At the start of the Illinois' five-year medical marijuana use pilot\nproject, I had great optimism for its success. Most experts were\npredicting that as many as 70,000\npatients would be\nsigned up by the end of five years. Now at the halfway mark, the state\nhas only been able to sign up 4,000 qualified participants. Based on\nwhat I've seen so far, it would be impossible for me to not attribute\nthese low sign-up numbers to the strict regulations set in place by the\nstate at the beginning of the pilot program.
\nRestrictive Laws to Blame
\nThe lawmakers of Illinois have set down some of the most restrictive\nmedical cannabis\nlaws in the\ncountry. They added in specific restrictions like state ID, patient\nbackground checks and participant fingerprint requirements, measures\nthat will certainly be both time-consuming and costly to the patient,\nand may even prevent many patients from applying.
\nDoctors Targeted
\nThe program also requires there to be an established physician-patient\nrelationship before a prescription can be written. I have read reports\nthat at least two doctors are in hot water over this issue, and many\nother doctors are reluctant to prescribe cannabis to their patients. In\nfact, some doctors are reporting that their employers have requested\nthat they not prescribe cannabis at all. I believe this puts an undue\nburden on the patients, who now have to search for a doctor willing to\nprescribe medical marijuana and spend months building a relationship\nwith them before they can apply.
\nOverly Restrictive Medical Conditions
\nWhile these extra precautions are certainly hindering the effectiveness\nof the medical marijuana pilot program, I contend that the low number of\nmedical conditions that actually qualify for the program has been the\nbiggest roadblock. The latest report I read showed that the Illinois\nDepartment of Public Health (IDPH) has only approved just 35 different\nillnesses. This\nlist includes ailments such as cancer,\nAIDS,\nParkinson's\ndisease,\nlupus,\nand rheumatoid arthritis.\nUnfortunately, this list is also missing dozens of important medical\nconditions that can be managed with medical cannabis, such as\ndepression,\nbipolar,\ndiabetes,\nand Crohn's\ndisease.
\nLast year, the Medical Cannabis Advisory Board recommended the addition\nof 11 other diseases to the IDPH's list of qualified medical conditions.\nUnfortunately, the IDPH announced that it would not be making any\nchanges to the list of qualified condition. This year, the board reduced\ntheir request to just eight additional ailments, such as chronic\npain,\nPTSS\n(Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome), autism and\nosteoarthritis.
\nWhat We Already Know
\nA recent study by HelloMD\nsupports the notion of expanding the list of qualified medical\nconditions. Out of the 17,000 patients surveyed, which may well be the\nlargest survey of its type among medical marijuana users, the most\ncommon reason for using medical marijuana was for treating anxiety,\npain, stress, insomnia, depression, migraines and arthritis. These\nresults seem to fall in line with what the Medical Cannabis Advisory\nBoard is recommending. Even more impressive is the fact the 84 percent\nof the study participants believe very strongly that the use of medical\ncannabis has helped to control their symptoms. In addition, 96 percent\nwould recommend the use of medical marijuana to friends and family\nmembers.
\nMore than 22,000\npeople\nsigned a petition at Change.org in reference to medical cannabis, to be\nsent to Governor Rauner, with many of the signers leaving heartfelt\nmessages behind. The hope is to entice the state to expand the list of\nmedical marijuana conditions before the program slides into total\ndisarray. Even celebrities like Jim\nMcMahon\nand Melissa Etheridge have touted the benefits of medical marijuana.
\nFar Reaching Consequences
\nWith the number of approved applicants falling well below the\nanticipated figures, my biggest fear is that the 23 licensed\ndispensaries will start to close up shop. HelloMD's Medical Marijuana\nPatient Survey\nResults\nshowed that 61 percent of customers purchase their cannabis locally.\nWithout these local dispensaries, patients will find it difficult to\nfind the cannabis they need. These approved dispensary owners claim that\nthey need to see an increase of about 20,000 to\n30,000\nqualified patients in order to become profitable. I think this increase\nis highly unlikely, given the state's refusal to expand the list of\nqualified medical conditions and the registration that the patients have\nto go through.
\nOther states like New Jersey and Minnesota are also seeing dismal\napproved patient numbers due to restrictive regulations. Unfortunately,\nit is the patients who are dealing with chronic pain, anxiety, stress\nand other medical conditions on a daily basis that are suffering the\nmost. Some are filling the gap by using prescribed opioids to manage\ntheir symptoms, but these drugs can be addictive and dangerous, and come\nwith a long list of negative side effects.
\nThe Path Forward
\nI think that Illinois should look at California's medical marijuana use\nlaws. The state has been at the forefront of this issue, approving the\nmedical cannabis law in 1996 and being the first state to license a\nmarijuana dispensary. California now has a long list of medical\nconditions that can be used to secure approval for medical marijuana\nuse. The state also issues more than 17 different types of cannabis\ndispensary licenses to make both opening one and staying compliant with\nregulations easier.
\nI believe that Illinois could capitalize on the success of California by\nusing it as a model for its medical marijuana law. Unfortunately, if\nIllinois continues down this broken path, it won't take long for the\nentire program to crumble. Governor Bruce Rauner has hinted that he may\nbe interested in expanding the pilot program by two years. However, it\nseems to me that without immediate changes the program may not last that\nlong, and it is the patients who will continue to suffer the most.
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