HQL denied to to Medical Marijuana Card?

[Threeband]

...

On the other side of the coin, Are people with the MMJ prescribed am amount they can purchase in x amount of time. For example the doc prescribes me 30 pills to take one a day for a month. Just curious.

As noted in an earlier post, it is not prescribed by a doctor in the same way percosets are prescribed.

A doctor may recommend or suggest it, but the patient has to see a state approved medical gatekeeper selected from a specific list. Most of these people seem to be some flavor of nurse practitioner. You pay this person $200 or so, tell them your toe hurts when you kick a lamppost very hard, and they sign off for your medical cannabis. There is big, big, BIG money in being on that state approved list.

In addition, the patient has to apply for a Medical Cannabis card from the state commission. It's a two-step thing: state application and card issuance PLUS $200 payoff to interview/examination by a state-approved nurse.

I believe most or all group practices forbid associated doctors from getting on the approved list of gatekeepers. Or perhaps it's an insurance thing. Teratos would know better.

Once you have your MM card, you can go to a state licensed dispensary and buy your medicine. I believe most is sold in various smokable forms, but there are also edible forms, lozenges, oils, salves, etc. Some forms have no THC at all, just CBD, In other words, they won't get you high. Others have very low THC, but high CBD. Of course, others are packed with very high THC levels.

You asked if there are limits to amounts purchased. Yes, there are, there are monthly maximums based on THC content, but they seem VERY generous. I think the default limit works out to the equivalent of about 5 ounces per month of smokable "bud". That is Cheech and Chong levels there.

There are legal restrictions on where and when a patient may use it. It is illegal to smoke in public. It is illegal to smoke in a motor vehicle (I think even in a parked car). It is illegal to operate any machinery under the influence. There's a long list of restrictions, and the dispensaries require purchasers to sign off on a form acknowledging understanding of the restrictions. The forms are kept on record, c.y.a. no doubt. I'm sure few actually read the form. I believe I posted a copy of the form here about a year ago.

By the way, I know all this because my wife tried it last year. As some here know, she suffers from very serious health problems. After her most recent hospitalization last December, she stopped using both the cannabis and tobacco, and I am very glad. She said the cannabis didn't really help her much, which is a huge disappointment.

I was/still am her Registered Caregiver. I have a card which allows me to purchase her cannabis, but not to use it, of course. This does not make me a Prohibited Person, because I am not a user.

My impression of the dispensaries was that the majority of customers are stoners, but there is a definite hard core of legitimately sick people seeking relief, and I believe many are truly helped by it. I would support my wife if she wanted to try it again, and I am very, very disappointed it didn't help her more.

 

[JamesDong]

I've been in lots of bars... "armed".

Is Texas Roadhouse a bar?

 

[PJS]

So I for the life of me can't figure out why someone would even think that you could buy a firearm with a Weed card. Then if that's not bad enough you come on a public forum and bitch that you can't. I guess I'm just to old to think that I'm entitled to anything because I wan't it!

100% agree. I mean, who would think you would be just allowed to buy a handgun without taking a training class and being fingerprinted? There have to be limits!

 

[AliasNeo07]

I routinely go into bars while carrying. There are plenty of places where variations on that are just fine ... until you start drinking. So, just don’t be that guy, is all.

Even then its iffy. It says you can't carry while "under the influence." Are you under the influence after 1 drink with dinner?

 

[Sundazes]

As noted in an earlier post, it is not prescribed by a doctor in the same way percosets are prescribed.

A doctor may recommend or suggest it, but the patient has to see a state approved medical gatekeeper selected from a specific list. Most of these people seem to be some flavor of nurse practitioner. You pay this person $200 or so, tell them your toe hurts when you kick a lamppost very hard, and they sign off for your medical cannabis. There is big, big, BIG money in being on that state approved list.

In addition, the patient has to apply for a Medical Cannabis card from the state commission. It's a two-step thing: state application and card issuance PLUS $200 payoff to interview/examination by a state-approved nurse.

I believe most or all group practices forbid associated doctors from getting on the approved list of gatekeepers. Or perhaps it's an insurance thing. Teratos would know better.

Once you have your MM card, you can go to a state licensed dispensary and buy your medicine. I believe most is sold in various smokable forms, but there are also edible forms, lozenges, oils, salves, etc. Some forms have no THC at all, just CBD, In other words, they won't get you high. Others have very low THC, but high CBD. Of course, others are packed with very high THC levels.

You asked if there are limits to amounts purchased. Yes, there are, there are monthly maximums based on THC content, but they seem VERY generous. I think the default limit works out to the equivalent of about 5 ounces per month of smokable "bud". That is Cheech and Chong levels there.

There are legal restrictions on where and when a patient may use it. It is illegal to smoke in public. It is illegal to smoke in a motor vehicle (I think even in a parked car). It is illegal to operate any machinery under the influence. There's a long list of restrictions, and the dispensaries require purchasers to sign off on a form acknowledging understanding of the restrictions. The forms are kept on record, c.y.a. no doubt. I'm sure few actually read the form. I believe I posted a copy of the form here about a year ago.

By the way, I know all this because my wife tried it last year. As some here know, she suffers from very serious health problems. After her most recent hospitalization last December, she stopped using both the cannabis and tobacco, and I am very glad. She said the cannabis didn't really help her much, which is a huge disappointment.

I was/still am her Registered Caregiver. I have a card which allows me to purchase her cannabis, but not to use it, of course. This does not make me a Prohibited Person, because I am not a user.

My impression of the dispensaries was that the majority of customers are stoners, but there is a definite hard core of legitimately sick people seeking relief, and I believe many are truly helped by it. I would support my wife if she wanted to try it again, and I am very, very disappointed it didn't help her more.

Very informative, thanks for posting. I really had no idea.

 

[Occam]

Even then its iffy. It says you can't carry while "under the influence." Are you under the influence after 1 drink with dinner?

Depends on the state. By the side-of-the-road-breath-test standard, my 250+ pound frame is probably not legally under the influence after a glass of wine with dinner, followed by a full meal, lots of water, and sitting around gabbing for a while. But I still don't take that chance, so it's iced tea for me if I'm heeled. Why take the chance? But that won't stop me from going into a restaurant or bar with friends. In DC, you have to know the difference between a restaurant, a bar, and a tavern. Because for some reason alcohol impacts you differently in those places, kind of like how COVID doesn't impact BLM protesters, but it does impact everyone else.

 

[Biggfoot44]

About to head out, don't have time to wade thru another 4 pages inbetween .

Back at Post #141 : A candidate having a platform for Legalizing weed would get votes from 30yo & younger voters in about the same percentage as urban African-Americans vote " D " . And under 35yo not much less .

 

[JoeyBimmer]

HIPPA prevents a health care provider from discussing your medical conditions. It doesn't prevent anyone else from doing it. If pot was legal to be sold to anyone with an Rx in a pharmacy, you'd probably have a case. It isn't though.

HIPPA protects an individuals health records. A healthcare provider discussing medical condition is just one example of protection HIPPA provides.

 

[JoeyBimmer]

So you are suggesting that MM people should have their DL’s revoked and I agree. There’s a lack of knowledge being displayed in this thread so I’m gonna give my understandings as a healthcare worker that sees the negative effects of relying on cannabis for one reason or another.

A “patient” that seeks a “card” has “supposedly” EXHAUSTED ALL KNOWN MEDICAL TREATMENTS WITH NO RELIEF OF THEIR CRIPPLING AILMENTS. Think about that a second. It means that there is no Doctor that can help you with known treatments. So basically you shouldn’t be driving a vehicle anyway and you should be taken care of by others. Yet there are “Providers” that will give you a card because you’re giving them $1k cash money to say that you are untreatable by modern medicine. If the OP is going to be angry with anyone it should be that Provider that certified you as dependent on cannabis. Why do you think most Providers would never “prescribe” cannabis??? Currently the negative effects of this psychoactive substance out way any positive but it’s a money grab and Providers can make a living off of potheads. If you’re too stupid and announce that you’re a pot smoker, aka federal offender, then you should be restricted. I’m sickened by potheads that seek a card so they have an unending supply of weed. Think about the cancer patients that this is intended for.

To those worried about HIPAA.......If the BATFE is asking you personal information then Congress and Clinton gave them permission to know if your a drug user. You answer those questions without hesitation because you want that gun. HIPAA is regulation on healthcare, not government. HIPAA is a fricken joke like the President that signed it into law.

Cannabis is pervasive in our communities and no one needs a card. Everywhere I go I smell cannabis coming from vehicles. It’s especially scary when I’m on my Harley.

From the start this is not a 2A issue.....this is a professed drug user crying cuz they didn’t do their homework.

Take away from my rant?......Don’t get a card......ask your neighbor where he gets his

You seem to dislike drugs, a lot. I don't agree with your assessment of folks who ingest THC into their system in some form or another.

I will tell you I don't drink, and I haven't smoked pot since 2004, when I was in high school.

 

[JoeyBimmer]

Driving under the influence is illegal and I do not believe any card is getting anybody around that.

that is why anyone with a CDL will most likely never be able to get their MM card, unless they want to surrender their CDL along with their 2A stuff.

 

[JoeyBimmer]

I don’t believe ANYBODY is going to donate to the NRA so that you can be a federal offender, aka Johnny Potsmoker, and legally purchase firearms. Doesn’t that go against basic beliefs??? I pretty sure Washington, Jefferson, and Adams weren’t “hitting a bong” and they didn’t want you to taint the concept they actually worked for.

This is an open forum and those in favor of shooting guns while supporting cannabis use should probably shut up

this is America, shutting anyone up shouldn't ever be a thing.

 

[JoeyBimmer]

Sorry Doc, you’re making it a 2A issue. You get high and shoot guns??? No one should. It’s a safety issue and that always comes first. Sometimes you need laws to protect us from potheads

if you want to choose not to put yourself around people that do that, fine.

I don't think the government should regulate what people want to do on their own property. Want to get drunk or high and shoot guns, by all means, have at it. You wont find me with you. So I disagree with your statement.

 

[JoeyBimmer]

The OP stated that when pain becomes unbearable, she uses a medicine that's legal in the state, but illegal federally. I 100% support her in either
a) building 80% firearms to exercise her INALIENABLE right to keep and bear arms while keeping her card
b) Give up her card to buy guns through normal channels, but just obtain her medicine on the black market.

You should know that there are lots of different types of cannabis with different properties. They're very chemically complex. Some strains can be effective for mitigating the OPs symptoms without much mind altering.

You know what I find more annoying than someone discovering the infringements placed in between her and exercising her 2a rights? Someone actively pushing to support those infringements.

This is a great post, and I agree.

 

[JoeyBimmer]

Hey genius! One of the forms you fill out and sign when you buy a handgun in MD gives MSP to.....hold on to your shorts here skippy....LOOK INTO YOUR MEDICAL RECORDS! You literally sign away your HIPAA right when buying a handgun in MD. I have no idea if the same form is in the HQL crap because I never bothered to get one, I was leaving so I was not giving them another $50 for a BS "license".

There is no need to name call.

 

[teratos]

HIPPA protects an individuals health records. A healthcare provider discussing medical condition is just one example of protection HIPPA provides.

Marijuana is not a recognized medicine (with the exception of FDA approved Marinol) and marijuana dispensaries are not health care providers. HIPAA (not HIPPA) DOES NOT APPLY.

Stop with the HIPAA angle. I’m sure you signing your rights away is on the paperwork you do.

 

[JoeyBimmer]

The doctor, in this case, is sending the patient off to have a PATIENT-STATE-GOVERNMENT relationship. There is no doctor supervision of the patient's pot use, it's nothing at all like the normal prescribing (and renewing a prescription of) standard pharmaceuticals. The doctor, in the case of the MM card, is just a one-time gatekeeper established by the law as a feel-good medical-ish facade for what is, primarily, recreational pot use.

For that smaller group that actually need what those chemicals do, and can only benefit from them in a form that involves lighting up and smoking a joint, they are - once they get that card rubber stamped - self medicating thereafter. It's not remotely the same as the ongoing doctor/patient relationship that governs the dispensing of standard meds. All of which you know, but which you're pretending not to, because you like arguing. I guess that's your drug!

OP stated she doesn't use it recreationally or smoke it.

 

[JoeyBimmer]

I found the huge marijuana medicine bottle our founding fathers could've gotten their marijuana medicine from.
This 16" hand blown glass apothecary bottle dates to the late 1700's or early 1800's and was found a few weeks ago in the attic of a 250 year old home in Alexandria, Virginia very close to a home that was owned by George Washington.
Original hand painted label "TR. VALER. C." most likely stands for Tincture of Valerian and Cannabis which was used to treat sleep disorders like insomnia and as a sedative.
It's quite possible all of our founding fathers used marijuana as medicine at some point in their lives and of course they had guns!

They had guns that required some dexterity to operate. Not like our modern guns

 

[JoeyBimmer]

So could using MM put one out of even getting a hunting license???

sounds like yes, but that depends on the state.

In the eyes of the Feds, it would be illegal.

 

[JoeyBimmer]

You can't do drugs and own a gun what's wrong with you. Its just as bad as being armed in a bar.

you can be legally armed in a bar, you just cannot be drinking.

or so I assume, I am sure the legal folk who know more will chime in for certain. It is going to vary state to state.

 

[JoeyBimmer]

I don't drink alcohol(quitter) nor do I partake in the use of recreational pharmaceuticals. I believe that a safer path through life is gained by maintaining control of one's faculties. My W&C permit only helped to reinforce the notion of maintaining control. Impaired is NOT in control.

Do you drink coffee?