Posts Tagged ‘Proposition 215’

Increased Regulation of Growing Medical Marijuana

Posted By admin on August 25th, 2010

Currently in California there is very little over site and regulation on the growing of medical marijuana.   This is mostly because it is still illegal to grow marijuana Federally and growers do want to bring any unwanted attention to themselves.    Until California steps up and protects it’s medical marijuana growers patients are never going to have the protection they need to insure that their medicine is free of molds, insects and pesticides.   This is a major problem for patients!

What the State needs to do is allow companies to set up green houses where strains can be grown and monitored to make sure the plants are disease free and organic.   The health department, OSHA and any other regulating body can come in at any time to make sure all procedures are being followed properly.

The State and Cities need to make sure that these green houses will be protected under State and Local laws.   It takes a lot of money and time to make sure a grow is set up and running properly.   No person in their right mind is going to invest that much time and money if there is any chance the federal government or local authorities are going to come in unannounced and shut them down, seize their equipment and freeze their assets.   This is what is happening now and it is not right.

Most patients are unable to grow their own medicine.  It takes time, money and considerable skill to yield a medicinal grade quality plant…. especially if it is to be free of molds, bacteria and other contaminants.

They can then also track very easily where these growers are distributing their medicine too.   They  will have profit and loss statements, invoices and the necessary agreements to justify their operation.

I ENCOURAGE THE LEADERS OF THIS STATE, BOTH LOCAL AND STATE, TO REALLY SIT DOWN WITH GROWERS AND EDUCATE THEMSELVES ON WHAT IT ACTUALLY TAKES TO GROW THIS MEDICINE.  UNTIL THEY DO THAT THE LAWS THEY CREATE WILL BE UNREALISTIC, NOT PRACTICAL AND ULTIMATELY FAIL.

WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS??



Posted in medical Marijuana Law
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Discussing Your Medical Marijuana (cannabis) Use with Your Family.

Posted By admin on August 23rd, 2010

I often treat patients who feel like they have to (or DO have to) hide their use of medical marijuana from their significant others or family members.   Some are parents with teenage children.  Others are not able to speak to their spouse because of the dissenting opinions regarding its validity as a medication.   In this post I offer some advice because having the support of your family can be a blessing when it comes to being healed.

1. First, fix you OWN mindset. You have to believe that this is a medicine being used to help relieve you from suffering AND NOT recreational drug use.   Even if you have used it exclusively for recreational purposes in the past, you are now a patient and this is medication…. NOT A RECREATIONAL DRUG.    Believing that in your heart is the first thing you have to do before you can approach your family with confidence.

2. Eliminate all slang terms regarding cannabis. Everything in life is how you say it (almost everything).   You “medicate with cannabis” and “take a dose”.  You do not “smoke marijuana, smoke pot, get high, smoke weed, take hits, smoke dope, hit the bong, roll joints” etc.   All these terms, even though they say the same thing ultimately as “medicating with cannabis”…. saying it that way makes you sound like a recreational drug user and NOT A PATIENT.   You are medicating with cannabis to relieve your pain or to help you sleep.    And you take two “doses” prior to going to bed.  You “vaporize” your medicine…. you do not smoke it.  So from now on choose your words carefully.

3. Contrast your medical cannabis use with what your alternative is. When sitting down with your family you can approach them like this.   “For the past year I have been in so much pain and the only thing the doctors want to give me are narcotics like oxycontin/percocet/morphine… all these drugs make me nauseated, constipated and are highly addictive.   I read about how many people overdose on them.    I really want to try something that is much more natural and does not have all those side effects.   I have been reading about how many patients get relief from using medical cannabis and I think I want to give it a try.  If I can stop taking all of these pain pills I think it would be worth it.  I hear their are strains of cannabis that are not psychoactive and that in small doses it works really well.   I really would like your support in this treatment plan.”

Sometimes people don’t consider the alternatives which in most cases are worse when compared side by side with cannabis.   It is your job to get them to think about the alternative.

4. Explain to them how you have a plan to use it responsibly.   Make sure you let them know that you are NOT going to use this recreationally.  Tell them that you are concerned about the smoking aspect and have researched vaporization and that you are NOT going to have to smoke it.  That alone will put most people at ease because no one wants to endorse smoking anything.   Let them know about the different strains and how you plan on using the ones that are not psychoactive but just help relieve your symptoms.

5. Let them know that you are going to a reputable physician to get your recommendation and offer to them that they come with you (if you feel comfortable). There are many clinics that you just walk in with your money and two minutes later walk out with recommendation where the doctor could care less about your diagnosis.   When patients come to my clinic and experience REALLY being taken care of like a patient they leave feel much better that they are doing it “legitimately”.  This way they can ask the doctor questions and here it straight from the horses mouth.

If you can take these 5 steps I really believe that anyone in your life that genuinely cares about you will be more open to your medical cannabis use.

Be blessed,

Dr. Breen


Posted in Medical Ethics
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Appellate Court Rules in Anaheim Medical Marijuana Dispensary Lawsuit

Posted By Dr. Sean Breen on August 20th, 2010

This ruling was supposed to be the one that set precedent for cities in California to legally be able to ban medical marijuana dispensaries within their city limits.   In 2007 the City of Anaheim banned marijuana dispensaries stating that they can’t create an ordinance that conflicts with federal law (marijuana is illegal federally).  The decision was appealed and just today the ruling came in.  ANAHEIM CAN NOT BAN MEDICAL MARIJUANA DISPENSARIES USING THE “IT IS ILLEGAL UNDER FEDERAL LAW” ARGUMENT.  HOWEVER...

…What they didn’t do is say whether or not Anaheim can ban something that is legal in California.  So they sent punted the case back to the original judge and court and basically said “You determine if Anaheim can ban something that is legal in the State”.   SO KNOW WE HAVE TO WAIT AND SEE IF THIS JUDGE CAN COME TO A DECISION.   Based on the appellate courts ruling I can’t see how he will rule in favor of Anaheim.

Patients have the right to use cannabis legally.  They should have the ability to purchase their medicine legally.  95% of patients are NOT capable of growing their own medicine.  It is too expensive to set up and too time consuming for most.   It just is not realistic.   I have patients in their 70’s, 80’s, and older that deserve a safe, professional and private place to get their medication.   They should not be forced out to the “boonies” to get it.

This Judge better really think this one through.   I am not sure if there is any precedent for a city to ban something outright that is legal per State law.   Strip clubs?  Bars?   DOES ANYONE KNOW??  This does seem like a slippery slope though.

I honestly do not know why cities are so against them.    If run professionally (and again set some standards for them) they are actually really nice and the patients appreciate them.   Look, the reason why cities like Irvine should allow medical marijuana dispensaries is because the people who live in the city of Irvine are using medical marijuana and there is a market for it.   I KNOW BECAUSE I SEE PATIENTS EVERYDAY THAT LIVE IN IRVINE!   They are good, hardworking, honest Americans who are tired of taking prescription drugs.  They are not the “potheads” that obviously the people in charge of making these decisions think they are.

If this is how the cities are going to act towards proposition 215 I can not imagine what a cluster it will be if Proposition 19 passes.   It seems to me that it will be organized chaos at best.    Every city will be scrambling to figure out what they want to do… and people are going to be scratching their heads wondering what is legal and what isn’t.

Posted in medical Marijuana Law
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Has Medical Marijuana Blessed you Lately?

Posted By Dr. Sean Breen on August 13th, 2010

It’s interesting to speak to people about what they do for work in their life and whether or not they are fulfilled.   Today I had a patient who was an attorney and was the owner of a firm with 10 employees.  The reason he was here to see me because the “stress” of his job was “killing me.”  He was working 7 days per week and had 6 and 9 year old sons that he rarely spent time with. The bottom line was that he didn’t feel blessed with what he was doing with his life.   I thought about that for some time after he left and really felt good about working with patients who use medical marijuana.   They truly make me feel blessed in what I do everyday.

Being a physician can be an extremely grueling job and at times very thankless.   You work long hours doing your best to help patients and they leave your office cursing you for offering them “another pill”.   Very rarely does an internist get a hug and a thank you letter from a patient.

Amazingly, I have found that discussing medical marijuana with patients to be extremely rewarding.  Most are SO grateful that I am open to hearing their story and willing to let them try this medicine legally.   This week I must have had three patients send me thank you emails about their experience at my office. WOW!   That is awesome.

If you are thinking about getting into this specialty in any capacity… as a doctor, collective owner, educator or advocate I can tell you that it is very rewarding from a “feeling blessed” perspective.   I know that ultimately many patients are getting relief and their quality of life is improving.

With that…. be blessed today.

Dr. Breen

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Proposition 19 to Legalize Marijuana; How will patients fare?

Posted By Dr. Sean Breen on August 10th, 2010

If you are a medical marijuana patient (proposition 215) and are wondering how proposition 19 will change things I want to make a few points for you to think about.

1. Only patients with recommendations will be allowed to get medicine from current dispensaries.    They will not be allowed to sell marijuana for recreational use.

2. Already cities have placed bans on the recreational sale of marijuana so it is highly unlikely that you will be able to get it legally for recreational use anytime soon.   Given that cities are barely embracing dispensaries taking care of patients I think its clear that they are not going to support recreational sale.

3. If you have minors in the house it will be a felony to use marijuana in that house without a medical recommendation.   On top of that you are ONLY allowed to medicate in your residence.   It is not going to be legal to use marijuana recreationally at the beach or at concerts or at bars for that matter.

4. The amounts of marijuana you can possess or grow will be much less for  recreational users vs medical patients.   As law enforcement knocks on doors it will be very helpful to be able to show them a medical marijuana growers certificate signed by a physician.

5. Recreational use will still be illegal federally.  From all the attorneys I have spoken with about Prop 19 it is pretty clear the federal government will tie this up in court and it will not become law any time soon.

All of these restrictions are making it pretty clear that it still behooves patients to continue to use their physicians recommendation and not forgo it in hopes of saving a few dollars to use recreationally.

I would be happy to get your thoughts on these points and answer any questions you may have.

Dr. Breen

Posted in medical Marijuana Law
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Medical Marijuana and The Banks vs The Mattress

Posted By Dr. Sean Breen on August 10th, 2010

It’s pretty amazing the lengths collectives/dispensaries have to go to make their business legitimate these days.  The state of California talks about all the revenue they are going to collect by taxing medical marijuana sales… but how can they do that when collectives and clinics are not allowed to open a bank account! Because marijuana is illegal Federally and the banks must comply with Federal law they are simply refusing to allow dispensaries to open bank accounts.

Not having a bank account creates plenty of problems for the state.  The first is that dispensaries have to go ALL CASH.  They can’t accept credit cards because the merchant account holders won’t open an account.   And banks won’t let them keep money there.   The result???  People are taking the money and stashing it “under the mattress”.

You tell me how the state is going to track revenue when they dispensaries deal in all cash and don’t have statements to show for any of it??  It is a rhetorical question obviously because there is no way for the state to track the money coming in and going out.

Personally, I had Bank of America freeze all of my bank accounts because they thought I was a dispensary…. when in fact I am a doctors office.  Unfortunate the name of my practice, Medical cannabis of Southern California, triggered some internal audit and with ones days notice they told me to pack up and go home.   Amazing but that is the reality.

So before we get all excited about potential tax revenue for the State lets fix the one major roadblock to collecting revenue… which is trackable accounts.

Posted in medical Marijuana Law
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Medical Marijuana Dispensaries: Research your Doctors Marijuana Recommendation

Posted By Dr. Sean Breen on August 6th, 2010

As medical director for Medical Cannabis of Southern California I have seen several thousand patients for medical marijuana recommendations.   I operate two clinics in Irvine and Long Beach 5 days per week.   In the past 6 months I have seen an explosion of doctor “clinics” pop up offering recommendations for almost nothing.   Wondering how any doctor or business model could sustain with such ridiculous prices I decided to do some homework to see what was really taking place out there.   What I found is pretty gross (for lack of a better word). I want to encourage dispensaries to look into the clinics for recommendations that are new or they do not recognize to make sure they are operating legally before accepting their patients.

What is really happening is that most of these clinics do not actually have physicians physically present.  One you speak to a doctor over the phone, in another you talk to a doctor via skype and in a few the patients were seen by nurses.   The California State Medical Board is very clear that physicians must perform the same evaluation on patients that they would if prescribing any other medication.   NO DOCTOR IN THEIR RIGHT MIND WOULD PRESCRIBE A BLOOD PRESSURE MEDICATION TO A NEW PATIENT OVER THE PHONE OR VIA SKYPE… WITHOUT PERFORMING A PHYSICAL EXAM AND TAKING A DETAILED HISTORY.   IT WOULD BE CAREER SUICIDE. Yet when it comes to marijuana these doctors could care less about their medical licenses.   THEY MUST PHYSICALLY EXAMINE THE PATIENT.

Not only are these patients not getting the care they deserve but their recommendations are really not valid per California law and eventually these doctors will lose their licenses.

It is our duty as doctors and dispensary owners to make sure that we support collective and doctors offices that are legitimate and operating according to State law.   It is the only way that the state of California will take us seriously.

With that I challenge dispensaries to research the doctors office that their patients are coming from to make sure the doctor is actually seeing the patient and is physically signing off on the recommendation.

This week I spoke with a doctor who was working with a medical clinic in Orange County. He told me he was fired because he was requiring patients to provide medical records and documentations and providing temporary recommendations to patients not previously seen by a doctor.  As soon as revenue starting to drop the medical director fired him for not giving 12 month recommendations to ALL PATIENTS regardless if they have been diagnosed prior to the visit.    Shame on that medical director.   Not only is he knowingly breaking California law but he fired a doctor trying to do the right thing.

This is the world we are living in right now.  I believe the stupid will weed themselves out… but the question is can the good guys stick it out until the rest fall of the face of the earth?

Your thoughts?

Posted in Medical Ethics, medical Marijuana Law
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Proposition 19, Proposition 215, Senate Bill 420 and Medical Marijuana; How will this affect patients?

Posted By Dr. Sean Breen on August 4th, 2010

With November’s election approaching Californians have gained enough signatures to put proposition 19 on the ballot which would “legalize” marijuana for recreational use in the State.  I have blogged pretty extensively about this in the past but I want to focus on the difference between the current laws regarding medical marijuana and what the differences will be for patients who currently hold a medical marijuana doctors recommendation.

Amounts you can possess:

Currently Patients can possess as much medicine as they need to treat their symptoms.   In the past the limit was 8 ounces however the supreme court recently ruled that it is unconstitutional to put limits on the amounts of medicine patients can possess… as long as they can REASONABLY justify the amount.    Without a doctors recommendation you can only possess up to 1 ounce if prop 19 passes.

Where can you medicate?

Currently patients can medicate ANYWHERE SMOKING IS LEGAL. They just can not be within 1000 feet of a school, youth or recreational center.  You are also prohibited from medicating in a car, bus or boat.  Without a doctors recommendation you will only be allowed to medicate in your personal residence if prop 19 passes. MORE IMPORTANTLY it will be a FELONY to medicate in the presence of anyone younger than 18 years of age.   Patients with medical marijuana recommendations can medicate in the presence of anyone or any age.

Where can you purchase medication?

Currently patients can get cannabis from any legal marijuana collective/dispensary.   Collectives/Dispensaries will still ONLY BE ALLOWED to take care of patients with medical recommendations EVEN IF PROP 19 passes.   Recreational users will have to find legal businesses that sell marijuana.   Unfortunately prop 19 leaves it up to the individual city to determine whether or not they want to allow the sale of marijuana within its limits.  In San Diego they are already preempting prop 19 and have banned the sale of recreational marijuana.

How much can you grow? Currently patients can grow as many plants as they need to produce enough medicine for them to use.  The limit used to be 12 immature and 6 mature plants but that was declared unconstitutional.   Prop 19 only allows patients to grow in a 5′ x 5′ area which is much more restrictive.

Even if prop 19 passes the sale and possession of cannabis will still be ILLEGAL FEDERALLY.   Patients using the protection of Prop 215 will never have issues federally if they are staying within the limits and guidelines.

I think it behooves patients to continue to stay as a patient status and eliminate any confusion that prop 19 is going to cause if passed.


Posted in Uncategorized
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Taxing Medical Marijuana;

Posted By Dr. Sean Breen on July 30th, 2010

As medical director for Medical Cannabis of Southern California I evaluate patients for medical marijuana recommendations full time.   I keep reading in the news about California and cities wanting to impose special taxes on the sale of medical marijuana.   Medical Marijuana should be taxed, but not at a higher rate than any other business or industry. This increased tax rate will only be passed on to patients.   Insurance does not cover medical marijuana so the burden is going to fall on patients which is not right.

An increase in the tax imposed on dispensaries will only fuel the black market for medicine where growers are operating under the radar and DO NOT pay sales tax.    I think what cities and the State needs to do is allow current dispensaries to operate FOR PROFIT so that they can show income and revenue.  They need to establish land use ordinances to determine how many they want in the city, allow them to get business licenses and pay taxes like everyone else.   Just treat them fairly!

Imposing a 10% tax rate plus and additional 2.5% like I have been reading about is going to be the nail in the coffin for many dispensaries.   The collective/dispensary business is not the cash cow that people think.   Most do not grow their own medicine and have to pay very high prices to get it from the growers.   Then there is a lot of competition which is keeping prices down.  The people who are going to suffer ultimately are the patients.

I similar example was the California Tax on cigars.   They decided that they were going to increase tax revenue by charging people who smoked cigars extra money.   Do you know what happened??  The local cigar shops got crushed because people now order them online from out of state to save the money.  The local cigar shops and the State of California are making $0.0 dollars on those sales.   Their thinking is counterintuitive and not effective.

Folks, before you get all excited about the increase in revenue your city is going to get you need to figure out what ultimately is going to happen by imposing higher tax rates on medical marijuana.

Posted in medical Marijuana Law
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Medical Marijuana Recommendations by Web Conference? Negligent Doctors stoop to new lows

Posted By Dr. Sean Breen on July 29th, 2010

It is really unfortunate the lengths that doctors are going to make money these days.   Recently medical marijuana recommendation clinics have opened up where the doctor see’s you over skype video conference.   The state medical board is very clear when they say that physicians MUST PERFORM A PHYSICAL EXAM when recommending cannabis to patients.    No doctor in their right mind would ever prescribe a blood pressure medication to a brand new patient that they have never met without meeting them in person and doing a physical exam.   So why would they do it for a medication like cannabis?? The simple answer is GREED.

Many of these doctors were in the medi-spa business (botox, laser skin care etc.) which has taken a nose-dive in this economy so they are looking to make a quick buck by performing medical marijuana recommendations over the internet.    It is amazing to me that they are putting their medical license at risk over the $80 they are charging.

Patients need to understand that these clinics will ultimately by shut down and their recommendations  are not legitimate.   These doctors will eventually be caught and disciplined by the medical board.  Some will lose their license to practice medicine in California.

Make sure when you are calling to find a doctor to discuss the benefits and risks of using cannabis that you ask them “will a doctor physically be there to examine me?”   If the answer is no then I would strongly encourage you to look elsewhere.

If you have questions feel free to contact my office at 877-721-0047

Be blessed,

Dr. Breen

Posted in Medical Ethics
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