What does it take for a doc to prescribe cannabis as medication?

Are docs generally open to "self diagnosis / prescription", or is discussing personal use an absolute no-no (even if it does help with various ailments...)?

Thanks

in the uk you cant get cannabis prescribed full stop, maybe sativex but youd have to have ms or be very very very lucky.my partners doc jus says to keep using cannabis instead of sativex.
in the states im assuming its as easy as having a headache an saying cannabis helps it an they write u wotevers needed but im not from the usa.

cannabis cannot be prescribled as a medicine (booooooo!!!). sativex is a cannabis based med that they are using for MS/chemo/chronic pain. depending on your condition your doctor could prescrible sativex but this would be no excuse for walking down the street with a few reefers or growing your own. shame on you government...
DO discuss it with your doctor though (unless he's/she's a total...) as most doctors are aware of the medicinal benefits of cannabis. my mums constultant (fibromyalgia) has recommended it to her but she won't touch it cause of legal issues so i have printed her off a bundle of info on sativex and sent her back to see him again. i don't know how cannabis itself compares to sativex as in my experience the beauty of the weed is that with all the different strains it is finding the right one for you.
best of luck though... up with weed! down with parliament!

You have to come to the States and at least be a resident in a medical cannabis state (there are 14 now) for a year. States vary as to what constitutes medical need with California being the most liberal. The cannabis advocacy group NORML, has a web site with an info page devoted to medical cannabis issues and individual state requirements for getting a medical cannabis 'script.

As folks have said, the nearest you'll get in the UK is a prescription for Sativex ( a whole plant extract recombination). Even they are like hens teeth, although we do hear of more and more folks getting it, but never without some serious grief first. It does seem very effective for many people.


In my experience, its a mixed bag out there. Some docs are wide open (as in once offering to hook me up with a "man"), others will just stop you before you start and read the riot act at you like the pissy little puritan pricks that they are.
Plus, with so many folks being given access to your health records these days, there is always the security side of things to consider before talking about cannabis use with your doctors.

Bloody good point, I hadn't thought of that

Thanks to everyone else too.

yes, I'm amazed that this country does not allow medical canna use
given the US, Netherlands, Canada, Austria, Germany, Spain, Israel, Finland, Portugal, Belgium and Mexico all do.

fixed your post

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whooa, 11 countries now and growing

How long can a government keep treating med users like the lowest of the low, while the rest of the world has woken up?

Jeezus Christ, you're right - I never thought about that...hmmmm

Yes, but there still doctor-patient confidentiality relationship still exists and holds more weight than the law does. If you tell your doctor you are using cannabis to treat your MS/chemo/glaucoma they are not allowed to share that info with the police.

I think that relationship only gets tested in court when there's something serious at stake (murder, rape, paedo...bad stuff) but I'm not wholly sure, but I'm pretty certain that smoking weed isn't going to get a subpoena to get your doctor to tell all. Probably the same for cultivation, but why bother - he/she doesn't need to know and all that is medically relevant is the consumption of cannabis - where you get it from is moot imo.

GN

I would be very careful about what you tell your dr,

I know of people in the uk, that have been refused life insurance and insurance against loans on the fact that their doc said this person uses cannabis to treat whatever.

SS

Sorry, bollocks. There is no such thing in UK law as doctor-patient or lawyer-client privilege. This was recently confirmed by the House of Lords, regarding a case where a Psychiatrist was forced to tell the police what their patient (who was under arrest at the time) disclosed. Police demanded under RIPA, psychiatrist refused, was charged, convicted appealed, and the appeal upheld teh conviction.

You have no right to privacy in the UK. If you want to keep something secret, don't tell a soul.

Incidentally, requests under RIPA must be kept secret, so your doc would be breaking the law if he told you he had been forced to disclose you records.


e2a for those who like to know formally, here's a link to the case ...

Nice one Mr Page - that's both disturbing and very much worth knowing

I was refused life insurance cos I admitted using cannabis, my doc already knew about this, but I knw the insurance company would request my medical records cos I'm a smoker and under care of a consultant...so I thought no point hiding it...

Sent me a letter saying that due to my cannabis use, and other factors from my med records they were unable to insure me...

Med records also showed a hospitalisation following an amphet binge years ago, and I obviously never mentioned any amphetamine use on the forms....

So, anyway, I think I'm pretty much fooked for life insurance, specially now I've had a refusal..



So, yeah, be careful what you tell your doc, I never even thought I'd need life insurance.

Monk...x

Urm, no.
That is, I'm afraid, pure.....


And very dangerous bollocks too GN. Could have dropped some poor soul right in the shit with that ill-conceived advice

As to who can see your medicl records, its best to assume that almost every bugger can. Police, Social Services, Medics, Welfare & Benefits Agencies, Taxman, etc etc etc. All this due to computerisation and the growth of the Police State under New Labour and T Blair.

Remember Sativex is a prescriptive drug, therefore lawful

Cannabis, in its raw state, is unlawful unless your in USA and part of medi group.

If your within the Law your safe.

just a wee add on to that ...

In the UK, there is no defacto reason why unlawfully/illegally obtained evidence cannot be used in court. So even if plod burgled your doctor and stole your records, they could still be used in court.

Randalizer will be along soon to tell us why we need a proper, written constitution so badly.

I personally told my doctor's, surgeons and specialists, i've gone thru so many differents pills, physio, and pain management programs, but in the end nothing has come close to a good indica. I'd rather they know, with me going under the knife i don't fancy it messing with the anaesthetic. GP's tend not to be bothered one way or the other round here, they give you a look but then can't deny the facts "IT DOES HELP".

Also if you grow medicinally, the way i see it, if your doctor knows and you get busted it won't look like you're just saying MEDICINAL to get out of it. But i have just had my morning POG , so could be talking green fairies!!! which on a final note is better then killing my liver with the concoction i was on from the docs.

I am glad for you that you have that choice
For some of us, I'm afraid the pharmaceuticals are essential
Thankfully, mine should clock-in in about a half hour; meanwhile, a spliif is taking my mind off things

A woman went to the European court about a hip replacement she had in Europe the court said that the nhs had to pay her bill, I think it was about 30.000 pounds,A european directive allows for treatment anywhere in europe andt he NHS has to pay.

can we go to Holland with our health card and if qualified get herbal cannabis and the NHS will have to pay?
If this is possible the patient would not be allowed to bring it home.
Is this discrimination under article 24 Human rights act??
I am investigating this at the moment as a possible defense( Magistrates on 10 nov).

over the last 35 years i have visited my doctor on average once every ten years, he knows nothing about me or my habits.

my idea nowadays of life insurance is a few carefully stashed seeds.

Wait what? Maybe randalizer is right, unlawful search & seizure is a wonderful thing. (rather, protection from such) I assume the whole new EU treaty thing won't fix this?

Eeeep, and they wonder why people who smoke MJ are paranoid, it's not paranoia if they're really out to get you...

Just to qualify this ... in UK law (IANAL) it's up to the judge as to the admissibility of evidence. Most judges will happily let the police present unlawfully gained evidence, and it's not neccessarily an appeal point if they do. However, to be fair, there are some judges (sadly few) are sticklers and (rightly) expect the police to act within the law. The best example I can recall is when the Met tried to use an undercover policewoman to trick Colin Stagg into confessing to killing Racheal Nickell. The judge hit the roof, and refused to allow any evidence gathered that way into court. Since that was the entire basis of the prosecution, they had to drop the charges. The Judge issued one of the most scathing attacks on the police I've ever read. He really tore into them, and caused a lot of red faces at New Scotland Yard.

In the US, they have developed a doctrine "fruit of the poisoned tree" which basically says any evidence derived from an illegal act is "tainted" and cannot be used in court. However this is tempered by what they call "inevitable discovery" which says that if you can show you would have got the evidence another way, legally, it can be re-presented.

Interesting point and one that I explored in depth some years ago

Getting the NHS to pay for prescribed cannabis is not the real issue

It is possible for a UK citizen to obtain a private prescription from a Dutch GP and if the cannabis was confiscated by HMC then that would be an interesting case and one that hasn't been put before the courts before

It'd take a fcking miracle h31p... thats what it woud take...

cinderella ninetynine

i have a different doctor every time i go wich is about once a month becuase i have arthritis in both my hips and waiting an operation. i told one of my doctors im using mj for the pain and he agreed that it was a good idea and it had wonderfull qualitys. i also told my other docs with had a different opinion and told me to stop using it. i saw the first doc again and ask about getting mj on prescription but he said there is nothing in the uk to do with cannabis he could prescibe but i know he was lying so even if they think its a good idea you wont find a doc that will prescibe it because they dont want to be associated with it.