictions
Imagine a state approving medical cannabis with no restrictions. Doctors could recommend it indiscriminately. What would happen? A medical-only state like Utah would become a de facto recreational state because there would be no way to control how and why people use cannabis. The state would have no way of stopping card mills from churning out medical cannabis cards for everyone who walked in the door.
Medical cannabis without restrictions is neither wise nor medically advisable. Like any other intervention, medical cannabis has both pros and cons. And yes, there can be unintended side effects that come with using it improperly.
The one major difference between medical cannabis and other types of therapies is how it is acquired. If you are looking for sleeping pills or heart medication, you have to see your doctor to get a prescription. Yet there is no such thing as a medical cannabis prescription.
Doctors Recommend Cannabis
I must point out that doctors do not prescribe cannabis in the traditional sense. They cannot, due to the fact that marijuana is still a Schedule I controlled substance under federal law. So instead of prescribing, they offer recommendations. Patients take those recommendations to medical cannabis pharmacies where they purchase their medicines.
Salt Lake City, Utah’s Beehive Farmacy sees patients with a number of different qualifying conditions. Pharmacy operators say that pain is the most common qualifying condition for Utah medical cannabis card holders. Their locations in Salt Lake City and Brigham City also dispense cannabis medications for PTSD, epilepsy, anxiety, and other conditions.
Regardless of the condition, Utah’s medical cannabis pharmacies ultimately sell patients whatever they request – within the limits of standard possession laws. Each patient ultimately decides which product to buy, how to use it, and how often to use it. That is far different from the rigorous orders that come with any other prescription medication.
Keeping Things in Check
Knowing what we know about medical cannabis and qualifying conditions, it is clear that states put regulations in place to keep things in check. Thus, the purpose behind qualifying conditions lists. They are designed to prevent doctors from offering medical cannabis recommendations for any purpose under the sun. I think it’s a wise move.
