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Medical marijuana: What you need to know

Medical marijuana has received high praise from many users as a natural pain reliever. Ryan Leckey has what you should know about this "wonder drug" before using it.

SCRANTON, Pa. — There’s been a lot of “buzz” lately around medical marijuana, but what should you know before considering the natural solution for pain and other ailments

Newswatch16’s Ryan Leckey teamed up with several experts on Thursday to tackle that question and more.

 Dr. Chris Connor, a physiatrist at Northeastern Rehabilitation Associates in Scranton along with the organization’s executive team, often field questions from the public who are interested in medical marijuana.

The practice headquartered off the Morgan Highway has six physicians who certify patients for the medical marijuana program.

The following facts are courtesy of Northeastern Rehabilitation Associates and the state of Pennsylvania. 

What is medical marijuana? 

Under Pennsylvania law, a person with an approved serious medical condition (there are 23 of them), who is also Pennsylvania resident can be certified by a doctor participating in the program can purchase medical marijuana.

How are people getting it? 

There are four-steps to participate in the program: 

  1. Register on the website.
  2. See an approved practitioner to get certified.
  3. Pay for your medical marijuana ID card.
  4. Visit a Pennsylvania dispensary with your medical marijuana ID card.

It is important to go through the correct channels to receive cannabis for medical purposes.

Other things to consider about medical marijuana

  1. Check with your employer/HR to ensure it is allowed. Experts say just because you have a medical marijuana card doesn’t mean all companies approve of it as accepted medication.
  2. Discuss with a physician who is familiar with your medical history, especially if there is underlying depression, anxiety, bipolar disorder, etc. The last thing we want to do is to worsen a situation with cannabis.
  3. If cannabis naive, it's recommended starting with higher CBD/lower THC products to prevent any side-effects. This assures we will not place patients in harm or at risk for unwanted side-effects and will also help patients build a tolerance to THC as we progress to stronger THC products if needed.
  4. If using cannabis for chronic pain should rely on longer-acting products (oral or sublingual) rather than inhaled. Inhaled routes have extremely fast onset but only last one to two hours which is not a good option for managing chronic pain and does significantly increase the cost if this is the primary route of administration.
  5. Cannabis, just like other treatment options for chronic pain, is just one treatment option and should be used as a component of a multidisciplinary treatment plan.

Dr. Connor wrote this article for the local medical society magazine 2 years ago. The laws have changed a bit since then, but the content regarding treatment and history is still relative.

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