On January 12, a survey was released to Minnesota’s Task Force on Medical Cannabis Therapeutic Research, showing that some physicians in Minnesota are hesitant to offer medical marijuana as treatment for patients.
The survey was conducted by an addiction specialist at Hennepin County Medical Center in Minneapolis, and task force member, Dr. Charles Reznikoff. His target population was 262 doctors from four institutions across Minnesota. According to him, a lot of worry by the doctors come from opioid-abuse that is very common for patients.
Another concern raised by the subjects is that the list of qualifying conditions must be made clearer. Intractable pain was just added to the list late last year to the nine other conditions.
The survey also indicated that the doctor’s hesitant demeanor against marijuana might be stopping them from certifying patients to use medical cannabis. According to Dr. Reznikoff, there is no ethical obligation for doctors or health care providers to adopt the medical marijuana program.
With the 479 physicians registered in the Minnesota Department of Health authorized to certify patients, and with 844 already approved patients, education about medicinal marijuana aimed primarily at health care providers could serve both the state and the program well.