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Arkansas Medical Marijuana Program Could Be Delayed by Months

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Multiple delays and staffing issues are causing issues for Arkansas’ medical marijuana program. Some say it may be as much as a 6-month delay as the Alcohol Beverage Control Board gets a handle on the new industry. Patients, however, might need that time to find doctors to certify them to use medical marijuana.

One patient, Nancy Young, has been seeing the same doctor for years to treat her PTSD, KATV 7 News reports. He has no problem prescribing antipsychotic medications to her but refuses to write a recommendation for medical marijuana. He refused to even acknowledge that she has PTSD – a condition she’s been treated for, for several decades.

Young said, “They said that none of the physicians in that office were participating with anything to do with the medical marijuana card, certificate, anything. I felt angry…very, very angry.”

She tried medical marijuana illegally and she was able to sleep through the night – a feat not accomplished for some time.

Young said, “I was at my wits end literally. I was grasping at straws to try something illegal like this.”

Nancy makes a marijuana and coconut oil infusion to add to her tea. She prefers not to smoke her medicine. Prior to medical marijuana, Young couldn’t work, now she has a part-time job.

Nancy isn’t the only one having trouble with their own doctors refusing to write recommendations. The negative here for the patients is that doctors can choose whether or not to agree to write a recommendation. Doctors have to choose whether to listen to science or federal law – and in Arkansas, it seems that many are siding with federal law. Patients are having a hard time finding physicians that believe that marijuana is medicine – regardless of the increasing number of studies published touting the benefits of medical marijuana.

Currently, there are about one dozen doctors in the entire state that will write medical marijuana recommendations. What the state doesn’t want to see is what occurs in other states – where clinics are opened solely for medical marijuana recommendations where an actual doctor-patient relationship isn’t necessarily established. However, that may be what has to happen in order for the Arkansas medical marijuana program to be successful once it does get started.

Dr. Philip Din is one of few physicians in the state that is happy to write a recommendation for those that qualify. He splits his time between Arkansas and New York. Patients bring in their medical records to him along with a $150 fee.

Dr. Din said, “Certainly, there is a lack of medical marijuana doctors, and I think that will begin to change. I think that once the program begins and dispensaries really become available for providing the medication, I think that more doctors will kind of feel the responsibility to help.”

If changes aren’t made in Arkansas, Dr. Din believes that Arkansas will have to make some changes.

He said, “In New York state, that program really had to be opened up to the mid-levels, nurse practitioners and physician assistants, because the doctors were just not cooperating, and I think that might have to happen here too.”

It appears that patients are starting to lose their patience and hope that more doctors come on board soon.