Ron Strider
Well-Known Member
Medical professionals on the front lines of New Mexico's drug abuse epidemic have successfully petitioned members of the state's Medical Cannabis Advisory Board to recommend opioid use disorder as a condition that qualifies a patient to use cannabis.
"We have a crisis in New Mexico, and we have had for a long time," Dr. Steve Jension told the board at its semiannual meeting Friday. Jenison is a former state Department of Health employee, cannabis program director and advisory board member who now works as a paramedic in Dixon.
"I get to see the people who die or nearly die of it on a continuing basis," he said of opioid abuse. "Now is the time for the Medical Cannabis Advisory Board to send a clear, unambiguous and unanimous recommendation to the secretary of health to add this to the list of eligible conditions."
The five active members of the board, all doctors, unanimously voted for approval of the condition, drawing thunderous applause from the crowd.
But many worry that the board's recommendation to state Health Secretary Lynn Gallagher – the only person with the authority to add qualifying ailments to New Mexico's growing Medical Cannabis Program – will fall on deaf ears, just as it did a year ago. In November 2016, the board also voted in favor of adding the condition. But in June – seven months after the vote – Gallagher rejected that recommendation, as well as several others.
Cannabis program Director Kenny Vigil reported Friday that approximately 48,000 patients were enrolled as of September – a number that likely would grow if opioid use disorder became a qualifying condition.
Medical cannabis is increasingly being considered as a solution to the opioid epidemic nationwide, with scientific studies showing it has promise.
Not only does cannabis counteract the symptoms of opioid withdrawal, Jension said during Friday's meeting, it also can be used to treat the chronic pain that in many cases led to a patient being prescribed opioids and becoming addicted to them in the first place.
"The two are closely related at many levels," he wrote in a six-page statement he submitted to the Department of Health in support of a petition to adding opioid use disorder to the cannabis program. The statement was accompanied by eight pages of medical citations.
"In this time of crisis, with so many lives being lost and destroyed," Jenison said, "we must not be dissuaded from acting when there is so much at stake. The risk of opioids are substantial and well known to us. The risks of cannabinoids are less – much less. We know this. It is entirely plausible that medical cannabis can be a tool in addressing the opioid dependence crisis and in saving lives. It's time to act."
Newly elected board Chairwoman Dr. Laura Brown made similar comments ahead of Friday's vote. "The evidence of the opiate sparing effects are well documented in medical literature," she said. "In the face of our opioid overdose epidemic, I don't think we need to wait for any further evidence or studies."
If Gallagher is inclined to reject the petition again, Jenison said, she should at least give board members an opportunity to talk about the issue, something that board members confirmed has never happened.
"How does it feel when you go through this process twice a year, and most everything gets denied that you all approve?" one audience member asked them. "Do we have a voice? You are supposed to be our voice, and they are not listening. Lynn Gallagher and the Department of Health have failed us and failed this program terribly."
Bryan Krumm, a psychiatric nurse practitioner, said that by blocking patients' access to medical cannabis, Gallagher, who is an attorney and not a licensed medical professional, was in effect practicing medicine without a license.
And, as happens at nearly every one of the board's twice-yearly meetings, audience members complained about the secretary's failure to attend.
"We are being marginalized, dismissed and insulted," said longtime cannabis patient Nat Dean. "It's important we have more participation from the person making decisions about our lives."
Department of Health spokesman Paul Rhien responded to The New Mexican's inquiries about Gallagher's lack of participation on her behalf with the following emailed statement:
"As always, the Secretary will seriously consider the advice of the board and will continue to make medical science and data-driven decisions regarding the Medical Cannabis Program. The Department will continue to responsibly administer the program and make sure that patients receive the most medically-appropriate treatment for their medical conditions in a way that doesn't compromise their already vulnerable health."
"On background," Rhien wrote: "Historically secretaries have not actively participated in the board meetings."
The Medical Cannabis Advisory Board considered a total of 15 petitions during Friday's meeting and voted to recommend five new conditions to the list of 20 that currently qualify New Mexicans to legally use cannabis as medicine, including the skin conditions eczema and psoriasis, muscular dystrophy, Tourette's syndrome, substance use disorder and opioid use disorder.
The board voted against recommending the addition of six conditions: polymyalgia rheumatica, which causes stiffness in the neck and shoulders; dysmenorrhea, or severe menstrual cramps; cystic fibrosis, a genetic disorder that damages the lungs and other organs; post-concussion syndrome or concussion; diabetes; and arthritis.
In most cases, the board said, patients who suffer from the rejected conditions are already able to be certified to use cannabis under an existing qualifying condition – such as chronic pain, in the case of dysmenorrhea.
In response to a petition to add seizure disorders, the board voted to recommend that the definition of an existing qualifying condition, epilepsy, be modified to included seizures.
The board tabled petitions to add attention deficit disorder and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, degenerative neurological disorder and neuroprotective use of cannabis, in which the substance is used to help regenerate brain cells, protect a patient from brain damage or slow the effects of Alzheimer's disease. The issues need further discussion, the board said.
A petition to authorize hospital employees to use cannabis to treat pediatric cancer patients was outside the board's purview, members said, but they planned to issue a statement in support of the practice.
News Moderator: Ron Strider 420 MAGAZINE ®
Full Article: Advisory panel backs opioid use disorder as qualifying condition for medical cannabis | Local News | santafenewmexican.com
Author: Phaedra Haywood
Contact: CONTACT US | Site | santafenewmexican.com
Photo Credit: Getty
Website: santafenewmexican.com | News, opinion and sports from Santa Fe and Northern New Mexico
"We have a crisis in New Mexico, and we have had for a long time," Dr. Steve Jension told the board at its semiannual meeting Friday. Jenison is a former state Department of Health employee, cannabis program director and advisory board member who now works as a paramedic in Dixon.
"I get to see the people who die or nearly die of it on a continuing basis," he said of opioid abuse. "Now is the time for the Medical Cannabis Advisory Board to send a clear, unambiguous and unanimous recommendation to the secretary of health to add this to the list of eligible conditions."
The five active members of the board, all doctors, unanimously voted for approval of the condition, drawing thunderous applause from the crowd.
But many worry that the board's recommendation to state Health Secretary Lynn Gallagher – the only person with the authority to add qualifying ailments to New Mexico's growing Medical Cannabis Program – will fall on deaf ears, just as it did a year ago. In November 2016, the board also voted in favor of adding the condition. But in June – seven months after the vote – Gallagher rejected that recommendation, as well as several others.
Cannabis program Director Kenny Vigil reported Friday that approximately 48,000 patients were enrolled as of September – a number that likely would grow if opioid use disorder became a qualifying condition.
Medical cannabis is increasingly being considered as a solution to the opioid epidemic nationwide, with scientific studies showing it has promise.
Not only does cannabis counteract the symptoms of opioid withdrawal, Jension said during Friday's meeting, it also can be used to treat the chronic pain that in many cases led to a patient being prescribed opioids and becoming addicted to them in the first place.
"The two are closely related at many levels," he wrote in a six-page statement he submitted to the Department of Health in support of a petition to adding opioid use disorder to the cannabis program. The statement was accompanied by eight pages of medical citations.
"In this time of crisis, with so many lives being lost and destroyed," Jenison said, "we must not be dissuaded from acting when there is so much at stake. The risk of opioids are substantial and well known to us. The risks of cannabinoids are less – much less. We know this. It is entirely plausible that medical cannabis can be a tool in addressing the opioid dependence crisis and in saving lives. It's time to act."
Newly elected board Chairwoman Dr. Laura Brown made similar comments ahead of Friday's vote. "The evidence of the opiate sparing effects are well documented in medical literature," she said. "In the face of our opioid overdose epidemic, I don't think we need to wait for any further evidence or studies."
If Gallagher is inclined to reject the petition again, Jenison said, she should at least give board members an opportunity to talk about the issue, something that board members confirmed has never happened.
"How does it feel when you go through this process twice a year, and most everything gets denied that you all approve?" one audience member asked them. "Do we have a voice? You are supposed to be our voice, and they are not listening. Lynn Gallagher and the Department of Health have failed us and failed this program terribly."
Bryan Krumm, a psychiatric nurse practitioner, said that by blocking patients' access to medical cannabis, Gallagher, who is an attorney and not a licensed medical professional, was in effect practicing medicine without a license.
And, as happens at nearly every one of the board's twice-yearly meetings, audience members complained about the secretary's failure to attend.
"We are being marginalized, dismissed and insulted," said longtime cannabis patient Nat Dean. "It's important we have more participation from the person making decisions about our lives."
Department of Health spokesman Paul Rhien responded to The New Mexican's inquiries about Gallagher's lack of participation on her behalf with the following emailed statement:
"As always, the Secretary will seriously consider the advice of the board and will continue to make medical science and data-driven decisions regarding the Medical Cannabis Program. The Department will continue to responsibly administer the program and make sure that patients receive the most medically-appropriate treatment for their medical conditions in a way that doesn't compromise their already vulnerable health."
"On background," Rhien wrote: "Historically secretaries have not actively participated in the board meetings."
The Medical Cannabis Advisory Board considered a total of 15 petitions during Friday's meeting and voted to recommend five new conditions to the list of 20 that currently qualify New Mexicans to legally use cannabis as medicine, including the skin conditions eczema and psoriasis, muscular dystrophy, Tourette's syndrome, substance use disorder and opioid use disorder.
The board voted against recommending the addition of six conditions: polymyalgia rheumatica, which causes stiffness in the neck and shoulders; dysmenorrhea, or severe menstrual cramps; cystic fibrosis, a genetic disorder that damages the lungs and other organs; post-concussion syndrome or concussion; diabetes; and arthritis.
In most cases, the board said, patients who suffer from the rejected conditions are already able to be certified to use cannabis under an existing qualifying condition – such as chronic pain, in the case of dysmenorrhea.
In response to a petition to add seizure disorders, the board voted to recommend that the definition of an existing qualifying condition, epilepsy, be modified to included seizures.
The board tabled petitions to add attention deficit disorder and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, degenerative neurological disorder and neuroprotective use of cannabis, in which the substance is used to help regenerate brain cells, protect a patient from brain damage or slow the effects of Alzheimer's disease. The issues need further discussion, the board said.
A petition to authorize hospital employees to use cannabis to treat pediatric cancer patients was outside the board's purview, members said, but they planned to issue a statement in support of the practice.
News Moderator: Ron Strider 420 MAGAZINE ®
Full Article: Advisory panel backs opioid use disorder as qualifying condition for medical cannabis | Local News | santafenewmexican.com
Author: Phaedra Haywood
Contact: CONTACT US | Site | santafenewmexican.com
Photo Credit: Getty
Website: santafenewmexican.com | News, opinion and sports from Santa Fe and Northern New Mexico
