As medical director for Medical Cannabis of Southern California I often discuss with patients how they should share the information about their cannabis use with their doctor. Many patients are apprehensive about it in fear that their primary care physician or specialist will not want to continue taking care of them. “My doctor is very conservative and would never approve of this” they say. Or “my doctor also takes care of my whole family and I don’t want it getting back to them.”
First, your physician is bound by patient privacy laws called HIPAA. He is not allowed to share any of your information with anyone, even if it is your spouse or parent. If he does it is a felony punishable by sever fines, prison and loss of medical license.
Second, although you doctor may be conservative, it is important he has a complete picture about your health and withholding any information is only hurting you the patient. It is not your doctors job to judge you. He is simply there to give you the best medical advice possible based on your situation. He should weigh the benefits and risks of each treatment option and present you with a plan of action. You ultimately decide what you want to do but mostly trust he is providing you the correct treatment approach.
However, in life, it matters how you say things. For example, ”Honey, you look horrible in that dress. Can you put the other one on I like” vs “Honey, I love how you look in that other dress. Can you wear that one tonight.” Everything is sales unfortunately and this is no different. If when speaking with your doctor you say “I’ve been smoking pot (smoking weed/getting high/smoking joints/using dope etc) to help me sleep.” you will come across as a “stoner” and he will most likely not want to engage in a discussion about your cannabis use. However if you say to him “Dr. Greenthumb, I have been having so much trouble sleeping for the past year and none of the sleeping aids we have tired have been successful. The ambien (trazodone/valium) we tried makes me too groggy and I have not been able to function the next day. What I have found to really help is that I have been medicating with cannabis 20 minutes before going to bed. I get a great nights sleep and wake up feeling rested.”
If you use the second approach you will come across like a patient and he much more likely to entertain a discussion. He still may not approve of it but it will certainly keep the lines of communication open. The key to this is to say “medicate with cannabis” and to also tell him why the other medications are not improving the quality of your life.
Thats the cannabis tip of the day!
Dr. Breen
