The Day – Change federal rule that stands in the way of wider access to medicinal cannabis

36 US states and the District of Columbia have legalized cannabis for medical purposes. In Connecticut alone, which legalized cannabis for medical use in 2012, 53,820 people are registered as patients, according to statistics updated May 23 by the state Department of Consumer Protection.

Many of these patients, who suffer from conditions ranging from cancer and multiple sclerosis to post-traumatic stress disorder and Crohn’s disease, testify that their conditions were debilitating until they turned to medicinal cannabis. It made their life bearable, many say.

However, the financial costs of this treatment option are only borne by the patient. These costs can be high. The price of the products varies widely, but edible products, for example, cost between $ 2 and $ 5 per dose. Before they can buy the products, patients also pay a doctor to approve the application process and a registration fee of $ 100. The licenses must be renewed annually. Since the costs are not covered by any health insurance, medical cannabis remains inaccessible to too many patients who might otherwise benefit from its therapeutic properties.

The lack of insurance coverage remains as cannabis or marijuana continues to be classified as a List 1 drug by the Federal Drug Enforcement Administration. The DEA considers drugs in this class, which include heroin, ecstasy, and LSD, to have high abuse potential and no therapeutic properties. Efforts by lawmakers to change the schedule for cannabis so that it could be prescribed by doctors, paid for by insurance, and researched more thoroughly have repeatedly failed.

One overwhelming irony, however, is that opioids like oxycodone are listed by the DEA as Schedule II drugs and, despite their dangers, are widely used. The costs for the patients are often covered by the health insurance company. While opioids can be powerful pain relievers, they are also highly addictive, often abused, and their role in promoting heroin addiction is well documented. Many patients with conditions that only require temporary pain relief end up with excesses of the drug as well. Even with careful and prescribed use, opioids can have serious side effects and trigger unpleasant withdrawal symptoms when patients no longer use them.

Another type of medication, benzodiazepines, commonly known as sedatives, are also highly addictive, can cause dangerous side effects and terrible withdrawal symptoms, but are also commonly prescribed to treat anxiety, panic disorders, and insomnia. The insurance will also cover the costs for this.

In short, many popular prescription drugs can be both helpful and harmful, if not dangerous. Still, cannabis cannot be legally prescribed with few reported side effects and a lower addiction rate.

Some historians say the legal treatment of cannabis in the US has its roots in racism. A 2018 article on The History Channel’s history.com website indicated that Anglo-Americans and Europeans had known the medicinal properties of cannabis since at least the 1830s, when it was used to relieve stomach pain and vomiting in cholera patients. Later in the 19th century, Americans could legally purchase cannabis extracts to treat migraines, insomnia, abdominal pain, and other ailments.

Attitudes changed with the influx of Mexican immigrants into the United States in the early 20th century. Eric Schlosser, author of Reefer Madness: Sex, Drugs and Cheap Labor in the American Black Market, wrote, “The prejudices and fears that welcomed these peasant immigrants extended to their traditional narcotic: the smoking of marijuana.” The drug was made illegal shortly afterwards.

The types of patients who already use medical cannabis products in Connecticut are many. Take a trip to any Connecticut pharmacy and it will be attended by patients young and old, men and women, white and black. But many more patients could benefit from the drug.

If recreational use were legalized, patients could avoid the high costs of the medical cannabis system by growing their own product. Connecticut lawmakers have debated for years but ignored this possibility.

States have pioneered the legalization of cannabis products for medical and recreational uses. Republicans say they are for state rights, but the party has stood in the way of the DEA changing cannabis planning and leaving matters to the states.

By placing the drug in a termination category that better reflects the reality of its risks and benefits, cannabis could be prescribed directly by doctors and covered by health insurance. This is already the case in Canada. Why not in the USA?

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